Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 11-10-2019, 01:20 PM   #21
Guru
 
City: Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island
Vessel Name: Capricorn
Vessel Model: Mariner 30 - Sedan Cruiser 1969
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 2,019
When all else fails, I turn to Dr. Google who has a Phd in minute trivia, the following is a copy and paste:

"How do you determine if a vessel is seaworthy when pursing a claim for compensation for injuries?
When a person is injured on a vessel offshore as a seaman, crewmember, or passenger, it is important to determine the appropriate legal remedies for obtaining compensation for the injuries suffered. This will increase the likelihood that a victim of an accident will receive the full value of his claim. One claim that injured seamen, crewmembers, and non-employee passengers may raise against vessel owners and other negligent parties is a claim under maritime common law that the vessel was not seaworthy.

What Factors Determine the Seaworthiness of a Vessel?
It is important to keep in mind that what is considered a seaworthy vessel under common law is different than under the Jones Act, which has its own definition of seaworthiness. A seaworthy ship or other vessel under common law is one that is fit for the normal perils of the sea and offers reasonable safety to those on it. There is no set definition or checklist of when a vessel is seaworthy. Instead, the law looks at a number factors in determining whether or not a ship is seaworthy.

General factors considered includes the condition of the ship and its equipment and the skill and competence of the officers and the crew. A lack of seaworthiness can also be shown if there were breaches of safety rules or a lack of proper medical facilities.

Of course, the physical condition of the vessel will play a major role in determining whether a ship is seaworthy. Some of the factors regarding its physical characteristics include:

The vessel’s stability.
Whether the vessel has good handling in rough or choppy waters.
The vessel’s buoyancy even when it is carrying a heavy load.
Propulsion system reliability.
Ability of the ship to shed water efficiently.
Speed and agility of the vessel given its age and size.
Solid construction that is able to withstand the dangers of the sea.
Fire resistance and suppression capabilities.
Sufficient safety equipment that is appropriate for emergency situations.
Lack of avoidable safety hazards.
What Are the Legal Implications If a Vessel Is Unseaworthy?
A vessel owner has a duty to ensure that his vessel is seaworthy and could face liability for injuries when this duty is breached. He can face liability even if he was not directly at fault or did not know of the specific hazard."

The link it is from:

https://www.attorneystevelee.com/fre...-for-injuries/
rsn48 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 01:44 PM   #22
Guru
 
City: Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island
Vessel Name: Capricorn
Vessel Model: Mariner 30 - Sedan Cruiser 1969
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 2,019
And one more article, I found this one interesting and helpfull:

"The elements of seaworthiness
ERIC SORENSENUPDATED:JUN 16, 2017ORIGINAL:AUG 31, 2009
A seaworthy boat handles well, is stable, sheds water quickly, and has plenty of reserve buoyancy

A seaworthy boat to my mind is one that can reliably and safely carry out its function or mission. In that context, you would expect a runabout to stay afloat, handle well and ride comfortably in a light chop on inshore waters.

Keeping the water on the outside of the boat is the most basic aspect of seaworthiness.
Obviously, I’d expect a lot more from a long-range, oceangoing displacement passagemaker like the Nordhavn 86. This mini ship should be able to handle rough seas, have a large range of stability, be able to stay afloat when any one compartment is flooded, and have a reliable and redundant propulsion system.

Clearly, seaworthiness is a relative term that depends on the intended purpose or mission of the vessel. What’s important is that the boat meets reasonable expectations, whether it’s pulling a skier, gunkholing on Chesapeake Bay or crossing the Pacific. Let’s begin by looking at some of the elements of seaworthiness.

Unsinkability

For me, the question to ask first is, What sort of damage would it take to sink this boat? A boat has to displace its own weight in water in order to float, and the obvious way to do that is to keep the ocean on the outside. But boatbuilders also play a role, filling the area between the hull and deck liner with enough foam or dividing it into enough small compartments to still displace its own weight if the hull is damaged.


If you own a typical 24- to 30-foot center console or express cruiser, the answer to the question about what sort of damage would be required to sink the boat is: not much. A single 2-inch hole practically anywhere in the bottom would do the trick — and quickly. If that 2-inch hole is just six inches below the waterline, it would flood the hull at 55 gallons per minute, or 3,300 gallons per hour. A 500-gph bilge pump — with a typical 40-percent efficiency loss — would actually be able to pump about 5 gallons a minute over the side; at that rate, it would take about 11 pumps to keep up.

Most boats 20 feet and longer have neither compartmentation nor sufficient foam to keep them from sinking — the Coast Guard only requires boats smaller than 20 feet to have level flotation when swamped — but some fishing boats like Grady-White, Key West, Sailfish and Boston Whaler do. (Making a boat “unsinkable” adds cost and weight, which affects performance, and takes up space.) The funny thing is, it is often boats smaller than 20 feet and ships more than 100 feet (or so) that are hard to sink, as they use lots of foam and compartmentation, respectively.

Boston Whaler demonstrates the unsinkability of its boats.

Most boats in between put all their reliance on keeping the water on the outside to start with. In other words, many would go straight to the bottom if a single 2-inch transducer came loose. Fortunately, the reality is that relatively few boats do sink due to flooding from a hole below the waterline. And if an unsinkable hull is breached and you lose power, under the worst-case scenario you’ll be waiting for a tow in a very large life raft.

Stability

Stability refers to the natural tendency of a hull to return to an even keel after an upsetting moment is applied — like a wave or gust of wind or an on-board weight shift. In normal (undamaged) conditions, boats develop a righting arm when heeled, created by two forces pushing in opposite directions, separated by distance. These two forces are gravity (pushing down) and buoyancy (pushing up). The higher the boat’s center of gravity, the less energy there is to right the boat.

At smaller angles of heel, beam and hull shape have the most influence on stability because it’s largely the distribution of buoyancy, not the center of gravity (CG), that determines initial stability. Planing hulls are very stable — stiff, even — through the first 15 degrees or so of heel because their hulls are so buoyant outboard at the chines. On the other hand, a narrow, deep-displacement trawler will be tender at initial angles of heel because of its slack bilges. However, its very low CG will create tremendous reserve stability once it starts heeling farther. The result is that just when the righting arm (the energy available to right a hull) is actually decreasing in the planing hull at around 20 degrees (or even less), it’s just starting to pick up on the displacement vessel, which is far more stable, ultimately. The planing hull might capsize at 40 to 45 degrees of heel, while the displacement vessel might easily go 70 degrees or more, as in the case of a sailboat with external ballast.

It helps to know, when understanding stability, that the center of gravity moves toward a weight addition and away from a weight subtraction. In other words, add weight above the CG — it’s a little above the level of the top of the engines in many inboard planing boats — and it becomes less stable. Or remove weight below the CG, and the same thing happens — stability diminishes.

That’s why adding a tuna tower or hardtop, or replacing old, heavy diesels with new lighter ones, or even just burning fuel will make a boat less stable. Keep this in mind when modifying your boat in any way. You can have a naval architect determine your boat’s stability if you’re in doubt — particularly if you’re adding a tower — or at the very least check with the builder. Read the tea leaves: If the boat hesitates before rolling back to an even keel, or just feels sluggish or has a longer roll period than feels right, get it checked out.

Reserve buoyancy

If your boat is floating at the dock with no one on board, you know it has enough buoyancy under those benign conditions. But what about when it’s loaded with fuel, water, passengers and gear? And what happens when you load the boat up with a cockpit full of fish, then take a wave over the side and have 6 inches of water on deck? Well, what happens depends on your boat’s stability and something called reserve buoyancy.

Reserve buoyancy is a lot like reserve stability, which is the energy stored up on account of the hull’s shape and weight distribution. Reserve buoyancy is simply a function of the watertight volume of the hull above the waterline. The “watertight” part is what matters; it means the deck has to prevent water from down-flooding to the bilges, and, in fact, it must quickly shed that water back over the side, since all that unencumbered water sloshing around up high above the waterline creates a free-surface effect that dramatically reduces stability. The higher the watertight cockpit deck is above the waterline, the more reserve buoyancy there is. So check out how high above the waterline the deck is when the boat is fully loaded.


The American Boat and Yacht Council, the marine industry’s standards- and recommended practices-setting organization, tells us the minimum height of a cockpit deck, in inches, should be 0.22 times the boat’s length in feet. That means a 20-footer’s cockpit should be 4.4 inches and a 30-footer’s 6.6 inches above the full-load (the maximum amount of weight the boat would ever carry) waterline, at a minimum. If the boat ventures offshore regularly, I’d be looking for a couple more inches of deck height than that. If it stays inshore on protected waters, then the ABYC standard seems reasonable.

Water shedding

If you take water over the side in the form of a wave, or you ship a few hundred gallons when backing hard on a fish, you want that water back overboard as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that we’re talking about self-bailing cockpits here; with some runabouts, forget it, since the water goes straight to the bilge where that 500-gph bilge pump sends it back into the ocean at a piddling 5 gallons a minute. If the cockpit self-bails, as on a saltwater fishing boat or most express cruisers, it’s the size of the scuppers or cockpit drain lines leading overboard from the gutters that make the difference.

There are two issues: clogging, and scupper or drain line size. If it’s less than 1.5 inches in diameter, it’s going to be susceptible to clogging with pine needles, fish scales, seaweed and other debris. In a 20- to 25-foot coastal fishing boat, my first choice is always big scuppers cut directly through the hull side or transom (with no plumbing), recessed slightly below deck level, at least 2-by-6-inches (12 square inches) in size. After that, I’d be looking for a minimum of two 2-inch drain lines per side, in the aft corners and recessed slightly below deck level. You want them in the cockpit’s outboard corners, since that’s where the water is going to collect when the boat is listing to one side, which is what it’s liable to be doing with green water on deck.

The ABYC only calls for 1-inch (0.785-square-inch) cockpit drain lines. However, a line that small will clog easily and will drain at a quarter the rate of the 2-inch (3.14-square-inch) hose. The ABYC also calls for scuppers large enough so that a cockpit filled to the gunwales will drain 75 percent of the water within 90 seconds, which A) will take a lot longer than 90 seconds with 1-inch drains, and B) is about 75 seconds too slow, in my view, for an offshore-capable boat. Also, the cockpit should be pitched aft, and the deck, ideally, will have a camber to help herd the water toward the outboard scuppers.

Hull design, weight distribution

To be seaworthy, a boat needs to be manageable in rough water. This includes being able to steer straight and not bow steer or yaw excessively running down-sea; not roll too badly in the trough; and run into waves at a decent clip (comfortably up on plane) without pounding. This calls for a well-designed bottom, an appropriate center of gravity — both vertically and longitudinally — and responsive propulsion and steering systems. These are all important elements. A boat with too fine an entry and a CG that’s too far forward or too high will yaw and be unmanageable, even dangerously so, in a following sea.

A boat’s ride should not be too wet. Water coming on board impedes visibility and situational awareness, and makes the driver less able to see what’s going on in the immediate area, which could mean anything from breaking waves to other boats. And the hull should have plenty of freeboard, which affects both buoyancy and the ability to resist boarding seas. Before you buy any boat, sea trial it in rough water and in conditions of loading you’ll actually be operating in.

Speed and agility

This is a big one, and perhaps not given enough consideration. Speed can save your life, or at least keep you from getting beaten up coming home. If you get a weather report of wind coming your way, you can potentially get ahead of it in a 30-knot boat, but probably not in one that does 10 knots. In 10- to 15-foot waves, the combination of a deep-vee bottom and a lot of horsepower can help you dodge breaking waves, and it can give you the power needed to stay on the back of a wave crossing a bar. Speed gives you a lot more control over your location and, therefore, your local conditions. A 6-knot displacement trawler, with its great range of stability, is going to need it when the wind picks up.

Hardware & scantlings

It should be evident that in order to be seaworthy, a boat must be able to stay intact despite the tremendous abuse heavy seas can dish out. This means the hull, deck and superstructure have to be solidly constructed and able to withstand considerable dynamic loads, as do the weather doors, hatches and windows.

Helm station

A boat isn’t seaworthy unless it can be competently operated, and this involves both a capable skipper and a well-designed helm station. This first design element is all-around visibility to the horizon. My design philosophy is that when the builder takes away any of my horizon as viewed from the helm, there’d better be a good structural justification for every degree I can’t see. If you can’t see a 10- or 20-degree sector of the horizon because of a radar arch or Euro window styling, shop for another boat. When running down-sea in rough water, it doesn’t matter if you have great visibility ahead when you’re about to be pooped by a wave on your starboard quarter that’s out of view behind the home-size refrigerator.

If the boat runs with the anchor pulpit blocking the horizon, or the window mullions are more than 2 to 3 inches wide — they don’t have to be any wider than that if competently engineered — visibility is going to suffer, as will your boat’s safety and seaworthiness. Also, make sure you can reach and see all the controls and instruments without straining and stretching. And there should be plenty of room between the wheel and the seat, since you might need to stand to see outside the boat a little better. There should be red lighting so you can see at night without losing your night vision.

Other factors

There are many other seaworthiness considerations, including fire resistance and suppression capability, deicing capability in cold climes, the vessel’s susceptibility to wind, propulsion redundancy, dewatering capability, seakindliness (to keep the skipper healthy and alert) and so on. But this is a good start, and serves as a list of things to look for when considering your next boat.

This article originally appeared in the September 2009 issue.

TAGSPRINT MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2009 SEAWORTHINESS UNSINKABILITYIN DEPTH
BY ERIC SORENSEN"
rsn48 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 01:56 PM   #23
Moderator Emeritus
 
ksanders's Avatar
 
City: SEWARD ALASKA
Vessel Name: DOS PECES
Vessel Model: BAYLINER 4788
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,266
In my opinion seaworthiness is something toy Experience, not read about.
__________________
Kevin Sanders
Bayliner 4788 Dos Peces
Seward, Alaska - La Paz, Baja California Sur
https://maps.findmespot.com/s/XLJZ#history/assets
ksanders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 02:22 PM   #24
Guru
 
OldDan1943's Avatar
 
City: Aventura FL
Vessel Name: Kinja
Vessel Model: American Tug 34 #116 2008
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 10,595
EVERY boat design has a 'recovery roll or angle". With some research the owner can find the design recovery angle. Of course, that is by design and lightly loaded with all the stuff we think is necessary.
Unless one has a true blue water boat, that recover angle is just a bit less than where the ER gets it air.
Generally speaking, every boat design can take weather worse than we can.
In rough weather, we must be on the alert for things flying around the cabin and cabinets.
Getting underway??? Hide everything in a closet or drawer, securing the drawers and cabinet doors. Hear an unwanted noise? Might be the dry stores or pans shifting or perhaps a unsecured tool box, etc.
Again, generally speaking when asked, "How far out can one go, if you have a coastal cruiser." Common sense and remember, the further out you go, the longer it will take the CG to find you, if necessary.
__________________
Two days out the hospital after a week in the hospital because of a significant heart attack.
OldDan1943 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 02:41 PM   #25
Art
Guru
 
Art's Avatar
 
City: SF Bay Area
Vessel Model: Tollycraft 34' Tri Cabin
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 12,569
Seaworthiness of any boat and its captain/crew and its passengers can only truly be determined as to whether or not the boat makes it past upsetting seas and back to calm waters.

Makes it back = Seaworthy

Does not make it back = Unseaworthy

Thousands of factors are included as to whether or not a boat and crew and passengers make it back.

So... IMHO... Seaworthy Is As Seaworthy Does! Nothing more. Nothing less.
Art is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 03:12 PM   #26
Guru
 
AusCan's Avatar
 
City: Adelaide
Vessel Name: Kokanee
Vessel Model: Cuddles 30 Pilot House Motor Sailer
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 3,218
Quote:
Originally Posted by rsn48 View Post
And one more article, I found this one interesting and helpfull:

"The elements of seaworthiness
ERIC SORENSENUPDATED:JUN 16, 2017ORIGINAL:AUG 31, 2009
A seaworthy boat handles well, is stable, sheds water quickly, and has plenty of reserve buoyancy
Good article RSN; I've read a few of Eric Sorensen's books and got a lot out of them.

I also agree with Kevin's comment about seaworthiness having to be experienced.

That is why I don't go along with the prevailing idea about staying at the dock unless sea conditions are benign, because we are "pleasure boaters". If you don't ever stretch your boundaries in experiencing rough water, you will never be competent when you get caught out in a worse than expected situation.

I occasionally go out when every other boat in the marina is staying tied to the dock.
There has been minor incidents such as 70 degree rolls, half filled cockpits, shredded sails, dirty underwear etc which have taught me a huge amount of knowledge and respect for the sea.
AusCan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 03:28 PM   #27
Moderator Emeritus
 
ksanders's Avatar
 
City: SEWARD ALASKA
Vessel Name: DOS PECES
Vessel Model: BAYLINER 4788
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,266
Quote:
Originally Posted by AusCan View Post
Good article RSN; I've read a few of Eric Sorensen's books and got a lot out of them.

I also agree with Kevin's comment about seaworthiness having to be experienced.

That is why I don't go along with the prevailing idea about staying at the dock unless sea conditions are benign, because we are "pleasure boaters". If you don't ever stretch your boundaries in experiencing rough water, you will never be competent when you get caught out in a worse than expected situation.

I occasionally go out when every other boat in the marina is staying tied to the dock.
There has been minor incidents such as 70 degree rolls, half filled cockpits, shredded sails, dirty underwear etc which have taught me a huge amount of knowledge and respect for the sea.
Years ago as a new boater i read David Pascoes excellent articles on Rough Water Seamanship.

After that I interntionally pushed my comfort zone and went out in increasingly rough weather. Baby steps.

At the pinacle of that “training” I had my then 28’ Bayliner 2859 cabin cruiser out in Gale warnings.

It’s all about skill building. You cannot read about it, you have to do it.

Now, when the weather gets snotty I do not worry. As the captain I project the calm confidence that my boat and my crew will make it to port safely.

I choose not to go out in rough weather, but I Know that I, and my boat can when need be.

That is seaworthiness.
__________________
Kevin Sanders
Bayliner 4788 Dos Peces
Seward, Alaska - La Paz, Baja California Sur
https://maps.findmespot.com/s/XLJZ#history/assets
ksanders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 03:52 PM   #28
Guru
 
City: Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island
Vessel Name: Capricorn
Vessel Model: Mariner 30 - Sedan Cruiser 1969
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 2,019
I belonged to a sailing club out of Vancouver BC. One course they offered was rough weather sailing. If you signed up, you agreed to keep a bag of necessary clothing and footwear with you at all times (translation: trunk of your car). When the phone call came you had to be ready to go out into the nasty weather to learn. This means just about any day in November, December, and January along coastal BC. The club was the Jib Set.
rsn48 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 03:55 PM   #29
Guru
 
syjos's Avatar


 
City: Gig Harbor
Vessel Name: Sandpiper
Vessel Model: Bluewater 40 Pilothouse Trawler
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,315
I find that the older I get, I'm less enthusiastic about getting tossed around in rough seas.

When I was younger, looked forward to big seas to test myself and boat. Went sailing in gale weather in Hobies, Lasers, Lightnings etc. Fished for tuna and salmon in a 17' outboard, 100 miles out of Illwaco, Westport and Neah Bay. Made deliveries in clients boats that should not be out in the ocean and on days that I should have stayed in port.

Nowadays, I'm content just to have a boat, that my wife still loves boating and that we can cruise for two three months every year. In comfort.
syjos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 04:47 PM   #30
Guru
 
MurrayM's Avatar
 
City: Kitimat, North Coast BC
Vessel Name: Badger
Vessel Model: 30' Sundowner Tug
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 5,946
I was going to take Badger out for a romp today, but there are 35 knot northerly outflow winds and the temperature is dropping to freezing tonight.

We're at the northern end of Douglas Channel, so the fetch wouldn't be too bad.

Was a good day to stay tied up and take measurements for future projects.
__________________
"The most interesting path between two points is not a straight line" MurrayM
MurrayM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 05:19 PM   #31
Guru
 
City: Boston
Vessel Name: Adelante
Vessel Model: IG 30
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,609
Ted Brewer developed a "Comfort Factor" for sailboats as an indicator of motion comfort. The higher the number the smoother the motion and less likelihood of seasickness. The formula claims to assess is how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam↑1.33), where displacement is expressed in pounds, and length is expressed in feet.

A heavier boat will come out with a higher number as more weight dampens a boats motion. A lightweight beamy coastal cruiser would probably not be very comfortable in a heavy seaway.

I think "comfort factor" and seaworthiness are two different issues . I haven't seen any comparable formulas for trawlers but I suspect the typical hard chined flat stern section boat wouldn't score very high for comfort in heavy seaway.
SoWhat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 07:07 PM   #32
Guru
 
City: Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island
Vessel Name: Capricorn
Vessel Model: Mariner 30 - Sedan Cruiser 1969
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 2,019
Here is a link to the David Pascoe article in three parts, I just finished printing them out:

https://www.docksidereports.com/roug...amanship_1.htm
rsn48 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 08:57 PM   #33
Moderator Emeritus
 
ksanders's Avatar
 
City: SEWARD ALASKA
Vessel Name: DOS PECES
Vessel Model: BAYLINER 4788
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,266
Quote:
Originally Posted by rsn48 View Post
Here is a link to the David Pascoe article in three parts, I just finished printing them out:

https://www.docksidereports.com/roug...amanship_1.htm

These are Excellent reading!
__________________
Kevin Sanders
Bayliner 4788 Dos Peces
Seward, Alaska - La Paz, Baja California Sur
https://maps.findmespot.com/s/XLJZ#history/assets
ksanders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2019, 09:38 PM   #34
Moderator Emeritus
 
ksanders's Avatar
 
City: SEWARD ALASKA
Vessel Name: DOS PECES
Vessel Model: BAYLINER 4788
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,266
Here is seaworthiness...

We just had a member over at the Bayliner Owners Club complete the run bown the Baja peninsula in a Bayliner 4588 as part of the CUBAR rally.
__________________
Kevin Sanders
Bayliner 4788 Dos Peces
Seward, Alaska - La Paz, Baja California Sur
https://maps.findmespot.com/s/XLJZ#history/assets
ksanders is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2019, 12:29 AM   #35
Guru
 
Simi 60's Avatar
 
City: Queensland
Vessel Model: Milkraft 60 converted timber prawn trawler
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 5,482
Quote:
A Grand Banks dory is seaworthy. Doesn't mean I want to cross the ocean in one.
Not when you can do it in a washing machine (-;



https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news...ching-13181462
Simi 60 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2019, 01:27 AM   #36
Art
Guru
 
Art's Avatar
 
City: SF Bay Area
Vessel Model: Tollycraft 34' Tri Cabin
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 12,569
Seaworthy - Now h'e's 6'4, 210 and 1st year in Cal Poly, SLO.

There's a great story behind the look I was getting that day!! He did learn to row!!! LOL
Attached Thumbnails
Coop in small floater.jpg  
Art is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2019, 10:58 AM   #37
Art
Guru
 
Art's Avatar
 
City: SF Bay Area
Vessel Model: Tollycraft 34' Tri Cabin
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 12,569
For those who really know how to take rough seas! - LOL
Attached Thumbnails
55 Gallon drum Barge.jpg  
Art is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2019, 12:19 PM   #38
JLD
Guru
 
City: Delaware
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 681
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoWhat View Post
Ted Brewer developed a "Comfort Factor" for sailboats as an indicator of motion comfort. The higher the number the smoother the motion and less likelihood of seasickness. The formula claims to assess is how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam↑1.33), where displacement is expressed in pounds, and length is expressed in feet.

A heavier boat will come out with a higher number as more weight dampens a boats motion. A lightweight beamy coastal cruiser would probably not be very comfortable in a heavy seaway.

I think "comfort factor" and seaworthiness are two different issues . I haven't seen any comparable formulas for trawlers but I suspect the typical hard chined flat stern section boat wouldn't score very high for comfort in heavy seaway.
While I have do not doubt the logic behind the variables in the comfort factor formula, my understanding is that Brewer came up with the formula "tongue-in-check" on the back of a cocktail napkin.

There are lots of good discussion of 'comfort factor' on the various sailing forums. Interesting it almost always comes down to buying the best boat for your boating needs. One probably doesn't want a heavy boat for primarily light air sailing, or a very light boat for offshore sailing.

Jim
JLD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2019, 12:51 PM   #39
Guru
 
City: Boston
Vessel Name: Adelante
Vessel Model: IG 30
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,609
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLD View Post
While I have do not doubt the logic behind the variables in the comfort factor formula, my understanding is that Brewer came up with the formula "tongue-in-check" on the back of a cocktail napkin.

There are lots of good discussion of 'comfort factor' on the various sailing forums. Interesting it almost always comes down to buying the best boat for your boating needs. One probably doesn't want a heavy boat for primarily light air sailing, or a very light boat for offshore sailing.

Jim
Yes, I think it was a joke. But anything on the internet automatically becomes law.
SoWhat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2019, 12:55 PM   #40
Guru
 
BandB's Avatar
 
City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 21,449
Quote:
Originally Posted by psneeld View Post
Words like "seaworthy", "bad conditions", "coastal cruiser", etc...etc are pretty meaningless unless parameters are discussed.

What is something to one person is something else to another.

If your boat can survive 7 foot seas, but the average crew gets so beat up to be fatigued to dangerous limits or flat out hurt...is that boat "seaworthy "?
Wifey B: YES, YES, YES.

What the heck is "seaworthy?" And to whom? Tell me about the captain and crew as they're more critical to the answer.

Please OP and others, don't ask questions that everyone here will interpret differently. Even asking "would you be comfortable cruising the East Coast with x boat?" gets you more interpretation than you can imagine. My Baby Riva is seaworthy. It's CE A. It can handle very rough conditions but don't intentionally go out in more than 4' or perhaps 5' and most of you wouldn't do that in it. And can't do much on seas with less than 200 nm range.

Yes, the Bluewater is "seaworthy," if you're talking coastal cruising. Would I cross the Atlantic in one? No way. Could it cross an ocean, yes.
BandB is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Trawler Port Captains
Port Captains are TF volunteers who can serve as local guides or assist with local arrangements and information. Search below to locate Port Captains near your destination. To learn more about this program read here: TF Port Captain Program





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:56 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2006 - 2012