Seaworthiness

[KingBuffalo]

Someone on here said that these boats look more seaworthy than they actually are. Is that true? Have any of you Bluewater owners been in heavy seas with your vessel? How did it handle it?

[slowgoesit]

Which boats would those be?

[menzies]

Originally Posted by slowgoesit

Which boats would those be?

Bluewater.

Inland/Lake vessels.

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. s. Mr. KB mentions Bluewaters in his question. I think one can assume he, in fact, IS asking about Bluewaters.


Mr. KB. I always scratch my head when someone discusses seaworthiness. A dugout canoe is "seaworthy" in certain conditions and with able handlers. It's been mentioned many, many times on this site that a boat will probably be able to take rough conditions better than her crew but again, that depends on the crew.


I used to watch that crabbing program from Alaska and if I was out under those conditions in almost any vessel, I'd be sunk, literally.


I've been caught out in much rougher conditions than I planned for on a couple of occasions and the only thing it taught me was to pay closer attention to the forecasts. I'm a fair weather sailor for sure.

[ksanders]

Without ever even having been aboard a Bluewater 40 I can tell you that you could safely take your boat along any coastline as long as fuel stops are witnin your safe fuel range.

Enjoy your boat and when it’s really snotty stay in port and enjoy life.

I’d rather be sitting happy in port enjoying life than braving huge seas in any recreational boat.

Learn your and your boats comfortable limitations through practice and enjoy your boat.

[syjos]

Originally Posted by menzies

Bluewater.

Inland/Lake vessels.

You are referring to the Bluewater houseboats built in the US.

PO is referring to the displacement hulled Bluewater PH trawlers built in Taiwan in the 70's

[syjos]

Originally Posted by KingBuffalo

Someone on here said that these boats look more seaworthy than they actually are. Is that true? Have any of you Bluewater owners been in heavy seas with your vessel? How did it handle it?

We've owned Sandpiper, a 1976 Bluewater, for 19 years. We have been boating 2 to 3 months during the summer for 18 years and have been up and down the inside passage with no issues.

We try to avoid being tossed around since we are not in a hurry but, we have been caught in some nasty seas crossing straits. The boat handles the seas well. It has good motion in heavy seas. I would not hesitate going anywhere in the boat.

We avoid beam seas by tacking.

Our favorite way to travel rough seas, when possible, is with a following sea. The boat handles following seas on autopilot tracking fairly straight.

The previous owner kept Sandpiper in California and drove it up the coast to the PNW, BC and Alaska for 15 years. He started mooring in Port Townsend in the 90's.

Instead of traveling on the east side of Vancouver Island, he always traveled on the west coast. I asked him why he didn't go through the calmer east side and he said traffic was too much and he didn't want to be bothered with calculating slack current through the narrows!

[syjos]

Originally Posted by ksanders

Without ever even having been aboard a Bluewater 40 I can tell you that you could safely take your boat along any coastline as long as fuel stops are witnin your safe fuel range.

Our Bluewater with 600 gallons of fuel can travel at 8 knots for over 2,000 nautical miles.

Every Bluewater has different tank configurations. The boats were semi custom and there were many options for tankage.

[Art]

We own a Blue Water brand boat... but, I'm confident not the type of Blue Water boat to which the OP is referring. Ours is a cuddy cabin i/o play toy. Good boat!

[AusCan]

I haven't been on one, but the BW 40 pilothouse trawler looks to have a decent hull shape to handle some fairly rough seas. With the portugese bridge it looks a bit like a semi displacement version of a KK. If they were built anywhere near as well as a KK, they'd be a great sea boat.

The other version of a Bluewater 40 has a lot of glass up front which would concern me running into a big head sea. They have a lot of room inside to enjoy in protected waters.

[syjos]

Originally Posted by AusCan

I haven't been on one, but the BW 40 pilothouse trawler looks to have a decent hull shape to handle some fairly rough seas. With the portugese bridge it looks a bit like a semi displacement version of a KK. If they were built anywhere near as well as a KK, they'd be a great sea boat.

The 40 Bluewater is a ballasted round bottom, displacement hulled trawler.

It is 12 inches narrower than a KK42 and has a finer bow section.

There were several BW40 built with coring, like the KK but the majority of them had solid FRP hulls.

The BW40 was designed as a single screw but most appeared to have been equipped with twins.

[Gdavid]

Originally Posted by AusCan

The other version of a Bluewater 40 has a lot of glass up front which would concern me running into a big head sea. They have a lot of room inside to enjoy in protected waters.

I suspect you are thinking of the Roughwater 41, which strikes me with the same impression.

[Pete Meisinger]

My 36 Albin can handle WAY worse conditions than I or the Admiral. Five foot waves are about our limit, even then only when we get caught in them. We would much prefer to be snug and dry in a safe harbor. In fact, some of our favorite boating times have been sitting out storms and exploring by bike, foot or kayak.

Could my boat handle 10 foot waves ? Don't know, Don't care.. Wont be out in them. Is my boat "Seaworthy" ? I guess I would have to say yes. BUT...define "Seaworthy"

pete

[syjos]

Quote - mine: The previous owner kept Sandpiper in California and drove it up the coast to the PNW, BC and Alaska for 15 years. He started mooring in Port Townsend in the 90's.

Instead of traveling on the east side of Vancouver Island, he always traveled on the west coast. I asked him why he didn't go through the calmer east side and he said traffic was too much and he didn't want to be bothered with calculating slack current through the narrows!



Forgot to mention that Sandpiper had paravane stabilizers when we bought it. I took the poles off when we acquired a boathouse.

PO deployed the fish as soon as he cleared the breakwater.

When we bought Sandpiper, I noticed a barrel chair in the salon with a seatbelt bolted to the floor. PO said his wife strapped herself in that seat when things got rough.

My wife made me take the seatbelt out. She said there was no way she would be able to sit there. She would rather be in the PH backseat driving if conditions were bad.

[KingBuffalo]

Syjos is correct, I am talking about the big ballasted trawler and not the houseboat. When I say “seaworthy”, I’m talking about its ability to handle rough seas. I read that this boat was designed for the Pacific Ocean, but does it possess the sea handling abilities of a Kadey Krogen? Will it handle the open ocean in bad conditions or is it really just a coastal boat?

[psneeld]

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 "?

[KingBuffalo]

If I were to be that specific I’d have to ask 100 questions. I’m asking about the capabilities of the boat, not how it will handle very specific conditions.

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by KingBuffalo

If I were to be that specific I’d have to ask 100 questions. I’m asking about the capabilities of the boat, not how it will handle very specific conditions.

Then the answers should contain the specifics.....

And actually your first post asked about heavy seas..... an unspecific description.

[SoWhat]

A Grand Banks dory is seaworthy. Doesn't mean I want to cross the ocean in one.
Rule of thumb is a wave half the length of your boat can roll it over. Other than that, seaworthiness is directly proportional to your experience.

You could be out in a nice sunny 80* day, decide to enter inlet on an ebb tide, and end up in a broach. It's not the boat, it's the captain.

[ksanders]

Originally Posted by psneeld

Then the answers should contain the specifics.....

And actually your first post asked about heavy seas..... an unspecific description.

Heavy seas and rough water are terms with different meanings to different people, based on what their “normal” seas are for their cruising area.

If you are used to boating in protected waters “Rough Water” might be 4’ wind driven waves.

If you are used to boating in unprotected waters “rough water” might mean significantly larger seas.

My input to this thread was meant to put the concept of rough weather back on the captain, and somewhat remove it from the boat.

The reason is that pretty much any boat in the 40’ class can take the more movement than most captains. Another reason is that although some will passionately argue otherwise, most SD boats will perform similarly, and most FD boats will perform similarly.

In my opinion there is also a misconception around here that their particular choice in boat is somehow “better” performing than the other guys boat and frankly observing boats out at sea I just do not see it.

What I see is a dramatic difference in beam seas between stabilized and non stabilized boats, and I see a dramatic difference between boats at displacement speeds and boats that use horsepower to stabilize their boats. Observing most non stabilized true FD boats I see them being quite rolly polly.