Pics of the sunk Florida Bay Coaster

As promised.

Is that the one at Smith's, in Baltimore?* I haven't noticed it in a while.

Talk about a top heavy boat.

Fotoman wrote:
Talk about a top heavy boat.

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Yeah!* I've been on one at TrawlerFest.* Enormous space and convenience, however I was afraid she was going to tip over sitting right there at the dock.*

Might have had something to do with the 27 G&T's I downed earlier.

what caused her to go down?

Top Heavy probably.

I think I read somewhere about something loose in the engine room falling and knocking a through hull off. It probably doesn't take much water below deck to cause it to be unstable.
LarryW

A search in the forum archives for "Florida Bay Coaster" will give you some background. It appears that an improperly secured battery moved around until it snagged the shaft seal, rupturing it and causing water to gush in until the boat was done.

I was on one in Key West last winter at a marina get together must have had 30 people on it and it never moved under foot.

However owner told me that when he was bringing it down the ICW a large boat threw up a huge wake that he could not avoid and it tossed his captains chair right out the door and over the railing into the water, he said he was really tipping sideways when that happened.

Think I will stay with something a little more stable !!!

I think one minus the top deck would be nice. Of course no boat is buthole pruff when it comes to big boat wakes in small area. Larryw

One can argue the A/B ratio on such a vessel, but you'd have to make the same argument with the majority of cruise ships out there right now. The Florida Bay Coaster doesn't sell itself as an ocean traveler, and any one of us with a loose 8D battery causing havoc below decks in a sizable Chesepeake swell could easily find themselves on the bottom. I don't have any idea what the CG is on this boat, but I've been aboard a lot of different boats while getting broad-sided by the wake of a big Miami sport- fisher, and whether it was a Hatteras, a Bayliner, Krogen or GB, full or semi-displacement, (all under 55'), ya had to hold on big time, and the higher up you are, the more lateral movement, of course. My Manatee is a helm on top of a small apartment, but the Florida Bay Coaster is a helm on a house. Still, I've never heard of a Jay Benfield design capsizing for any reason, and there's a lot of them out there in different applications.

Thats one hell of a dent in the port chine

What the photos and drawings don't tell you is how heavy the superstructure is. If it's made very lightly the boat may well be nowhere near as top heavy as it looks. And given their apparent reputation, I guess they aren't.

What I would be way more concerned about is the windage. With their relatively flat bottoms and absolutely massive slab sided superstructure the wind would have a field day with a boat like this. The two widely spaced props will help somewhat in this regard but without a bow thruster (there does not appear to be one in the earlier photos) I imagine this thing could be a maneuvering misery in a light breeze let alone the 15 or 20 knot winds that are the norm rather than the exception in this area.

But then perhaps the boats are intended for use in places where wind is not much of a factor. I've had no experience on the water in the southeast, ICW, or Gulf so I have no idea if the winds are generally light to non-existent in those places or not.

The Florida Bay Coaster doesn't sell itself as an ocean traveler.

BAY being the key word!

And the term Coaster!!

Marin said:

But then perhaps the boats are intended for use in places where wind is not much of a factor. I've had no experience on the water in the southeast, ICW, or Gulf so I have no idea if the winds are generally light to non-existent in those places or not.

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Winds are generally in the moderate range. They range from predominantly westerlies in the North to easterlies in the South. In storms they can range up to near 200 mph. Hurricane Andrew was clocking 168 or so when the sensor blew off the roof of the weather bureau. Thunder storms are brutal. They can have hurricane force winds for a short duration. The Chesapeake Bay where the FBC was lost is famous for them. Thunder storms in the South are common. We use our speed and 72 mile radar to try and avoid them. Not always possible. Boat enough, and you will get caught in a storm.

Boat enough, and you will get caught in a storm.

In a good boat a thunderstorm in FL is simply the daily fresh water wash down.

Amused

I get a kick out of the speculative comments in this thread.

The boat sunk because the owner failed to maintain her and was out in weather for which he was ill prepared. As noted above, an 8d battery was not properly tied down and broke loose in heavy seas, hitting the stuffing box and allowing the engine room to fill with water.

I know of very few boars that will not founder once filled with water. The fact that this boat sunk rests with the owner, not the designer not the builder.

The CG is about 5 feet above the waterline - not as low as a ballasted sail boat but at a similar relative height as a container ship.

Computer studies show that she is self righting from a 100 degree knockdown - this assumes the windows are not stove in (not a realistic assumption).

The Moment of Enertia is closer to that of a catamaran than a typical displacement trawler - this means she rolls less and it takes more energy to make her roll.

Regarding windage: with her widely spaced props, she can rotate in her own length. With a displacement exceeding 100,000 #, she is not easily affected by wind. She will heel about 1 degree while motoring in a 20 knot cross wind. Maneuvering in 20 knots takes some planning and skill - no thruster is necessary for the experienced skipper.

I find the story of a helm chair falling out of the pilot house and over a 42" high rail hard to believe.

The Florida Bay Coasters handle typical cruising conditions with aplomb, both in the ICW, Great Lakes, coastal U.S., and the Bahamas. Yes, they are coastal cruisers meant to be used intelligently inland and coastwise. No claim has ever been made that they are all-weather, go any where yachts.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to drive a sister Coaster, Irish Rover, from Kent Island to Edgewater, MD. With gale warnings flying, I chose to stay ashore.

I built the Florida Bay Coasters 25 years ago - most have given their owners the experiences they expected - delightful living aboard with cruises up and down the sea board.

The helm chair going overboard was told to me directly by the owner, who was operating her at the time he was waked.

Believe it or not I don't think an owner would make up a story about his own boat in a negative way had it not been true.

I wrote that comment 4 years ago and have travelled a lot of miles since then on both coasts including the Great Loop, and I couldn't count how many times I switch my stabilizers on when a sport fisher is bearing down on the ICW, so in an unstabilized vessel I do believe a chair could go overboard.

Is this really a Florida Bay Coaster? Methinks not so much.

1991 Florida Bay Coaster 55' Trawler Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Interesting...

Florida Bay Coasters

I have seen that boat in Deltaville, VA but never knew its history. Where did it sink and how did it get to Deltaville?

Donsan said:

Is this really a Florida Bay Coaster? Methinks not so much.

1991 Florida Bay Coaster 55' Trawler Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

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Methinks that a 55 foot 'bluewater' boat that was built in 1991 that only asks 170k, is probably too good to be true.

Donsan said:

Is this really a Florida Bay Coaster? Methinks not so much.

1991 Florida Bay Coaster 55' Trawler Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

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Highly doubt that it is a Florida Bay vessel as they were designed by Jay Benford and this one is a Chuck Neville design. Unless Florida Bay boats took a a quiet change in direction somewhere along the way.

rjtrane said:

Yesterday I had the opportunity to drive a sister Coaster, Irish Rover, from Kent Island to Edgewater, MD. With gale warnings flying, I chose to stay ashore.

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You coming over here today or tomorrow? What marina were you heading for? Haven't seen any boat traffic on the South River for 4 days now...

-Chris

Wayfarer said:

Methinks that a 55 foot 'bluewater' boat that was built in 1991 that only asks 170k, is probably too good to be true.

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Should almost be in the Interesting Boat thread. Does seem to be too good to be true, but interesting.

Is 850 HP overkill on this boat? Seems like a lot.

Wayfarer said:

Methinks that a 55 foot 'bluewater' boat that was built in 1991 that only asks 170k, is probably too good to be true.

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No pictures of the machinery. I think the broker Googled Florida Bay and came up with "Coaster". No idea what the old time Hollywood reference is about. The liferails forward look odd to me. If hull and machinery checks out could be decent value.


Keith

BaltimoreLurker said:

Should almost be in the Interesting Boat thread. Does seem to be too good to be true, but interesting.

Is 850 HP overkill on this boat? Seems like a lot.

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That does seem like a lot. I guess I'd rather have too much power than not enough.

refugio said:

No pictures of the machinery. I think the broker Googled Florida Bay and came up with "Coaster". No idea what the old time Hollywood reference is about. The liferails forward look odd to me. If hull and machinery checks out could be decent value.


Keith

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There are some signs of water intrusion damage. The layout is a bit odd, but not bad. Some bits are a little dated. The wonky railing and wavy rub rail may indicate some failed attempts at maneuvering. Even still, that's a hell of a deal. I mean, it is still floating.
You'd pay ten times that amount for a new boat like that.

Conrad said:

Highly doubt that it is a Florida Bay vessel as they were designed by Jay Benford and this one is a Chuck Neville design. Unless Florida Bay boats took a a quiet change in direction somewhere along the way.

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There you go......different design, same builder....