spartonboat1
Legendary Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2005
- Messages
- 2,494
- Hatteras Model
- 43' DOUBLE CABIN (1970 - 1984)
Update- read my Nov 2 post...on how bad it really was.
I ran our '72 43'DCFB to her winter port, last Saturday, Oct 10, 2009. Somehow, I got caught in the worst seas I have encountered, since I have owned the boat. I am very gratified that Hatt's are very tough, seaworthy, and dependable, with care. I know DD's are heavy, but they make for a lower CofG.
Our passengers were my 60+yoa brother, 92yoa father, the Admiral (wife), and my 40+ something son. Most took the ride to come quite well, all things considered.
I was ok on the run from Cheboygan to Mack City, hitting 3-5's while at full cruise of 12.7-13.0kts and an occasional bell ringer (rings the bridge bell, when wave hits) with my Dad at the helm (he hovers nearby, until requested to 'take over'). Lots of spray on windshield and steady 15-20 mph winds, maybe higher. When I got to the Mack City dock, there was much due Westerly wind and I had a hard time swinging to along side to the dock for my end of season pump outs.
Next stop St. Ignace. Looked breezy, but no more severe that what we just ran though I thought. It was about 2:30 when we got underway, and the worst weather was predicted to come around 7-8pm so I was trying to run ahead of it. The passage is about 6 miles, so I thought a 1/2 hour would get us in out of the weather. The forecast was quite wrong by several hours!
About 10 minutes out, we were near the center of the Straits, about 2 miles East of the Mack Bridge. And here it came... a major blow due out of the West. The winds hit hard and were very high, over 40 mph. Later when at the bridge paying the toll going South, the Bridge attendant called in for me and verified that during that period they recorded 55mpg gusts. The NOAA weather buoy in N. Lake Huron reported sustained 25-30mph winds with higher gusts. Seas were recorded as 'average' 8.5 feet. I swear we had 10-13's or more!
Well I felt committed. I did not feel I could turn around and I could not turn toward St. Ignace, due to excessive broaching. So I tried running before the seas and toward the east shore of Mack Isle, heading N and East.. In short order the seas built rapidly. My cruise speed at 2,200rpm is 12.7-13kts. My GPS was reporting 16-16.5knots running before the seas.
Finally a couple very big seas ran under us, and when I went down the wave, I buried the starboard lee rail at the water line, but no seas came aboard; but close. We could all hear one of the props in cavitation, but the synch-master kept the rpms steady. I went rudder hard over to starboard to try to go with the wave and we pitched down at 30 degrees and heeled over at 45 degrees, so I held onto the wheel and braced myself against the bulkhead; all the deck chairs accumulating at the starboard weather board, plus two unsecured pails of oil (poor planning)!
We then came back up. It sure felt like a 13-15 footer, as our 43's hull length fit entirely on the waves face! My wife, the Admiral, yelled a few words at me in Latin, something about my god-given heritage descending from dogs.
My brother, who is a Railroad Engineer, suggested/requested that I reduce speed. I checked down to 2,000, which would be 11-11.5kts, but we still showed 13-4kts with reduced rolling, although not snap rolls and rode better. This was still more exciting than I desired and the ride went on for about 5-7 minutes, until we we finally got out of the passage that runs from Mack Bridge to the Round Island Passage. The seas were now running at 7's, with some 9's.
We reached a line about a 1/2 mile from the Mack Isle shore where I ran North and parallel to shore. After a mile or so, I finally came about and headed due west and directly into the seas. Our ride steadied up, but it got colder and the wind continued to blow hard, 30+mph I would say. The cold made the windshield fog up inside and it was raining hard, plus much spray from seas flying off the hull. My brother was calling out the GPS heading to the St. Ig harbor (Arnold Line Mill dock actually) and we were making progress. 3 miles, 2 miles, 1.5 miles and finally the seas were much less, but still blowing.
We got inside their harbor and tied up!
I knew it had been bad, but until the Bridge people confirmed how high the winds were under the bridge and I reviewed the weather buoys, did I find that we were out in the worst 3 hour period of the weekend.
So how can I avoid this in the future? My first remark is that the worst seas I have been in on the Great Lakes in 50 years have been in the period from 1pm to 6pm...always. So when in doubt, run in the morning, the earlier the better, or nearer 7pm or later, except in the dark.
So thank god for tough Hatts!
I ran our '72 43'DCFB to her winter port, last Saturday, Oct 10, 2009. Somehow, I got caught in the worst seas I have encountered, since I have owned the boat. I am very gratified that Hatt's are very tough, seaworthy, and dependable, with care. I know DD's are heavy, but they make for a lower CofG.
Our passengers were my 60+yoa brother, 92yoa father, the Admiral (wife), and my 40+ something son. Most took the ride to come quite well, all things considered.
I was ok on the run from Cheboygan to Mack City, hitting 3-5's while at full cruise of 12.7-13.0kts and an occasional bell ringer (rings the bridge bell, when wave hits) with my Dad at the helm (he hovers nearby, until requested to 'take over'). Lots of spray on windshield and steady 15-20 mph winds, maybe higher. When I got to the Mack City dock, there was much due Westerly wind and I had a hard time swinging to along side to the dock for my end of season pump outs.
Next stop St. Ignace. Looked breezy, but no more severe that what we just ran though I thought. It was about 2:30 when we got underway, and the worst weather was predicted to come around 7-8pm so I was trying to run ahead of it. The passage is about 6 miles, so I thought a 1/2 hour would get us in out of the weather. The forecast was quite wrong by several hours!
About 10 minutes out, we were near the center of the Straits, about 2 miles East of the Mack Bridge. And here it came... a major blow due out of the West. The winds hit hard and were very high, over 40 mph. Later when at the bridge paying the toll going South, the Bridge attendant called in for me and verified that during that period they recorded 55mpg gusts. The NOAA weather buoy in N. Lake Huron reported sustained 25-30mph winds with higher gusts. Seas were recorded as 'average' 8.5 feet. I swear we had 10-13's or more!
Well I felt committed. I did not feel I could turn around and I could not turn toward St. Ignace, due to excessive broaching. So I tried running before the seas and toward the east shore of Mack Isle, heading N and East.. In short order the seas built rapidly. My cruise speed at 2,200rpm is 12.7-13kts. My GPS was reporting 16-16.5knots running before the seas.
Finally a couple very big seas ran under us, and when I went down the wave, I buried the starboard lee rail at the water line, but no seas came aboard; but close. We could all hear one of the props in cavitation, but the synch-master kept the rpms steady. I went rudder hard over to starboard to try to go with the wave and we pitched down at 30 degrees and heeled over at 45 degrees, so I held onto the wheel and braced myself against the bulkhead; all the deck chairs accumulating at the starboard weather board, plus two unsecured pails of oil (poor planning)!
We then came back up. It sure felt like a 13-15 footer, as our 43's hull length fit entirely on the waves face! My wife, the Admiral, yelled a few words at me in Latin, something about my god-given heritage descending from dogs.
My brother, who is a Railroad Engineer, suggested/requested that I reduce speed. I checked down to 2,000, which would be 11-11.5kts, but we still showed 13-4kts with reduced rolling, although not snap rolls and rode better. This was still more exciting than I desired and the ride went on for about 5-7 minutes, until we we finally got out of the passage that runs from Mack Bridge to the Round Island Passage. The seas were now running at 7's, with some 9's.
We reached a line about a 1/2 mile from the Mack Isle shore where I ran North and parallel to shore. After a mile or so, I finally came about and headed due west and directly into the seas. Our ride steadied up, but it got colder and the wind continued to blow hard, 30+mph I would say. The cold made the windshield fog up inside and it was raining hard, plus much spray from seas flying off the hull. My brother was calling out the GPS heading to the St. Ig harbor (Arnold Line Mill dock actually) and we were making progress. 3 miles, 2 miles, 1.5 miles and finally the seas were much less, but still blowing.
We got inside their harbor and tied up!
I knew it had been bad, but until the Bridge people confirmed how high the winds were under the bridge and I reviewed the weather buoys, did I find that we were out in the worst 3 hour period of the weekend.
So how can I avoid this in the future? My first remark is that the worst seas I have been in on the Great Lakes in 50 years have been in the period from 1pm to 6pm...always. So when in doubt, run in the morning, the earlier the better, or nearer 7pm or later, except in the dark.
So thank god for tough Hatts!
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