Load limit for 58 YF?

[first230sl]

Hey everyone.

I have been asked to host the appetizer part of a progressive dinner on the boat (1971 58 YachtFish). There would be 30 people in total. I am wondering if this exceeds the load limit for the boat. I figure 30 people - 5,000 - 6,000 lbs on a 63,000lb boat. Could be signifincant, but I am not sure.

Does anyone know what a safe load limit is for a boat like this?

Does anyone have a connection at Hatteras where I can get a difinitive answer?

I don't want to turn a really fun event into a really really bad event.

Thanks in advance.

Murray

 

[Passages]

My hunch is you would be OK if the boat stayed tied to the slip. Just make sure that all 30 are not congregated together and the weight is spread around.

If you want to cast off for a harbor cruise, my hunch is you'd still be OK with 30 but again, spread out the load. I've had 16 on my 42 without a problem.

I'd call Hatteras just to be sure.

 

[first230sl]

My hunch is you would be OK if the boat stays tied to the slip.

The intent is to do a 1-hour harbour cruise. We would not go if it were wavy, but we can always get hit by a ferry or tanker wake. So I want to be sure I am well within safe limits.

Murray

 

[Fanfare]

I had this question a few years ago when we co-hosted a wedding in Hilton Head. I had a marine structual engineer advise me as we had to take the entire wedding party from one island to another. I have his notes at my office and will check, but I am sure that 30 people was not a problem on my 50 ft. Hatteras. You will be able to carry more, especially if you are to remain at the dock. Since the beam is the same on our boats I think the advice should apply. His directions were: 1. Have lifejackets for everyone. (We had everyone bring their own so we wouldn't have to buy them. They had to have theirs in hand as they boarded so we could count. Plus our normal ship's supply of about 15 adult and child size jackets. As there are several child sizes be particulary careful to have the proper ones for your passengers.) 2. Full fuel and water tanks for more weight below. 3. No passengers permitted on flying bridge level. 4. Instruct everyone that they could not all move to the same side of the boat. If, say, porposes were to appear, the group could not all go to that side to observe them. In addition to this general announcement (which was made twice, coming and going), the members of the wedding party were "deputized" as enforcers while we were under way as I was running the boat from the flying bridge and not immediately available. 5. Don't take any money for the trip, even for fuel, as this would constutute a "hire" and require a Coast Guard license and inspection.

Other than my not getting a cocktail until we returned to the dock that evening the trip was pleasant and uneventful. The next day we served cocktails and brunch for 150 out of our galley, although we did have to purchase ice. And had the entire dock area for the overflow. Oh, and use paper plates, because by then our original Ling-Temco-Vought dishwasher had long been discarded.

 

[Will]

1. Conditions. If the boat develops a wallowing, deep rolling feeling and is reluctant to return to normal after healing a bit, she is headed for trouble. Keeping people as low in the boat as possible helps to maintain stability. Be aware of the wind, not just waves on the water. Wind heal, especially if the wind is gusting would be a concern.

2. Sources of information - Call Hatteras, they probably have stability information on your boat. - If you have time to be technical, look into U.S. Coast Guard regulations for inspected small passenger vessels, 46 CFR SubChapter S, Stability.

3. Not that this particularly applies to your boat, but we have had 20 guests on our 43' DCFB without incident.

4. On an other note - Does your guest list include children? Are you and your insurance company comfortable with liability and the character of your guests? You'd be surprised at how many jerks there are in the world.

All this aside, I hope you can do the event and that it works well for you.

Will

 

[Trojan]

According to the Coast Guard formula. You can have 58 people aboard your 58. I would not have that many on mine. I had 36 people on My 43 and I think that was to many. But the Coast Guard says I can have up to 40 people. I sure would not want to be in heavy seas. I don't think I will do that again. The boat was in no danger that I could see or feel during the whole time. At no time did it list or lean to a side. I just think it was too many. The gunwales were to narrow too overload a sides. Most of the people were spread out all over the boat. I have a built in bench seat in the bow and most people were sitting on the bow. It was only for 3 hours. We were anchored for most of the time. The only inconvenience was the heads. The formula I was given in school for the number of people is length time width divided by 15. I think it is too lenient.



BILL

 

[first230sl]

I had this question a few years ago when we co-hosted a wedding in Hilton Head.

Jim - how many did you actually have on your 50? And yes - I'd love to see what the engineer wrote/said if it is convenient.

Thanks so much.

Murray

 

[Nonchalant1]

Murray,

There has been a 53MY for sale on Yachtworld that's USCG approved for 50 people charter. I don't know if there were alterations, but it seems likely to be OK.

Doug

 

[REBrueckner]

USCG approves close to one person per foot on 40 to 60 foot boats, which has always seemed like a lot to me. I almost went into a dinner cruise business on a 50 foot Hatteras motoryacht USCG approved for 49 people. 30 people aboard a 58 YF is way under any limit. 700 gallons of fuel and 300 gallons of water is also about 6000 lbs, but of course a lot lower in the boat.

Six things I would do (1) tell everybody what the limit is on your flybridge, say six people, (2) tell everybody not to move to one side together, (3) Have a responsible (adult) crew member on the salon/main deck level to enforce that, (4) have plenty of life preservers on board, (5) instruct guests not to touch ANY switches, (6) provide guests head use instructions.

 

[Genesis]

I've had 30 on my 45C and it was fine, and I made no restriction on people on the bridge - but there is a natural one, as there's only so much room!

We were mostly anchored, but did cruise around the harbor. It wasn't all that significant, really.

I carry 10 divers with some regularity on the open gulf and I figure divers at 500lbs PER for person and gear. That's conservative (most aren't that heavy all-up) but I've had no problem at all with this.

Consider that I carry 600 gallons at 6lbs per and another 150 gals of fresh water at 8lbs each, and you're close to 5000lbs just in "ballast!"

The big deal is to make sure you operating recreationally (a "charter" which you're not licensed for is BAD NEWS both from an enforcement and insurance point of view) AND that you have a properly-fitting life jacket for each person aboard.

Oh, and the deal on the head. DON'T forget that. It only takes one "feminie product" that gets flushed to make your cruise truly memorable and NOT in a good way.

 

[Trojan]

In our area the enforcement people want a life jacket for everyone, of the proper size, proper fit and within reach of that person if it is not being worn. Not in a storage bag. A stiff rule to hold too. But I see there point. I ask people when I have a cruise party that if they have there own life jackets would they please bring them. A lot of the people have there own boats and bring them. A big help.
It's hard to watch that many people and some are real stupid beyond your control.

I don't like the formula for the number of passengers. I think it lets way too many people on board. I think the number of people should be dependent also on the style of boat and good common sense.



BILL

 

[Nonchalant1]

And make sure you pump out before you start. If 50 people all use the head once, you're full. Assign somebody to watch the holding tank gauge and when the front tank's about full, put a sign on it to go to the mid head only, since it has it's own separate tank.

Doug

 

[Will]

My understanding is that the Coast Guard uses two formulas for determining passenger capacity on small commercial passenger boats. One is strictly based on available space, i.e. square footage, rail space, number of seats, etc. The other is the result of a stability test, which may include limitations on the number of people on each deck. If the two are different, the lowest of the two is used for the final determination of passenger capacity. Therefore, you could have a boat with a surface area for 50 people limited to 30 people because of the stability requirements.

Regardless, it looks like there is enough information here to indicate that it is probably safe to carry 30 people on a Hatteras 58 YF.

Will

 

[Fanfare]

Found my notes from the professional engineer who advised me on Fanfare's stability. I found that my question related to carrying 25 passengers in reasonably sheltered waters (ICW) on the main deck. He said, "Insufficient info to scientifically comment on stability. Seat of the pants (gen. feeling) is that in calm/protected sea conditions vessel will be OK if: fuel and water tanks are full to shift weight low; no persons (except pilot) on fly bridge or boat deck; tender removed from boat deck [I left it at the dock]; keep people from going to one side of boat. Bottom line, use your best judgement."

This took place in 1998. I don't believe that the boat felt any different at all with this load. I don't remember what rpm I used for the trip, but it wasn't at idle. Probably did not try to get her up on plane, however. I was super careful on the docking and undocking, very very slow.

 

[Pascal]

i've had about 35 people on board my 53, 2 or 3 times, no problem. imade sure i had enough lifejeckets and that's about it...

35 on the 53 is as much as you can comfrtably carry for an cruise in sheltered waters. The layout prevents people from piling up in on spot or side. I felt a slight list if a few heavyweights woudl stand on one side but nothing serious.

 

[DelloRusso]

I am trying to get my 1998 50SD Coast Guard Certified as inspected vessel. If anyone knows of another 50SD or similar vessel being certified as an inspected vessel pleased let me know. I would be satisfied with a max of 30 to 35 total on board including staff and crew. I am going for near coastal but would accept inside route on river and bay.
If I can show the CG a recent certification of the same vessel it will save me a lot of time and expense.
If certified as an inspected vessel but with alterations, please tell me what those alterations were.

Also, this may sound stupid, but how do you post a new thread on this site? I just can not find the "post new thread" link

 

[MikeP]

Our 53 was certified to carry 37 passengers per paperwork from the previous owner.

 

[Angela]

My 58MY used to be an inspected passenger vessell for 49 passengers. There were a some modifications that had to be made that we like and some that I felt could have sunk the boat. So, we let the certification go and never sought to renew it.

On our boat, all of the railings had to be raised to the standard passenger vessel height, which I think is 42". This includes the flybridge railing and it had to be fully railed.

The engine rooms, including the genny room, had to be lined with rockwool and then covered with sheet metal - all surfaces except the floor. This meant everything that you would maintain or inspect periodically that was attached to the walls had to be covered up. I had to disassemble a wall just to change a hose clamp on a shaft hose. It snapped because it could not be maintained - we could not get to it. All of the electrical and water lines became sealed behind all that rockwool and sheet metal. It took 4" of access space off every side of the engine room. It was the modification to the engine rooms that we felt was bad because it prevented us from maintaining and inspecting common things like hose clamps, regardless of where they were. And it wasn't easy to remove all that stuff to get to a hose clamp - it would take more than a full day to disassemble it. No thanks!

The other area where you'll notice a difference is in the redundancy of fire suppression systems. Had to have manual pull system and an automatic system, and a fire extinguisher everywhere you could imagine.

I didn't mind the fire stuff and the raised railings, but sealing off everything in the engine room was a bad in my book and that had to go....and so out to the nearest dumpster all that crap went. I don't want that many people on the boat anyway. A charter for 12 people, uninspected, is a handful on this boat.

You would likely not run into the engine room mess that we encountered if the boat had been built as an inspected vessel. Trying to turn an older vessel into an inspected vessel is where it get hairy.

I'm sure there is a much longer list than I've mentioned here, but those are the most dramatic ones that I can recall. The previous owner (two owners ago) who did the modifications to get the certificate told me that it cost him about $150,000 to get all that done. Is it really worth it? Not for me.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

I am trying to get my 1998 50SD Coast Guard Certified as inspected vessel. If anyone knows of another 50SD or similar vessel being certified as an inspected vessel pleased let me know. I would be satisfied with a max of 30 to 35 total on board including staff and crew. I am going for near coastal but would accept inside route on river and bay.
If I can show the CG a recent certification of the same vessel it will save me a lot of time and expense.
If certified as an inspected vessel but with alterations, please tell me what those alterations were.

Also, this may sound stupid, but how do you post a new thread on this site? I just can not find the "post new thread" link

Go to the home page, then click on "Tech Talk". Towards the upper left corner just above "Threads in Forum : Hatteras Tech Talk" theres a tiny box that says new thred. Click on that and it will open a new thred page. ws

 

[worldsaway]

Interestingly enough the USCG just changed their formula in calculating passenger load for inspected passenger vessels. They increased the individual passenger weight to 180 lbs. Just went through a re-certification inspection on a a vessel I captain on a part time basis and they lost from 132 passengers to 128 passengers due to the recalculation.