RPMs for rough water??? Bayliner 305-gctid394736

[Guest]

Ok..so at 3200 RPMs my boat planes and cruises beautifully..but what about rough water? I was crossing SF Bay late afternoon on Sunday and man..the water was pretty rough...

At 2500 RPMs your not on plane and the stern drags with tremondous bow rise..so Im not sure if that is a good speed for rough water.

What do you guys do when in rough conditions? Hull speed? but thats like 8mph and isnt that tougher on engines?

Any thoughts would be helpful.

[Guest]

Ok..so at 3200 RPMs my boat planes and cruises beautifully

No, it really doesn't. It's stern-down in the water, lugging the engines, and being extremely inefficient. It becomes efficient around 3600 and really running/planing well around 3800.

In rough water, like any other, I'd want to get the boat into its best plane, then possibly raise the bow if the conditions warrant it, but maybe not.

Hull speed? but thats like 8mph and isnt that tougher on engines?

No, not at all. But running at 3200 on plane is.

[yachtman]

It really depends on how rough the water is. A little chop and planning boats seem to do a little better. The rougher the slower you will need to go. If you want to plane then find a point where the bow porpousing is in rhythm of the waves. If it gets really rough then yea you will be at hull speed or power to go up waves and power off to go down at that point you maybe shouldnt be out there.

Every boat will be different in every wave situation. When it gets rough its not weather or not you are putting the engines its all about being safe.and or enjoying the ride

[Guest]

SwampNut wrote:
No, it really doesn't. It's stern-down in the water, lugging the engines, and being extremely inefficient. It becomes efficient around 3600 and really running/planing well around 3800.

In rough water, like any other, I'd want to get the boat into its best plane, then possibly raise the bow if the conditions warrant it, but maybe not.

No, not at all. But running at 3200 on plane is.

+1 3600-3800 is most efficient on plane. 3200, your lugging the engines hard, you must be running tabs heavily down or you really enjoy having your bow high in the air. Either way your burning WAY more fuel then you need to be at 3200 rpm.

In rough water, we run 7-8mph whatever rpm that is, you can feel it we the bow starts to rise, I try to keep that down. 7-8mph seems to be the sweet spot for us. Its not hard on the engines, and good on fuel burn also. We drive at this speed 65% of the time.

[RGrew176]

Not sure if this will work for you. Your water conditions are probably far different from what I had on Lake Erie. A couple of years ago I was headed home and I was running into 4' waves fairly close together. I did get up on plane but the ride was to rough. I slowed down to just above hull speed but that was to slow. I tucked both drives all the way in and throttled back up to 2100 RPM and letting the bow knife through the waves I had a much better ride home running about 17 MPH which was way better than the 8 MPH at about my hull speed or so. You need to experiment when conditions are not ideal to see what works for you and your boat.

I did not on that trip use the trim tabs I did it with the drives only and it worked very well.

[cwiert]

I agree with what Rick and Ryan said. Do what it takes to have a comfortable ride. I find that the simplest solution for me is to keep the trim tabs all the way down. I usually cruise at 3900 rpm which is about 31mph. But in rough conditions, I slow to about 3500-3600 and use a lot of trim tabs. That keeps the bow from bouncing all over the place.

[Guest]

I don't have a 305 but this subject is extremely interesting to me as rough water piloting seems to be my Achilles' heel. Even in a light chop, I seem to have problems finding a comfortable ride. On any plane, the ride is too harsh. As I slow below that, I seem to lose control and I am fighting keeping the boat straight. It has become extremely frustrating and is scaring the admiral away from boating in anything except perfect conditions. I have been told by some it is the hull design of the 265 and the fact the boat is so light.

[dktool]

and letting the bow knife through the waves

That's the way I handle extreme slop also, I take a few over the bow and up the windshield but hey, that's what a hard top and windshield wipers are for.

[Guest]

Smokeio wrote:
I don't have a 305 but this subject is extremely interesting to me as rough water piloting seems to be my Achilles' heel. Even in a light chop, I seem to have problems finding a comfortable ride. On any plane, the ride is too harsh. As I slow below that, I seem to lose control and I am fighting keeping the boat straight. It has become extremely frustrating and is scaring the admiral away from boating in anything except perfect conditions. I have been told by some it is the hull design of the 265 and the fact the boat is so light.

You have to remember 305/3055 is alot heavier and bigger boat all around. I can take a wake from a 40' boat on plane without issue, where in my 24' bayliner I would have to get back to hull speed or the boat would pound and fly very violently. Plane speed in even not bad conditions could ride quiet rough, hull speed was decent though.

Smaller boats pound hard, not saying the larger ones dont but we have weight and size to our advantage. I found hull speed was fairly comfortable in my 24' but sometimes we would still get pounded and sloshed around.

In all fairness though, the 2855 supposidly rides better than a 3055, if you ever look at the bow of a 3055 compaired to a 2855 you could see why. I have never driven a 2855 though, just what I have heard. nature of the beast.

[Guest]

The short answer is: you go the speed the Ocean allows you. You find a speed that the boat works well considering the conditions.Regarding the SF Bay, you REALLY want to avoid the out going tide hitting an incoming afternoon wind. Especially in the San Pablo bay. You will get an extremely sharp saw tooth fetch that will beat the boat into a pile of junk. AVOID this at all cost. Make way for the nearest safe harbor and stay there til the conditions change.___________________________________________ ________________________________________________Th e long answer is:The old, wise fisherman that hangs out on the dock said "Don't beat your boat". He must know this first hand because we heard that his boat broke up and sank under him. Now the old wise fisherman uses his 40 years of experience to read the conditions and stay out of the weather.Generally, you would avoid the rough conditions in the first place. Know your local conditions! The wind always comes up in the afternoon. What is the tide doing? etc etc. Second idea is to pull into a close marina and wait out the blow. Third, you just slow down and crunch your way home. I avoid heading straight into or straight down wind of the fetch, so you might see me making a big Zig Zag. After some experience with these conditions, you find a speed that allows for a steady progress home. When you get back to the harbor, wash all the salt spray off the boat and check for loosened fixtures. (You'll find a few)We were tucked into a harbor one spring, the boat was tied down ever which way.. There was a raging storm out front. I watched with amazement a commercial fisherman coming out of the storm. He tied up at the dock. The ruddy individual ran up to the liquor store, bought a 6 pack and returned to his boat. A short time later, he was back out front, crashing, smashing along, heading South. So, what frightened me was not a concern for this well seasoned skipper. (The skippers frame of mind)Generally, going down wind with large seas at your beam is the most dangerous. The waves can break over the stern. I've had a C-Dory that took off like a giant 22' surfboard. We skid down the face of the wave at 50 mph, hit the bottom and rolled over onto our side. The boat popped up pretty quickly. We threw buckets of green water overboard and then proceeded on our way.If you're out on the Open Ocean, you will occasionally see a white squall.. Run like a scared Rabbit for the nearest safety. Sometimes the heat of the shoreline will hold the Squall offshore. One side will be calm and warm, 200' away will be a raging wind whipping up the Ocean into a foaming mess. I've come out of a squall with a boat 1/2 full of water and the hull split. In no fashion is this "recreational boating" The following picture is of a white squall going about 60 mph over land. This can tear the water right up off the Ocean and throw cooler size foam around.

[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/698620=29131-squall_line.jpg[/img]The goal here is not to scare you, but to SHARPEN UP your observations of the weather and tides. While your family is having a great time, the Captain is constantly watching the conditions.

[dktool]

This general topic is what prompted my thread:

http://www.baylinerownersclub.org/forum/showthread.php?71803-Sea-Anchor-Sizing

When I return from the island it is normally a 25 mile open water run in the trough, this last weekend it was a much bigger, sloppier trough than usual.

I knew what the conditions where before we left so I was prepared and knew my boat and my back could handle it.

BUT....if I had lost power it could have become a whole lot wetter and wilder.

[Guest]

25 miles from the island...you must mean Catalina. I've made many dozens of trips out there, in everything from dead calm to 20-foot rollers (you can read my story on that one if you search my username and "Catalina"). Personally I've yet to encounter any seas that scare me, but the admiral isn't happy when it starts to get over the 6-foot range if they are very close together. Other than that she just trusts the boat and the pilot and sits back to relax.

If you get into the confused waves that often happen in the channel when the wind is crossing the current, there's nothing that is going to make a small boat really comfortable. Just follow the usual rules for bad weather and trust the boat. Nothing other than a real offshore hull will make it handle well. I did the trip a few times in our Wellcraft 2800, and I'd just go balls out, drives coming out of the water, hitting the rev limiter--and it was fun. But a totally different hull from the pocket cruisers we're talking about here.

[MDR3055]

I am also running the channel quite a bit and it can be a washing machine out there. Generally, I just keep her on plane, 3.5-3.9K, and just find a good line in the swell/wind wave to keep her as planted as I can. Lots of trim tab in my 3055 helps keep the ride a little quieter. Remember, sometimes that line isn't that quickest point to point, but it's a whole lot less beating on you and your boat.