How Safe Are Trawlers in Big Seas ?

[gonesail]

seeing a nordhavn at the marina convinced me. if i had an extra 250K i would be shopping for one of the smaller 35 coastal pilots. the boats really look like they can take it. just saying.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by gonesail

seeing a nordhavn at the marina convinced me. if i had an extra 250K i would be shopping for one of the smaller 35 coastal pilots. the boats really look like they can take it. just saying.

yeah, but the one I've got my eye on has already done a circumnavigation.

probably has issues. just saying.

[Capt Phil]

Didn't mean to offend, Bash... I was LMAO over your comment on ragging on Nordy' owners... cheers, Capt Phil

[Astrid]

One can also have a fishing trawler that resembles a motor yacht:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...en_harbour.jpg

[ChristiGrab]

yeah, but the one I've got my eye on has already done a circumnavigation. probably has issues. just saying.

Bash, thanks for the kind offer, but we'll stick with what we've got! As an FYI, we had her surveyed in February of this year and she rated "Like New." We are fastidious about maintenance, but even so, not many boats with so many miles/hours rate so well no matter how good the maintenance... particularly since we beat the hell out of her at times (unintentionally, but rough seas happen).

[rgscpat]

Does anyone have any stability numbers?

[ChristiGrab]

rgscpat: What do you mean by stability numbers?

[psneeld]

There have been many ocean crossings in all kinds of power vessels.

Yes... fuel/range is probably a bigger issue than seaworthyness.

Have taught and spoke in Safety at Sea seminars with some of the greats of powerboat cruising and most never really had to weather a storm at sea because they checked the weathe rand had the ability to avoid it.

[ChristiGrab]

Yes... fuel/range is probably a bigger issue than seaworthyness.

I think that one of the problems that I see a lot in the boating community is that people only focus on fuel range of powerboats and don't look at the boat's overall seaworthiness. Okay, lets pretend we live in a fantasy world where a power boater would never encounter big seas when crossing an ocean. Does the boat have a dry exhaust system or a wet exhaust system that sucks in a plastic bag or jellyfish and thus the engine breaks down? Does it have a closed keel cooled system or a raw sea water cooled system that helps an engine break down that much sooner? Does it have a fuel polishing system to ensure that dirty fuel never shuts down your engines? There is A LOT of factors that go into a truly seaworthy powerboat. It isn't only about fuel mileage.

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by ChristiGrab

I think that one of the problems that I see a lot in the boating community is that people only focus on fuel range of powerboats and don't look at the boat's overall seaworthiness. Okay, lets pretend we live in a fantasy world where a power boater would never encounter big seas when crossing an ocean. Does the boat have a dry exhaust system or a wet exhaust system that sucks in a plastic bag or jellyfish and thus the engine breaks down? Does it have a closed keel cooled system or a raw sea water cooled system that helps an engine break down that much sooner? Does it have a fuel polishing system to ensure that dirty fuel never shuts down your engines? There is A LOT of factors that go into a truly seaworthy powerboat. It isn't only about fuel mileage.

running out of fuel is a lot bigger than the issues you mentioned....range stops a voyage from ever happening...those others can be addressed...those problems are present in coastal cruising as well.

not sure what your point is...and it's not a fantasy world to avoid big seas...boaters and merchant mariners do it all the time.

[jkleins]

Originally Posted by psneeld

running out of fuel is a lot bigger than the issues you mentioned....range stops a voyage from ever happening...those others can be addressed...those problems are present in coastal cruising as well.

not sure what your point is...and it's not a fantasy world to avoid big seas...boaters and merchant mariners do it all the time.

The way I read it her point is that given two boats, one with all the redundant systems to help the engine keep running but not enough fuel capacity to make a destination and one with big fuel tanks but systems that can be more easily broken that the first is a more seaworthy boat.

I would agree. You can augment the fuel with spare tanks on the first and be comfortable you can make land. The second you are more liable to be stuck bobbing at sea with a good load of fuel on board.

Jim

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by jkleins

The way I read it her point is that given two boats, one with all the redundant systems to help the engine keep running but not enough fuel capacity to make a destination and one with big fuel tanks but systems that can be more easily broken that the first is a more seaworthy boat.

I would agree. You can augment the fuel with spare tanks on the first and be comfortable you can make land. The second you are more liable to be stuck bobbing at sea with a good load of fuel on board.

Jim

except for catastrophic engine failure ....most other items are nuisances...not voyage stoppers

[ChristiGrab]

jkleins got my point exactly!

psneeld: Bad fuel creates a catastrophic engine failure. Sucking in a jellyfish or plastic bag creates a catastrophic engine failure. raw sea water rapidly eroding your engine can create a catastrophic engine failure. My point is that you need a complete propulsion system that is designed to prevent the things that create catastrophic engine failures.

Now to address your comment about it being possible to never be in big seas... if you have an unlimited amount of time to wait for the perfect weather window and no concerns about visa issues, it could be possible. But, in the real world, visas expire and you have to leave even if the weather window isn't ideal. In the real world, where it takes 3 weeks to cross an ocean, the forecast can change in that three weeks. And while forecasting is indeed pretty darn good, more than once we got caught in a storm that was not forecast. When we crossed the Pacific, we had 15 - 20 foot seas virtually every day all the way from San Diego to Australia. It only got worse the farther west we went. And those were the "good" travel days! Several times we got stuck waiting out worse weather!

Oh, and my cousin is a merchant marine. He gets stuck in LOTS of bad weather. They stick to their schedule no matter what.

[Boracay]

By the book, or in this case Wikipedia, a trawler is a boat that trawls. That is it drags a trawl (basically boards designed to hold drag two ends of a net, across the bottom).

Its a truly destructive but very effective method of fishing as it takes everything.

The first trawlers would have been sailboats, but modern ones have big engines.

The design of trawlers came about because if the net or boards catches on something solid on the bottom the back and one side of the boat is dragged down into the water, sometimes leading to capsize and sinking.

Modern trawlers are large, powerful and tow huge nets.

Those same design features make a very seaworthy coastal boat.

On a personal note: My father, trying to interest me in a career in commercial fishing took me out on the government research trawler in New Guinea. I watched as a crew member put his hand on a running bar taught steel cable and lost his thumb to a pulley. Never felt the same about fishing after that.

I do like "proper" trawlers though.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by ChristiGrab

But, in the real world, visas expire and you have to leave even if the weather window isn't ideal.

In the real world, wouldn't you leave your boat in a marina and hop over the border into another country , get stamped, come back in and then leave on the boat when weather is more favourable?
In the real world, can you be forced out into unfavourable weather conditions or are the powers that be more likely to give you an extension until the weather clears?