The recent post "spearing a wave" was great - thanks. How about some pointers on hitting waves head on. Maybe hitting is not the right term - taking on waves safely that are coming toward you  - thanks, Steve in so la

Hello Steve and Welcome to BR ~

 

Much of the advice posted on that previous thread is applicable here as well.

 

There's no replacement for having the right craft for the water you're on and for knowing when to head in or not even go out.

 

 

A-Jay

Welcome aboard, Steve!

 

I'll just second what A-Jay said as I've not read the thread in question.

It depends on the size of the waves.  If they are large, the best way to head into them is slowly, and with the motor tilted up so it raises the bow when you give it some throttle.   Work the throttle to keep the bow raised.  If the boat starts to get up on plane, back off the throttle.

 

If at all possible, don your foul weather gear before heading into the waves.  If you don't, you are in for a soaking.  Keeping the bow up will keep the spray to a minimum, but that "minimum" could still be considerable.  If you stay dry your misery index will stay down as well.  There is not much worse than heading into a wind on a chilly day and getting drenched.

 

Been there, and done that at Guntersville on the Road Trip two years ago.  You can try quartering the waves but that will make for taking more water over the windward side.  Ideally, you should head directly into the seas so that the water on both sides is thrown away from the boat. 

 

If possible, run in the shelter of the shoreline whenever possible.  It may be a much longer ride, but it will be dryer and more comfortable.

 

Ignore any urges to make a "run for it" in spite of the nasty weather.  Your first order of business is to stay afloat, and keep the boat in one piece.

Practice.

There are many "rules of thumb", but no substitute for time in the seat. Know the vessel you are operating. Know the water you are running. Have some common sense.

Again, depends on the size of the wave and the boat you're in. A runabout with a full deck and a full size windshield all the way across can take wave much better than a bass boat. If the bow of a bass boat bites into the wave the water is coming right on into your lap, so you basically have to do what ever is possible to keep the bow above the wave peak. The can be using the trim and gas to get the motor trimmed out as far as possible and enough power on the motor to keep the boat plowing with the bow riding very high.

I have been in one situation were I got caught having to run head on into 60 and 70 mph gust on a large lake that had kicked up ocean size waves. The only way I could keep the water from coming over the bow was to pour the coal to it and run too fast for my own likings and run on top of the waves. I was in a 20' boat and wishing it was 60'. I had to do this for almost 10 miles with a boat that was probably in the air more than it was in the water. I was not real sure the boat wasn't going to bust the hull because we were hitting so hard on some of them it was down right painful. If we tried to turn toward the bank, which was a couple miles away, the waves would come over the gunwale so we were stuck in the middle of the lake, running like a bat out of hell skipping along the tops of four foot waves, with my boat and body getting beat to hell and wondering if we were going to survive or not. We just knew if we slowed down, we were for sure going to sink and that water was cold enough we most likely would not survive long enough for someone to find us. One can't imagine how relieved I was when I finally made it to calmer water. That was probably my worst day on a lake.

The second worst was probably when stripper fishing on winter and it started sleeting. When the sleet got so thick on the boat it was dangerous to move around in, we decided it was probably time to go. We haven't given a thought to the fact if the sleet was building up on the boat like that, what it might be doing on the ramp, that happen to be a steep incline for about 100 yards to the water. Even with a full size, 4WD pickup, one can't imagine how hard it is to get 3,600 pounds of boat, motor and trailer up and a steep iced over slope. Luckily, I keep a couple of e-tools in the truck and spent the next couple of hours shoveling dirt and sand to make us a path up the ramp.