First time on Florida's Open Water, Chop Scared the Crap Outta Me!

[isitsummeryet]

Made a recent move form Seattle WA to Bradenton FL. Put in my 2018 AR210 for the first time at Fort Desoto boat ramp close to St Petersburg FL and I wanted to go to passage key from there which is only like 5-6 miles away. Winds 12-15 mph and lots of other boats. But OMG I made no more than half a mile from the ramp and turned back. I don't know if it is my inexperience, I am a complete moron or my boat is too light? But the chop scared the jesus outta me! It was just wife and I in the boat.

Guys will trim tabs help? What size? Will 9"X 16" will fit on a 21ft? Or I need 10"X 14"? Do trim tabs help with the side to side rocking motion? Shit I thought the boat would flip and I would die out there. No very pleasant. I have zero experience with trim tabs and could use some help from experienced members.

Thanks

 

[Yamadale]

Dan

Made a recent move form Seattle WA to Bradenton FL. Put in my 2018 AR210 for the first time at Fort Desoto boat ramp close to St Petersburg FL and I wanted to go to passage key from there which is only like 5-6 miles away. Winds 12-15 mph and lots of other boats. But OMG I made no more than half a mile from the ramp and turned back. I don't know if it is my inexperience, I am a complete moron or my boat is too light? But the chop scared the jesus outta me! It was just wife and I in the boat.

Guys will trim tabs help? What size? Will 9"X 16" will fit on a 21ft? Or I need 10"X 14"? Do trim tabs help with the side to side rocking motion? Shit I thought the boat would flip and I would die out there. No very pleasant. I have zero experience with trim tabs and could use some help from experienced members.

Thanks

.

Glad you guys are ok. These Yamaha boats basically have a flat bottom. They don’t cut through chop or swells that well and Take a lot of impact without a deep V Hull. Good safety equipment (LRad,radio,gps,flair gun,etc. will give you more confidence. But always follow your gut instinct and small craft advisory. But I’m a lake guy so I’ll leave some space for the salties to fill you in.

 

[Cambo]

You definitely need to pick the days that you go out based on wind direction and speed . If you see white caps its usually not going to be a pleasant ride keep some links or favorite web sites that list the wind conditions and what the prediction is for later in the day as well . I use weather underground it has a great chart showing the wind direction speed and a lot of other weather related info. Also for salt water tide charts are good

looked up your local tide info doesn't look like a big tidal swing

High and Low Tide for Mullet Key Channel (Skyway)

High and low tide predictions for Mullet Key Channel (Skyway) .

www.weatherforyou.com

 

[Beachbummer]

Speed and direction will have a major impact. I admit I will "tack" in adverse conditions that I still wanted to overcome.(instead of going head on against the waves, go at 30-40degrees and then turn the "right way" after some distance, so you are zig-zagging, adding some distance, but increasing the wave period so you bang a little less.)

Trim Tabs help quite a bit, and lowering you speed will also help.

The sea calms down a bit as you are moving. your speed and the boat attitude at early planning help overcome rougher water vs idle/very slow speed. Tabs will help you plane at slower speed too.

Over 2ft waves it can get uncomfortable. There's a spot I visit where if the wind is up, my bow will get some water while we are at anchor from chop, and the boat can feel like a washing machine at anchor, but my SX230 is a trooper and can handle more than I can.

Check the wind forecasts and build up your comfort over time.

 

[Scottintexas]

congratulations for being wise enough to turn back when you weren't comfortable instead of getting into trouble,

We're told trim tabs help a lot (the FL-Bimini rave about them) and for the next two days there is a group buy with a great price going on, if you're unsure the size you can call Lectro -tab directly,

Take it slow and get used to it, our boats can handle a lot, our captains-maybe not so much,


.

 

[Dean P]

Made a recent move form Seattle WA to Bradenton FL. Put in my 2018 AR210 for the first time at Fort Desoto boat ramp close to St Petersburg FL and I wanted to go to passage key from there which is only like 5-6 miles away. Winds 12-15 mph and lots of other boats. But OMG I made no more than half a mile from the ramp and turned back. I don't know if it is my inexperience, I am a complete moron or my boat is too light? But the chop scared the jesus outta me! It was just wife and I in the boat.

Guys will trim tabs help? What size? Will 9"X 16" will fit on a 21ft? Or I need 10"X 14"? Do trim tabs help with the side to side rocking motion? Shit I thought the boat would flip and I would die out there. No very pleasant. I have zero experience with trim tabs and could use some help from experienced members.

Thanks

Glad you were able to turn back. That stuff scared the hell out of me too. Definitely no fun. To answer your question, YES, They're worth their weight in Gold in those conditions. I swear by them and put them on all my boats. The idea is to put more boat in the water so the bow can cut thru it. Make sense?

I went to Bunces Pass 2 Saturdays in a row a couple weeks back. It does get rough there, for sure. Drove right by Fort Desoto. As noted, try to it incoming wave, wakes at an angle. This work as I very seldom slow down (unless a >40' is going by).

Your boat should be able to handle 10-12 mph winds. I mainly boat in the bay as I live in St. Pete. I'll bring people out up to 12 max. Wife and I, 18 is max.

 

[isitsummeryet]

Thank you. I contacted Lectrotab. Hoping I can get some assistance while underway. For a few times, I thought the waves would sink the boat! I turned back immediately. lol

 

[Julian]

Thank you. I contacted Lectrotab. Hoping I can get some assistance while underway. For a few times, I thought the waves would sink the boat! I turned back immediately. lol

There is a forum sale on right now....see the banner at the top!

 

[Dean P]

Thank you. I contacted Lectrotab. Hoping I can get some assistance while underway. For a few times, I thought the waves would sink the boat! I turned back immediately. lol

Passage ways out to the Gulf are unpredictable depending on wind direction, wind speed and current. Good to check before going thru or just stay on the ICW.

 

[Beachbummer]

.... Your boat should be able to handle 10-12 mph winds. I mainly boat in the bay as I live in St. Pete. I'll bring people out up to 12 max. Wife and I, 18 is max.

Sorry, 12 and 18.. is that wind speed. or people on the boat, or something else? (I think Wind Speed, but just confirming Thanks!)

Thanks!

 

[Dean P]

Sorry, 12 and 18.. is that wind speed. or people on the boat, or something else? (I think Wind Speed, but just confirming Thanks!)

Thanks!

Wind speed. Again, I mainly boat in the bay.

 

[Toby]

Did you go out to the Gulf through Bunces Pass? With the SW wind kicked up the way it was yesterday, that way out will get turned up especially at the sandbar on the north beach/south of the pass. Can get bad especially with that wind direction. was bumpy for us going back yesterday from Anclote to Hudson. Not unmanageable, just slow going.

 

[Frank Marshall]

I have very limited ocean boating experience. In my efforts to try and find out when it's safe to go out I found these two suggestions.

I don't like anything over 20kts winds or wind waves over 5'.
Swell heights don't bother me that much as long as the period (time apart) is not the same as height. If it is double the hight that is perfect. Example: 10' swell @ 10 seconds = rough. 10' swell at 16-20 seconds decent-nice conditions.

swell + wave height + wind speed = more than the length of your boat DON’T GO OUT!
Swell separation should be 10 seconds or greater
Wind should be less than 12 knots
Plan trip for wind at your back on return

In week of playing in the ocean, salmon fishing west coast, I definitely found slower is better, get the bow up to cut through the waves.

 

[isitsummeryet]

Did you go out to the Gulf through Bunces Pass? With the SW wind kicked up the way it was yesterday, that way out will get turned up especially at the sandbar on the north beach/south of the pass. Can get bad especially with that wind direction. was bumpy for us going back yesterday from Anclote to Hudson. Not unmanageable, just slow going.

This is what I was trying to do. Failed miserably.

 

[Dean P]

This is what I was trying to do. Failed miserably.

View attachment 114805

I've been out in that. That is some nasty sh!t. Apparently you were heading straight into the wind. With the wind blowing at 12 do you know what the gust were? I swear by Dark Sky. Use it all the time. There are other too, but I like this one.

 

[isitsummeryet]

Does anyone know whats the easiest way to reach passage key sandbar? I am not trying to take on mother nature here.

 

[Dean P]

Does anyone know whats the easiest way to reach passage key sandbar? I am not trying to take on mother nature here.

There maybe a boat ramp on the other side to launch from IDK. Either pick a different place or go when the wind is under 6 mph.

 

[Wisefam22]

Send it... I havent been down there in long time.

In fact last time I was living st home. We were trying to outrun a storm... we ended up just dealing with it.

Windy and sail flow I think are 2 other good apps that show wind direction/gust/wave weight/tide

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

My stomping grounds , I stay out of the gulf if the wind is blowing especially in the afternoon as it usually comes in from the gulf I have been stranded out there in a storm, I have also been out 16 miles in a 19 foot boat, it just depends on the wind and storms. Try to navigate the inter-coastal waters on bad days, even the Skyway channel can get really nasty.
I was out Saturday and I left when the wind picked up. Remember the water is full of shallows and sand bars out there so the ground swells can get really bad.

 

[KevJul2019]

Thank you. I contacted Lectrotab. Hoping I can get some assistance while underway. For a few times, I thought the waves would sink the boat! I turned back immediately. lol

I boat in the Great Lakes. Got an education lesson last year. Boats on these lakes are usually 30’ plus and they tend to chop up the lake on a culm day. 3’ waves. I just became used to checking the weather and picked times when these boat are out. Or I get my boat to the hot stops before the big boats are out on the lake.