yes, but you can't do it if the boat will get pooped by a wave and the powerboat design would be damaged...in other words, is it better to keep the pointy end or the square end into the waves to prevent damage?Yes. Very interesting. Thanks!
I often read about sailors towing warps or drogues when in a big following sea to avoid a broach. Can a slow power boat do that as well? Is there a chance the lines could get caught in the prop?
I've "smelled" an oncoming broach a few times, scariest was coming into a narrow jettied inlet with a meaty swell coming in. That's where some serious hp came into play. I did not stay on the power to build speed, but when heading was defying rudder position, give 'er some counter rudder and a snort of power to kick it in the right direction.
I'm still not confident that I have the skills to avoid inlet broaching. Something I simply try to avoid.
I try to get the bow on the backside of the biggest wave and simply ride it in, but that does not always work. Sometimes that wave flattens out and a bigger one appears behind you. In that case put 'er on the pins!!! I think..
Surf riding they call it. I call it scared-to-death time. Been there on the delivery run of my Phoenix 29 from Pt Pleasant to Cape May, NJ. The forecast that said 5-10 NE was really 15-20 NE. 3-4 ft following seas started growing bigger as we traveled south. I was able to keep up with the waves but just barely. Speed was swinging from 15 to 23 knots. The waves kept growing until we were looking up from the FB to the crest. Pulling back the throttle to let the big ones pass under was working until a big wave would not pass under. We were now surfing down the face with a breaking top right behind the transom. Pushed the throttles up to full throttle. Staying ahead of the breaking top but the bow pulpit too close to digging into the wave in front. The boat was yawing to port with me giving starboard rudder. Then it got worse real fast. The port prop (in tunnels on a Phoenix) sucked air. The boat spun hard to port, leaning hard to starboard. Time went into slo-mo. With both hands now turning the wheel hard to port while trying to hang on and no more hands to pull the throttles back, we continued the turn into the wave crest at WOT. We crashed through the top and fell off the back of the wave like falling off a roof. I yanked the throttles back to idle and headed NE into the waves until we could check things out. We made it ok. Everything in the cabin was on the deck in piles. I thank God the helm chair was through-bolted into the cabin roof. We broached 3 more times on remainder of the trip exactly the same way.
Several years ago saw a video of a highly-experienced helmsman who was tossed off the flybridge when the boat broached (but did not turn over) due to a large wave from a bar at the entrance to the harbor, He died due to falling on the boat before hitting the water.
Speaking of gnarly inlets...
https://youtu.be/yG9JmkhH7Qg
This seems incredibly risky, but maybe there was no other choice.
I can only go 7-8 knots so slowing down is my only option, but I don't like the idea of a big wave breaking on my stern.
Note to self-- stay out of gnarly inlets.
Also remember, you can sit offshore in safer conditions for an hour or two waiting for slack or flood tide. That can drastically change conditions in the inlet.