Caution: TriToons Can Flip!

[LaurencetheAdventurer]

I think we all realize boating conditions can change drastically in minutes. Until this prior Labor Day weekend, I had not fully appreciated that our relatively stable and safe TriToons could actually FLIP OVER! I was on the lake 10 minutes before this monsoon hit, it was mostly gone in another 10 minutes, but what a tragic sliver of time that was for this family and others.

I don't know the family, but my prayers to them for the loss of their 17yr old daughter.

I am now looking to educate myself more about this risk and how do we drive our boats when caught in sudden gale force winds and waves (experience suggests downwind or into the wind, slight angle over waves, but?).

I suspect this event occured with the TriToon sideways to the wind and a shore break wave - the combination leading to the flipped boat. No information on these details have been provided.

Also in search of a storm radar app that will provide alerts with minimal bandwidth!!

I certainly have learned I have a lot to learn! Ideally sharing may help save others!?

Have fun, but safety first!!!

 

[lakeliving]

Sad. Mother Nature always wins

 

[DVW]

Pontoons are top heavy. They have heavy decks that sit up high on light tubes. I have picked up one end of a tube. It’s like picking up a heavy canoe. The good roll stability exhibited when you step off the dock diminishes at extreme roll angles. The only death on our lake occurred about 50 years ago when a gust front tipped over a pontoon style boat. The boat had a full length hardtop that caught the air causing a high tipping force. One of the occupants was knocked out and drowned. Lowering the top might have saved a life. Another potentially bad condition for pontoons is losing power and naturally drifting sidewise into heavy ocean surf. The boat might go all the way over as the wave breaks and it runs aground. This risk could be avoided by not pontooning in a location during heavy surf conditions. My condolences to your local loss.

 

[jcr159]

Thanks for posting and sad to hear…. Thoughts and prayers out to the family.

You definitely want to stay out of a crossing sea condition…. I.e.- where the boat isn’t at 90 degrees to the waves. Heading down wind(direction the waves and wind are moving) is easier. You’ll find that tacking is a good practice to make progress when you can’t head directly to your destination. Tacking is zig-zagging to get to your destination like sailboats do. This puts you in a crossing sea instead of waves coming directly to the side of the boat. Last thing is to use throttle manipulation to keep the nose of the boat up/down…. Add power as you descend a wave to prevent the nose from diving down, and remove power as you crest a wave to keep from using it as a ramp….

This reminds me that I wanted to share a podcast recommendation…. All docked up is pretty good, and they talk about a different safety topic in each episode, and some boat detailing stuff that’s interesting. They boat in the Chesapeake on different style boats, but a lot of good advice, and I’m always learning!

 

[jcr159]

One more thought…. X there are some good YouTube videos of how to approach less than ideal conditions that are worth a watch…. It’s the next best thing to practical experience. I can honestly say that growing up in small inland lakes did nothing to prepare me for 2-4’ swells near captiva and sanibel in the gulf. And I wasn’t offshore…. And it wasn’t that bad. But it was enough beyond my comfort level that I learned a lot real fast and realized how much practice is helpful…. Not to mention and experienced friend…