Swamping/Submarining Advice?

[BigKahuna]

It IS a no wake zone

Sadly, people being people rules are ignored leaving those of us who try to be considerate holding the bag (or bucket in this case).

Good place for the Water police to sit......

 

[H2GO]

Wakeboarding waves were bad enough but the surfing wave is a big PITA. I don't mind the pwc anymore.

Yeah I bet that's what these are are surfing waves I see because they ride just feet away from the stern and the rope seems to have slack in it. I don't know but it does not pass the common sense test for me. Maybe i'm just getting old and cranky.

 

[kaydano]

[QUOTE=" I don't mind the pwc anymore.[/QUOTE]

That's funny!

 

[Stuart DeSpain]

It was a wake boat directly in front of me on the first submarining. Didn’t know that’s what they were called. Even going slow it created this massively deep trench behind it. Must be all that ballast.

 

[Jim Rampello]

Fortunately, my lake isn't "big" enough for a large number of the bigger ski/wake boarding boats. There are two other bigger lakes close enough that attracts those types. It only takes one to cause a problem!! Although holiday weekends are spent cruising to a spot and tossing the anchor in and then come in. Too many weekender crazies!!!!

 

[Dev75]

In my first year of boating I often had a tendency to slow when entering any type of wake. In my opinion, this has a negative effect more so on pontoon boats and I buried my front end a few times before getting the hang of hitting the wakes at the right angle and speed.

 

[sottemail@yahoo.com]

All great advise. As captain, it's your responsibility, your boat, your call has to be safety of passengers. I've had both happen to me unintentionally and I have even "exampled" submarining to new boaters what can happen with uneven weight distribution, throttling improperly, reading the water wrong, not watching the wakes from ALL other vessels in your "operational" area, etc.. they usually don't like it! Scares the hookies out of them!

If a rouge wake comes up behind you, overtakes your vessel and you happen to be traveling at about the same speed as that wake AND you are bow heavy!. If it's big enough it will submarine the bow and more than likely an open air prop. As the wake overtakes you. And lifts your stern out of the water. Best course of action is too reduce speed immediately, shut it down (everybody gets a nice up/down rollercoaster ride) or a corrective angle to absorb the wake properly. Or if you have open water ahead...out run it. And take corrective measures.

I have posted this in the past. And sadly I must again report that a boater passed away this past weekend on Lake Conroe. As a result of a much larger vessels wake overtook a small bass boat with 3 occupants. Boat capsized. All 3 overboard. All 3 had PFD on! 1 died. Not sure if the bass boat was under power or anchored or drifting. From what I've heard neither vessel thought they were close enough to pay attention to what was happening with the other, and how each vessel was affected by the other. They were both obviously wrong. And Lake Conroe is a decent size lake. Neither of these vessels was a pontoon. My point is "Be aware of your operational zone"! "Read" the water. Hit those bigger wakes at a 45 degree. You need to constantly be aware of the 360 degree water around you and how it can affect your vessel. If it's like glass, great. If it's choppy, move that weight around. Balance your boat. If there's heavy boating, rough waters! Don't have MAX capacity on your boat, if you are not comfortable riding that much lower in the water, thus more affected by wakes and rough waters. Easier to get swamped. And if something catastrophic does occur. You as captain MUST maintain composure and know what to do in any situation. And above all keep your guests calm.

I more or less "dance with the water", I can see and feel a rhythm of a choppy lake or even Matagorda Bay. Which is big. Leads out to Gulf of Mexico. You can see and feel the waters on your boat. A rhythmic rocking if you will. I pace my boat at slightly faster pace than that rhythm. I make my boat speed match the rhythm of the waters and go 1 beat faster. I want to lead in this dance. Your ride will even out and be smooth. And you should not have issues. Be aware of wind directions. Your vessel need to be "married" to the water and it's beat...it's pulse. You do that, and the two will be beautiful together. You will never beat mother nature, dance with her on the water as a couple. Like Astaire and Rogers. Above all, keep your head on a 360 degree pivot. Bad things can sneak up behind you quick! Or from port or starboard. And if you ever question your ability in a situation, or it feels "iffy" out there...get to shore! This ain't "Deadliest Catch" and Sig Hanssen ain't the skipper, you are! For Gods sake let's all be careful on the water and be proactive in your decision making. If questions arise...shut her down! And get back to port in a safe manner.

Thanks for this reply! A lot of good information for everyone to pick up on. This will be our 2nd season of boating our G25 Bennington so Thank You! Your advise on feeling the pontoon over the water is spot on.
I reported last year with a caved in front panel just 2 weeks after we had our new Bennington deliverered from a 4’ deep wake a 38’ cabin cruiser doing a hole shot 30’ in front of us. Definiatly caused me to be a very defensive driver. We are on the Lake Winnagago system in Wisconsin and we have big boats, big waves and big boat wakes.
We dont do much skiing or tubing but I did add a PTM mirror regardless, it gives so much more awareness of what’s around me on our busy system.
This allows me to see behind me with the Bimini in the travel position or when we have it up I raise the mirror up.