What actually happens if you take a big scoop of water in the bow?

[jhughes]

Had the 200 out on BIG water (Table Rock lake) this week and got hit by a squall that blew in out of nowhere. Had no choice but to try to get back to the marina and I knew I was in big trouble as the winds picked up. Huge waves, probably 2-3' whitecaps punctuated by even bigger waves. POUNDING the boat. Essentially zero visibility as spray blasted the windshield. Had the boat in trick mode and kept the speed in the teens to keep that bow up but it was very, very scary. My thought was if I had let the bow down the boat would have been irrecoverable. I know it wouldn't have sunk but it would have been... awash, certainly. This was a big enough squall that it would have affected any tournament OB on the market, I can tell you that, so this is not a rip on the 200.

 

Sooooo what happens if the open bow takes a huge scoop? I'm not talking about a little blip of water that gets folks wet, I'm talking about a full scoop. Certainly that's been a tested scenario, right? How does the boat recover with 100+ gallons in the bow? I had the wind deflector in so I don't know where the water would go. Maybe under the seat cushions? My wife thought I may have been over dramatizing but I don't know about that...

[MISkier]

I think this is what happens.

 

[UWSkier]

It's usually the subsequent waves that take you down after the first big scoop.

 

Never really considered the Malibu Wedge as a possible safety device but I imagine it'd come in handy in a scenario like that.

[BraceMaker]

Never done it on a ski boat but I can say that in something like outboard fishing boats the first wave isn't the question it is the second and third that are the problem.

 

The water takes awhile to get down into the bilge and sort of washes around to the back so best move is just keep on some speed and turn the bilge pump to "on" not "auto".

 

For open water boating it would be really nice to install a second larger bilge pump in the rear to its own thru hull.

[LoopSki]

Not sure how much water we actually took in but there was about 6 inches of water cover the entire floor . We are on the Delta for those of you don't know it it's a Labyrinth ofsloughs and channel in central California. You got every type of boat out there from ships to small fishing boats. We were cruising in a channel When We Came Upon a large yacht going about 10 15 miles an hour. It was creating awake probably about 4 to 5 ft tall. I did everything I could to keep the nose up but it was just too much to handle in a Malibu response LXI it was scary but we survived boat didn't sink in the pump got all the water out

[h2onhk]

@LoopSki was the yacht legal? seems awful fast for a channel. Pretty sure they are responsible for their wake and whatever damage they cause.

[jhughes]

I knew that MC video would pop up! I'm just wondering what Joe-Six-Pack wally boater would do in a ski boat in this situation. I'm thinking they'd be donezo as staying on the gas is not the most instinctual move.

[ScottScott]

We did a lot of Intracoastal boating in the little 18' bow rider I had, really not much better than a ski boat in terms of taking water over the front with rollers that big. Its common to pass large boats 35-45' going 20-25 mph in a pretty narrow channel. I learned the hard way that stopping isn't the best approach.....keep moving at a speed that keeps the bow the highest. You can take a good bit of water in, then just run the bilge pump and it eventually gets it out. As mentioned above, having a 2nd bilge pump never hurts, both as a backup in case one fails, or to remove the water double fast.

[WBLskier]

Wow that makes me love my closed bow Malibu.

[BraceMaker]

Do 200's come with a bow cover

[dvskier]

Big lake in a storm is for sure as worst case scenario for any small craft especially a low open bow boat. I have a 2004 SN 196 and I would adjust rpm to 2,000 and proceed. At this power setting I have never taken a roller. I don't cruise around in the ski boat as I also have a 24' pontoon at my dock for cruising.

 

I would think an additional bilge pump located aft most would be very useful as that's where all the water will go, to the very back of the boat. If you slow the boat down to pump the water out you'll surely take on more water and capsize the boat. Overall you simply can't be too careful when it gets nasty.

[ALPJr]

A while back after skiing the ocean swells behind a Glastron GT 150 we were heading home from the Great Egg bell buoy, about a mile off Ocean City NJ when a following wave broke over the stern bringing water in about 3/4 the way up the gunnels. There were 3 of us on board. With quick action one mate went to the stern and pulled the drain plug from the bilge well behind the now floating fuel tanks. The other mate jumped onto the bow, and by a miracle the 115hp Johnson didn't stall. I gased it just enough to get the bow up, and dumped a bunch of water over the transom. Took a few minutes to clear rest of the water through the plug hole and the out the bilge pump hose. Was a close call that we had a good laugh about.

[jimski]

You get wet

[Rob]

As @jimski said - you get wet. This whole thread reminds me of a funny story about ten years ago when I was instructing some young kid on the boom for a two ski lesson. His mom was in the boat and he was doing fine, so onto the short rope off the boom and then behind the boat for long line. I was doing my thing and everything was going great - another success story...then he fell and I circled to pick him up. I had a moment's in attention to what was going on in front of me as I made sure I got the rope back to the kid properly and I turned forward again just in time to see the nose of the boat head into a very large roller from a wakeboard boat which was in the vicinity. I was in a closed bow 196 and totally buried the bow...the mom who was in the passenger seat, wearing clothes and sitting facing backwards of course, didn't know what was happening until she got drenched. I was mortified and apologized profusely..not one of my finer moments...

[pudgyskier]

Growing up, we had our expandable boat drain plug on the inside of our 16' outboard boat that was on a buoy. After it rained, (no cover, or bilge pump) or after a day of skiing with lots of wet kids getting in the boat, we would power on and pull the plug letting all the water out.

Much later with the first tournament boat, in my twenty's , I bailed the boat out many times with a cooler after having the bow go under, or doing power slides showing off for girls.

[6balls]

I mean zippo disrespect and certainly I wasn't there live in the conditions described. I don't think I would run trick mode or a speed control in those situations...hand on throttle...appropriate speed to keep the bow up so I can alter as necessary.

 

Depending on just how big the swells are and how much space between them it may not be best to take them on dead square. Taking a few slight diagonals but still making your way back to where you need to go may make more sense. Right tack and go for a bit, left tack and go for a bit etc until closer to shore where the waves start to lessen. Takes some work on the wheel and patience to make progress but doesn't subject yourself as fully to over the bow problems.

 

Again I wasn't there to see how bad it was, and I'm glad you made it back. This is just coming from a guy who has been in some big water and has some experience getting ski boats out of a big storm. A couple of times we were on the far side of a 5 mile long lake with big wind coming in and needed to get to the other side to either moor or pull the boat cuz we were not going to last where we were...that meant crossing a 5 mile lake the first half of course was the worst.

 

As for huge ass yacht wakes...depending on size can take 'em parallel...or spin ass to them and go slow letting 'em roll under the boat from rear to front...you can take a slight angle there too under idle power. Once they pass under go on about your business.

 

 

[liquid d]

You should hammer the gas on the first one, and jump the next couple of wakes.

[GregHind]

@6balls i assume he selected trick mode to lift the hydrogate and get the bow up not speed control

[wilecoyote]

I'm with @6balls. All the boating wisdom I know of is to take large swells on the diagonal. I've been in HUGE (6 to 10 feet) swells on Lake Ontario with 3 people in a 14' aluminum boat with a 9.9 outboard. My best friend was driving and we alternated between surfing the waves and letting them pass under us. It was a terrifying time on the water for sure.

 

[WoodySkier]

https://instagram.com/p/BkLQhQLBpEu/

[DynaSkiPete]

I can tell you with a Dyna-Ski Open Bow outboard nothing would likely have happened. Not the case with some brands of outboards. Our bow comes up just enough under part throttle that it is unlikely much water would get in the passenger area.

[Conor]

A buddy of mine swamped his whole nautique towing behind a house boat. He swam out to it, fired it up and punched it immediately and 80% of water rushed out with the hole shot. I was surprised it started up but it worked. Dried it out and used it for the rest of the trip.

[6balls]

@DynaSkiPete totally true the Dynaski would be great in that situation...I can get out of all kinds of trouble in my outboard Centurion as well where inboards would struggle. It still would have been a rough ride but easier to get out of that mess than in an inboard. Some inboards easier than others as well. @Conor that's a cool story!

 

@WoodySkier that is so wally classic!!

[BraceMaker]

@Conor the risk there is hydrolocking the engine/electrical damage but glad it worked!

Lots of horror stories of people towing boats and swamping.