Capsized

D

Davey

New Member
Mar 17, 2008
23
Gold Coast Australia
I was just wondering how stable my Sea Ray 175 is? We sometimes encounter large bow waves from other boats and there are some potentially dangerous bar ways when leaving the smooth inland waterway on the Gold Coast, Australia, (known as the 'The Broadwater') and heading out to sea.

Has anyone on here capsized or gone close to capsizing their Sea Ray? If so, what size boat did you have? What were the circumstances? Any opinions from experienced owners on how much confidence I should have in the stability of the Sea Ray?

I'm not planning to do anything crazy but just interested in others' experiences.
 
A 175 is going to be most stable in the conditions it was originally designed for.......calm inland lakes and protected waters. Anything more than that and you risk capsizing.
 
I would think that smamping the boat with a wave across the bow is a much bigger concern than capsizing. That being said, I think you have a very stable boat, but I wouldn't get it sideways in any big rollers. The 175 is a small boat to be taking out to sea on any days other than really calm ones. If you do, be sure you have emergency plans ready to save your crew. Still, better off staying in the waterways in anything bigger than 1m or so.
 
You know, I thought I came close one time. I had a very large woman on board. She was sitting aft on the port side. Her husband was also sitting port. I was the only one on the starboard side as I was driving. I was pulling a tube, the tuber fell off and I turned to port to go back. Through the turn my boat went into a big old lean and the engine made a strange noise (like maybe the prop was about to come out of the water.

Not sure how close I came to capsizing but I turned to starboard for the rest of that trip!
 
I have been in some really ruff water in our 175. Nothing like a ocean....but if you know how to drive in ruff water you should be ok.

We only had one time when we took on water and that was when a big ass sea ray came flying by us. (like 20 feet away) and we took some over the bow.
 
When I had my 175BR I took her to the ocean few times. Capsizing never came to mind as an issue. But, a slow bow dive in to a slow moving wave is something I've learned when I had two people sitting at the bow. It was no big deal, we just laughed about it. But, a lesson learned for the skipper to always control that bow position. With time I was comfortable to be in rough conditions and when coming back what usually starts as a nice calm day ending with larger waves from winds and boat traffic I've used a simple trick. When it's really rough forget about being on the plane. I would apply enough truttle to keep the bow as high as possible. When looking at the stern you think that it's about to sink by taking water, but it's neven happens. It's just sits much lower than during your cruising speed. I also carried a bow cover with poll and it would be installed (windshild door closed) when the water gets rough. If I recall correctly (it's been years) that boat have seen up to 5', but I would only attempt it for a short distance. For example if an inlet is really rough but the ocean is not too bad. I once came out of a protected bay in to an open ocean an was cought by high seas. With coution, turned around and headed back to protected area.

Hope this helps,
Alex.
 
Oh come on!!! Some people would take a bow rider across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. Everyone knows a "Sea Ray" open bow boat can handle 8-12 foot seas. Are you just a chicken?
 
Gary, don't give the bow riders ideas......I think you’re kidding.

I highly doubt that 18' open bow will handle 12' waves, even with a professional boat racer behind the wheal.

Most recreational boating is all about 3 main things, Safety, Fun and Comfort. None of it is present in 8-12’ seas.

I’m pretty sure many people crossed the gulf and I would try only traveling with a group and in the ideal forecast conditions.
 
When I had my 185, I was in 4-5 footers a couple of times. It totally sucks, is miserable, and is probably dangerous. We took a little water, but we went waaaayyyyyy slow until conditions subsided (caught in storms, not paying attention to the weather - Class A rookie mistake).

Another time in the 185, I was at anchor, fishing about 10 miles out in the Gulf. It was pretty calm, 2-foot or less. A party fishing boat went by (one of those 100' kind of things with about 150 tourists on them). That a@#hole decided that he would not alter his autopilot course, no matter how close he came to me. I was looking aft fishing, when I heard him and turned around, just in time to see his 5 foot wake fill my boat with water. My father-in-law was in the bow, taking a siesta, while I was fishing. He disappeared behind the wall of water, and then reappeared as the bow rose. I thought he was gone for sure. The anchor pulled up, we started to drift, and the bilge pump came on, almost simultaneously.

Honestly, I thought I was going to sink, and honeslty, I didn't know what to do about it. I grabbed life preservers and my handheld VHF.

Most of the water that came in ran through the cockpit, and exited through the drain holes by the swim platform. The bilge pump came on, and emptied the bilge. Once I collected myself and realized I was going to die, we went back to fishing.

From that, I figured it could handle a small event like that, but several waves in a row like that would have put us under for sure.

In short - if you are in doubt, just don't do it.

For Gary -

I one time took my 185 from Tampa to the Grand Caymans. I had a couple inflatable tubes that we usually used for towing the kids in the lake. I filled them with fuel instead of air, and towed them with ski ropes, which slowed us down a little.

Other than a few whales, a little Spanish-English interpretation problem with the Cuban Coast Guard (something about a bird), and the customs guy in George Town that only took cash (he had an eye patch, bad breath, and charged me a marked-up exchange rate), it wasn't a bad trip.

Really, the worst part of was when my depth finder automatically switched over to metric units without me realizing it. Must have been hooked in through GPS or something to do that. I kept seeing depths like 1.5 or 2, would get scared of grounding and detour around, which made the trip a little longer.

I used about 2 bushels of sunscreen, and I looked like a raisin for a few weeks when I got home, but it was all good.
 
Thanks for the experiences, guys. We copped a bow wave over the front from a big boat's wake the other week.

It was my fault really, inexperience, I backed right off & the timing couldn't have been worse - just as our wash caught up & lifted our stern, the bow wave slopped over our bow & my lady. We laughed but yes it could have been worse especially if out to sea.
 
Heading out to sea for a day of fun-filled recreational boating....................$4.00 per gallon

Hanging out at your favorite sandbar with the admiral until the wind starts
kicking-up............Free

Having your @$$ handed to you because you've pushed your skills and the boat beyond its limits...................Soon to be $20,000 or more depending on the model

You and the Admiral having to get rescued at sea at the expense of taxpayers...........I don't know this one, I've never been rescued at sea
 
just watch the weather. i don't know what summer storms are like there, but here in florida they are sudden and fierce. getting caught in one sucks in any kind of boat. in a smaller boat, it's about as bad as it gets.
 
I took my 180 out a few miles by Singer Island Florida without any issues. It was a clear day, 4 foot rollers. The inlet was WAY choppy with some big ass waves, but we muscled through it and had a blast!

In my experience, a calm day on the ocean is better than an average day on Lake St. Clair here in Michigan. That lake can get really bad due to the high boat traffic. One day, I huge cruiser (maybe a 50 sedan bridge) cut rite in front of me going like 30+ and threw a huge wake in my way. I hit that SOB and almost buried the bow into the other side. Everyone got wet that day, but I didn't really take on any water. Just what came over the bow. It was enough to turn the bildge pump on, but nothing to write home about.
 
I've taken two waves into the bow, soaking the people up front. But I'm learning more with experience. The largest wave we encountered was also from a large charter boat really far away. In what seemed like 10 minutes or so, those waves came to us. I'd say 3-4 feet, on an otherwise calm Potomac River. Pointed the bow about 30-45 degree off to them, nice and slow, no problems.

Our 175 is definately undersized for where we boat. And due to that, unfortunately I have not had the boat out yet. Seems the last three weekends have been continuously windy, with waves 1-3ft in the river, more in the Chesapeake. We'll only go out if the weather report shows waves 1ft. or less for everyone to have a good time and not get wet and beat up.
I refuse to go out for the first time this year and get my shiny clean boat beatup and covered entirely in salt! :smt009
 
People come across from Cuba on a door and they seem to make it! :wow:
 
surfinjoe said:
I took my 180 out a few miles by Singer Island Florida without any issues. It was a clear day, 4 foot rollers. The inlet was WAY choppy with some big ass waves, but we muscled through it and had a blast!
Click to expand...

180's must be better than my 185, because 2-3 sucked in that boat. 4 foot ain't much fun in 40,000 lb boat. hard to image it's a blast in an 18 footer.

to each his own, i suppose.


surfinjoe said:
One day, I huge cruiser (maybe a 50 sedan bridge) cut rite in front of me going like 30+ and threw a huge wake in my way.
Click to expand...

i guess thos 50db's are a heck of lot more maneuverable and faster than i realized. maybe it had zeus and gas engines.
 
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