Roughest conditions you faced in the V ?

Destroyer said:
And the truth of the matter is that tragically, there might have been an entirely different ending to that journey. Glad you both made it back in one piece. Has your wife gone back out with you yet?
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Yeah she is a trooper. We were supposed to go to the Tice's get together the following day. But I ended up going solo. She was back out the following weekend. This past Sept. we launched in the Highlands and went up the Hudson to Kingston NY. It was a nice long trip and no waves. So all I have to do is plan inland trips from now on
 
First trip offshore-got caught offshore and ran as soon as it started picking up--but in 30 minutes it can really build fast..button down the hatchs and hang on...40 knot winds--a sharp 5 to 6' and when I hit the"hole in the wall" to get between the shore and tatoosh island--with the swell, wind chop and swell--I will swear we went through( no shizit) some 10'rs--not pleasant at all--probably ate green water 8 to 10 times--glad I had the enclosure. Be calm and work the throttle.

pretty regular offshore is 4 to 5' with 1' chop--but the inshore is a cake walk at 1 to2'.

The trim tabs made a huge diff in smoothing out the ride, but still use the motor a lot depending on the chop on top of the swell, this is where you are glad the steering cable went in the garbage for hyd steering.
 
Now that's Hard Core Fishing
Hopefully those days are few or you will need a bigger V. But being a fisherman you will be ready to go :pray2:again.
 
step up here said:
Now that's Hard Core Fishing
Hopefully those days are few or you will need a bigger V. But being a fisherman you will be ready to go :pray2:again.
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Imagine if there was a swell the day you and I were coming back.......following the commercial boat knocking the 3'-5's down for us. That would have been fun.
 
Just how it is off the nw coast--once and awhile we get like a 1' swell @ 14 secs and no chop--those days are cherished dearly. Swells--more about timing and direction than size.

picture below is a cherished day--right on the beach.
 
Genie Aye said:
Just how it is off the nw coast--once and awhile we get like a 1' swell @ 14 secs and no chop--those days are cherished dearly. Swells--more about timing and direction than size.

picture below is a cherished day--right on the beach.
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Here on the east coast it's not too bad........we tend to draw the line when waves get to about 50 feet, under that's fishable.
 
I just bought a cheap 1986 20' fisherman center console to learn boating. We have a lake house on Sandusky Bay. I've gotten good at sailing and charting etc. So the bay was like glass and my Mom came out with me. She wanted to go by Cedar Point. Lake Erie is a shallow unforgiving death trap of lake. Especially when you follow the channel from the bay out into the main lake. I get into the channel and about a good 2' chop is waiting for me combined with the wake of the other boats near me which about swamps this thing if you catch it sideways. The Jet Express passed in front of me and we were stuck. You can't duck out of the channel left or right because it goes from 26' deep to 2' deep in about 100yds. We slam over that and the swell picks up. We have nasty chop from all directions between 3-5 feet. We made a beeline for the place we dock our other boat but the waves were behind us. My mom was white knuckle holding the rails and cleats crying while I got us in. Once we were there everything was cool. I don't care how well these Vees are built, 20' on the lake gets really sketchy REALLY quick. I wouldn't trust it to go to Put-In-Bay, Kellys, or Peele.
 
CDAWWGG said:
I just bought a cheap 1986 20' fisherman center console to learn boating. We have a lake house on Sandusky Bay. I've gotten good at sailing and charting etc. So the bay was like glass and my Mom came out with me. She wanted to go by Cedar Point. Lake Erie is a shallow unforgiving death trap of lake. Especially when you follow the channel from the bay out into the main lake. I get into the channel and about a good 2' chop is waiting for me combined with the wake of the other boats near me which about swamps this thing if you catch it sideways. The Jet Express passed in front of me and we were stuck. You can't duck out of the channel left or right because it goes from 26' deep to 2' deep in about 100yds. We slam over that and the swell picks up. We have nasty chop from all directions between 3-5 feet. We made a beeline for the place we dock our other boat but the waves were behind us. My mom was white knuckle holding the rails and cleats crying while I got us in. Once we were there everything was cool. I don't care how well these Vees are built, 20' on the lake gets really sketchy REALLY quick. I wouldn't trust it to go to Put-In-Bay, Kellys, or Peele.
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I think you missed the point. The V got you home. There's a LOT of boats out there that wouldn't have. No one likes to get into those situations, but when I do, I thank God that my V is under my feet.
 
Destroyer said:
I think you missed the point. The V got you home. There's a LOT of boats out there that wouldn't have. No one likes to get into those situations, but when I do, I thank God that my V is under my feet.
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I agree, plus a lot has to do with the experience of the skipper and boat handling skills. The V20s are a GREAT mass production boat.
 
jumpingjoe.jpg


Topic always reminds me of this photo (not mine!).

It's a 20-foot boat. Respect what open water can do and be smart.
 
I once ran out of Gentleman Jack and I was hours away from the boat landing. Those were some of the toughest conditions I ever want to encounter.

Seriously, I just went 28 miles out into the Atlantic trolling up dolphin. The weather was perfect for our 20 and 21 footers. However, mine is best used in lakes, streams and rivers. It is a 20' 6" boat that handles great.

"IT IS NOT A MAGIC CARPET" - Sir Reelapeelin
 
CDAWWGG said:
I just bought a cheap 1986 20' fisherman center console to learn boating. We have a lake house on Sandusky Bay. I've gotten good at sailing and charting etc. So the bay was like glass and my Mom came out with me. She wanted to go by Cedar Point. Lake Erie is a shallow unforgiving death trap of lake. Especially when you follow the channel from the bay out into the main lake. I get into the channel and about a good 2' chop is waiting for me combined with the wake of the other boats near me which about swamps this thing if you catch it sideways. The Jet Express passed in front of me and we were stuck. You can't duck out of the channel left or right because it goes from 26' deep to 2' deep in about 100yds. We slam over that and the swell picks up. We have nasty chop from all directions between 3-5 feet. We made a beeline for the place we dock our other boat but the waves were behind us. My mom was white knuckle holding the rails and cleats crying while I got us in. Once we were there everything was cool. I don't care how well these Vees are built, 20' on the lake gets really sketchy REALLY quick. I wouldn't trust it to go to Put-In-Bay, Kellys, or Peele.
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I run mine on Erie in a hell of a lot worse than 2' chop. the boat can take it, you just need to know how to operate it.....

lake Erie is a very unforgiving lake though, it goes from a nice 2' chop to dow right nasty very quickly...

PIB and Kelleys are very short runs from catawba and marblehead less than 5 miles.

we plan on running our v20 from lorain to kelleys this weekend if the weather forecast changes which is roughly 25 miles each way...we usually run to the weather buoy walleye fishing several times a summer which is just shy of 20 miles

myMy point is the boat is plenty to handle Erie... just know what you can handle and know the weather forecasts
 
jamesbalog said:
I run mine on Erie in a hell of a lot worse than 2' chop. the boat can take it, you just need to know how to operate it.....

lake Erie is a very unforgiving lake though, it goes from a nice 2' chop to dow right nasty very quickly...

PIB and Kelleys are very short runs from catawba and marblehead less than 5 miles.

we plan on running our v20 from lorain to kelleys this weekend if the weather forecast changes which is roughly 25 miles each way...we usually run to the weather buoy walleye fishing several times a summer which is just shy of 20 miles

myMy point is the boat is plenty to handle Erie... just know what you can handle and know the weather forecasts
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I've seen Erie with short, steep 6' waves crashing continually for days.
That is one rough lake !!! Can smash, destroy, sink most any small boat.
 
Here is a picture of some big erie waves that was shared on ohio game fishing this past weekend . Ive only been out in waves close to that once on erie... dont wannt do it again

its not fun not being able to see over the waves when they are coming every few seconds, from sometimes different directions and constantly breaking.
 

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Worst Ive been in was in the Wellcraft 18, I was very mad at the fish when I was younger and would regularly take it 20-25 miles out as long as it wasnt tropical storm force winds.

Once I got caught in a bad front moving offshore while coming back in. I knew it was coming but had planned the trip accordingly. Mother nature dont follow the radar models all the time though. From about 15 miles out all the way back in to Dauphin Island I was in genuine 8-10'ers. I know lots of folks overestimate waves and will say "oh it was 4-6's out there" and its really close chopped up 2-3's. I checked the offshore buoys later to confirm cause at the time I swore they were 10-12'. It was a stupid move I never made again but when I got to the dock that day I never again complained about how heavy that boat was. She handled like a much larger vessel. It was built like a tank and I miss it sometimes. It was unpleasant and exhausting handling it over that 3 hour period it took me to get home but I never thought we weren't going to make it unless the motor quit.
 
jamesbalog said:
I run mine on Erie in a hell of a lot worse than 2' chop. the boat can take it, you just need to know how to operate it.....

lake Erie is a very unforgiving lake though, it goes from a nice 2' chop to dow right nasty very quickly...

PIB and Kelleys are very short runs from catawba and marblehead less than 5 miles.

we plan on running our v20 from lorain to kelleys this weekend if the weather forecast changes which is roughly 25 miles each way...we usually run to the weather buoy walleye fishing several times a summer which is just shy of 20 miles

myMy point is the boat is plenty to handle Erie... just know what you can handle and know the weather forecasts
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I grew up on Erie. Haven't been out in the V20 yet, still getting it seaworthy. Made a run from the mouth of the Detroit River to Put-in-Bay in 8 footers in a 28' Trojan hard top. Not fun.
The absolute worst was in November of 1988. Took a ferry back from the island to Port Clinton. This was pre Jet Express. Here's a picture of the ferry

That boat is 90' long, and the pilot house windows are 20' off the deck. They can transport a tractor trailer on here. We left the dock at 1:00 in the afternoon and made it to Port Clinton at 8:30 pm. It's normally a 45 minute ride. There were waves that hit the pilot house. At one point, we were circled by 3 separate Coast Guard choppers. It's the only time in my life that I really thought we were going to have to ditch. I had a brand new E 350 extended body service van with the entire rear filled with shelving and equipment screwed to the van itself. It was backed into the starboard bow, and would disappear under green water every wave. When we docked, the van was the last off. The rear doors were gone and the interior was as clean as the day we bought it. Two seats and the doghouse, that's it. Never want to be in water like that again.
 
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