I have a Marlin I go off shore in Florida on the west coast. We have more chop than swells, but I plan to go to the Bahamas this summer.. I wonder if you Marlin owners could tell me about the biggest seas you have encountered and how you handled them ?? How to distribute weight , speed and trim advice ? Just want to hear your stories. We have 250 4 strokes with 15.5 props. Thanks
marlin in big seas ?
- Thread starter rsgandy
- Start date
What is "big seas" to you? "Big seas" to my CINC (wife) is 2+ feet. Big seas to me is 5-7. I run offshore quite a bit with my Marlin. The boat takes more than I will. Anything greater than 4-6 is difficult to fish, CINC has her hands full trying to drive the boat in anything over 3-4. If you are running long distances your spleen will be bleeding trying to run in 4-6 after a while at on plane speeds. We went to the Keys last year from Panama City Beach and got hammered trying to cross the Big Bend out of Government Cut across from Appalachicola; in 5-8 port side quartering headwinds, turned back inside and ran the intracoastal to Carrabelle. Spent a day and half in Carrabelle waiting for the seas to die down. Made the crossing to Clearwater Beach in 2-4 port side quartering following seas and the CINC did not complain too much although her eyes were pretty big, probably from the day prior. We hit some rough seas out of Marco Island going around the Cape Ramano but once we hit Florida Bay it was easy.
I have a 2007 Marlin with F250 four strokes. I run pretty heavy on fuel and lots of gear, my best long range cruise is 4100 RPM/25 knots/31MPH. I get textbook fuel flows of 20.6 gallons per hour at that speed. It was a great trip and even the CINC was happy after that second day.
I have a 2007 Marlin with F250 four strokes. I run pretty heavy on fuel and lots of gear, my best long range cruise is 4100 RPM/25 knots/31MPH. I get textbook fuel flows of 20.6 gallons per hour at that speed. It was a great trip and even the CINC was happy after that second day.
Big is subjective.
A 10' ground swell is ok a 5' gulfstream chop is uncomfortable.
The main thing to look for is wave period, the time between waves.
Go to the National Data Buoy Center website and pick the sites closest to your route to get a reference.
Generally summer crossings from S. FL are uneventful, but you can be surprised, especially if in a steep chop. SE wind is the best generally 15 mph or less.
Best to depart each way by 9:00am to avoid thunderstorms and afternoon sea breeze.
A 10' ground swell is ok a 5' gulfstream chop is uncomfortable.
The main thing to look for is wave period, the time between waves.
Go to the National Data Buoy Center website and pick the sites closest to your route to get a reference.
Generally summer crossings from S. FL are uneventful, but you can be surprised, especially if in a steep chop. SE wind is the best generally 15 mph or less.
Best to depart each way by 9:00am to avoid thunderstorms and afternoon sea breeze.
g0tagrip said:
Minor error on conversion, I think. 25kts = 28.79mph.
1nm = 6,080 ft. 1sm = 5,280 ft. 6,080/5,280 = 1.151515 as a conversion factor.
You're getting good economy at >1.2 nm/gal.
And I would love to have your Marlin.
Brian
ahill said:
Good rule of thumb: Divide the wave period in seconds by the wave height in feet. If the quotient is <2 it is going to be a rough ride.
e.g. A 5-ft swell at 14 seconds is quite manageable, but a 2-ft chop at 3 seconds will not be fun.
Brian
With boats in the 30 foot and above range, I say wind is public enemy number one.
These boats can handle alot of swell. But wind, like 15 knots and above, just makes a mess of everything. White caps, blown fishing lines, windshield wipers - yuk!
I have learned to do my trips in under 15 knots of wind - preferably under 10 knots.
And the above Poster is spot on as to the swell and period. Look for a 2:1 ratio where the interval is 2X the swell height.
And remember, it's never calm for very long, not rough. So if you don't like what you see in the weather forecast - simply wait...
With respect to being offshore - another factor to consider is - can you comfortably plane the boat for the long ride home? If you cannot - you will burn much more fuel pounding through that crap in displacement mode. So weather becomes a consideration for your fuel plan. These boats are designed to plane. If you're offshore and the white caps hit with a 1:1 interval to swell, you could be in a bit of trouble fuel wise (let alone comfort) for the ride home. Good question and good luck!
These boats can handle alot of swell. But wind, like 15 knots and above, just makes a mess of everything. White caps, blown fishing lines, windshield wipers - yuk!
I have learned to do my trips in under 15 knots of wind - preferably under 10 knots.
And the above Poster is spot on as to the swell and period. Look for a 2:1 ratio where the interval is 2X the swell height.
And remember, it's never calm for very long, not rough. So if you don't like what you see in the weather forecast - simply wait...
With respect to being offshore - another factor to consider is - can you comfortably plane the boat for the long ride home? If you cannot - you will burn much more fuel pounding through that crap in displacement mode. So weather becomes a consideration for your fuel plan. These boats are designed to plane. If you're offshore and the white caps hit with a 1:1 interval to swell, you could be in a bit of trouble fuel wise (let alone comfort) for the ride home. Good question and good luck!
NikM820
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Best thing I ever did was switch to a 4 blade prop. When it get sloppy and she won't plane without pounding pretty good, the rev 4 let's me maintain a speed where I'm just about planed and getting decent fuel consumption. I can run comfortably in anything I fish in at 18 knots with those props, where as before I would be on the throttle a lot.
Fishtales
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As stated big seas needs to be defined. I'm pretty much a fair weather boater, so not a good data point probably.
That being said, I have been caught in some bad snot with waves busting over the bow and some 6' albeit with enough of a period coming back from the bank or across MA bay. The boat is a tank and will take more than I. I have never felt unsafe, but there have been a couple of times that we all had on PFDs and the valise was in the cockpit.
That being said, I have been caught in some bad snot with waves busting over the bow and some 6' albeit with enough of a period coming back from the bank or across MA bay. The boat is a tank and will take more than I. I have never felt unsafe, but there have been a couple of times that we all had on PFDs and the valise was in the cockpit.