Just finished reading that GREAT piece by Brigid Schulte -- good reporting AND nice writing. It got me thinking about the issue of stability, especially how it changes when we start adding stuff to our vessels.
If you remember the Perfect Storm story about the Andrea Gail, one of the theories about her is that some of the deck modifications made by her owners reduced her stability; making her more vulnerable to the ugly storm she was in.
How would that relate to our recreational boats? Well, I know a fellow boater who put a gigantic hydraulic davit on top of his aft cabin motoryacht. That's a couple of hundred pounds way up high, with a resultantly large moment arm, that MUST affect the stability of that boat in heavy seas. I have the same model as his -- a 40' ACMY -- and it IS already, from the factory, just a tad tender in roll in heavy seas. I once went out an inlet here on Long Island, known for its challenging conditions, in 10' standing rollers and I was more than a little white-knuckled. I wonder how he would have made out in those same seas?
As Brigid's article mentions, there are no real stability tests required for boats our size, although stability calculations are necessary. Still, I wonder what all those dinghies, davits, and domes do to the original calculations. . .
Joined: 2007-08-07