What's the 'softest' hull design?

[Surfergirl]

Wife and I moved to the tropics four years ago, and started running small boats hard on day one. We have run a Whaler Montauk 17 ft., a Whaler Dauntless 18', then our Andros panga 22 foot, and now a Contender 25 foot.

All of these are planing hulls. We drive em standing up, and two foot chop is pretty much the norm for average conditions, on top of whatever the swells are doing.

The pounding is killing us. I hate to admit it, but my knees started going to hell, and her back started going the same direction, after the first year or two of us running boats here. Now, I have just had one knee replaced, and she has had a steroid injection into her spine.

Lets face it, this doesn't fix the problem. The problem is that we engage in high impact boating.

We don't want to give up boating. Its a big part of the reason we moved to a small island nation. IF we didn't love boats and the ocean, we might as well be snowmobiling in the mountains somewhere. But we love boats.

SO, I am looking for ideas. What hull design would allow us to continue boating without the pounding? A catamaran? A displacement hull? A (gulp) blowboat? I am serious about that, too. A sailboat would work, but we would be giving up a lot of fishing.

Does anyone make a shock absorbing seat, like the long haul truckers have in their rigs?

Any constructive ideas greatly appreciated.

WorldCat, That is the best riding center console I have EVER ridden on. I was truly amaized of the comfort level it has. I also am feeling the effects of years of abuse from being on boats, when I got off of the waterdamage I was not sore the next day.
BTW.. waterdamge is for sale.

[jawz12]

the 31 contender has twin engines and IS one of the best rides out there.. and I am not a soap box contender preacher by no means but what a great product even the old hulls. I am repowering one this weekend to new 4 stroke yama 250's.. we just took off the 96 2 stroke 250 yamas yesterday.. by the way we did all the cleaning, selling off the old power, ripping out gauges etc and stuff in 1 day... why do you get a weeks worth of bills at a regular shop??? hahahaha American workers are the best! at least the ones that think!

gotta side with ted on this one...the 31 contender is an excellent ride...
a grady ?? not really the best riding boat made,these are a modified v hull,these boats will pound pretty good,there's nothing "soft" about the ride of a grady...

[Gringo]

That Freeman sure looks like a nice boat, ( hell ALL boats look nice to me. I am a boat lover kind of guy, always have been) but 1.4 mpg...well...we pay $ 4 a gallon down here.
I think the lowest gasoline price we have seen in four years was $ 3.60, and I am paying over $ 20 a gallon for two stroke oil.

Thats a lot of money for the joy of getting my spine compacted. although I do admit, its fun.

If I am going to be making a big change in boats, that is one of the areas where change needs to be made.

I don't think outboards are the answer anymore. Not for me.

Inboard diesel. Take a little more time to enjoy the trip.

That's kind of where my head is drifting to.

If I wanna go fast on the water in the future, I might consider a ZapCat as a dinghy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOi7M...eature=related

[Bad Dog]

Have a ride in a Glacier Bay, I ran a 22 in the Caribbean for 8 years including a 400 mile voyage from Anguilla to Grenada. you could not ask for a smoother riding hull into a head sea.

[scalez]

Gringo ----

I've been following this thread since you first asked the question and several thoughts occur to me------

The area that you boat and what you use the boat for are the most important factors imho. From reading your blog over the years and a little knowledge of the waters involved, I'd suggest that a soft riding, shallow draft vessel with a large t-top or bimini will prove best. Good comfortable Capt's chairs a must!

NOT a offshore deep vee hull --- not your usage.
NOT a diesel due to limited use, high cost, high weight, straight inboard draft --- good for lotsa hours run everyday and after several thousand hours will pay off -- but that's not your game.

Cat boats fit the bill -- soft ride in chop, fairly shallow draft for visiting off laying Cays, high gunnels, good access from the water between the motors, lots of deck space for diving or fishing, carrying the kayak or carrying passengers.

Cat boats are a different animal and piloting one takes some getting used to but they can be operated efficiently, powered by less HP and therefore less expensive to run.

If you visualize a future with a different utilization than your past use, all the above would not apply

[Questsportfishing]

I will say this the Freeman cat would make your day. it is a stable ass platform as is the world cat. my buddy has the twin vee and it rides great even. you should buy one. Your getting older and you have a good looking girl that can still get around and the dog would like the cat. ask to buy one of the used ones even ... opps thats right there are no used ones for sale... by the way are they making them all fiberglass molds now?

[velocity 30]

Hi try a 26 REGULATOR put the tabs down and engines under and try around 25 mph, also cats are maybe a little better ie gb regards velocity 30

[Gringo]

Gringo ----

I've been following this thread since you first asked the question and several thoughts occur to me------

The area that you boat and what you use the boat for are the most important factors imho. From reading your blog over the years and a little knowledge of the waters involved, I'd suggest that a soft riding, shallow draft vessel with a large t-top or bimini will prove best. Good comfortable Capt's chairs a must!

NOT a offshore deep vee hull --- not your usage.
NOT a diesel due to limited use, high cost, high weight, straight inboard draft --- good for lotsa hours run everyday and after several thousand hours will pay off -- but that's not your game.

Cat boats fit the bill -- soft ride in chop, fairly shallow draft for visiting off laying Cays, high gunnels, good access from the water between the motors, lots of deck space for diving or fishing, carrying the kayak or carrying passengers.

Cat boats are a different animal and piloting one takes some getting used to but they can be operated efficiently, powered by less HP and therefore less expensive to run.

If you visualize a future with a different utilization than your past use, all the above would not apply

Thanks for a thoughtful reply. I was hoping for some. And after thinking about it, you are right. In fact, if we had not been offered the Contender, we most likely would have been looking at used WorldCats. There are a bunch of those around. Not always one for sale, but if people here who own them know someone is seriously interested, they tend to start thinking of selling and moving up.

As far as future utilization since we launched the Contender our utilization has actually gone down as compared to a similar period in the past. (Last year doesn't count, 08 was an alien year for us.) The deeper draft and much higher operating cost of the Contender means we don't use it as much as we used the Andros. Basically, because it cannot go to the same places. Trolling offshore, it's great. But that was only about a quarter of our usage.

[RABBITFISH]

Gringo,
in other posts you have added pictures of cat boats, and if I remember you were aquainted with their owners. Have you ever had the chance to ride on some of the other boats to compare rides? It seems like all of the types are available locally, just owned by someone else. I would welcome a chance to show off my boat. Perhaps some of the other boat owners would be willing to share some time to show off theirs and give you some firsthand knowledge and experience with other types? Thats what I would do if I had the chance. Just an idea!

Tommy

[Gringo]

yeah, actually, I have ridden on some catamarans. years ago when I lived on Cape Cod, a good friend of mine owned Perry's Boatyard and he was the dealer for World Cats. I took several rides out around Buzzards Bay with him in some snotty weather.

Down here, I have some time running a 21 foot. SeaCat. I am familiar with how they turn flat and ride over waves one hull then the other, and how they kinda shake their butt in a following sea, and how some of them sneeze if you go straight into steep chop.

I also spent a month living and working on the University of Miami's research cat, and we chartered a 42 foot sailing cat for a week, but those are different animals.

In the almost 40 years i spent travelling around the world using local boats working on and under the ocean, I got a whole lot of experience on a whole lot of different types of boats, from small inflatables up to massive research and Navy vessels.