Seaworthiness of 11' jon boat

[Live2Fish]

This is a somewhat beginner question. It may sound crazy, but I have a jon boat with a length about 11' and a beam of about 3 1/2'. I generally fish fresh water but I would like to use it for bay fishing during the fall. I will be running a 2 hp outboard off it. Since I am used to fishing ponds and small lakes, I wouldn't really know what the stability of this boat would be for inshore fishing. Would you think it would work for around 1-2 miles in light chop?

[jfblouin]

Please add pictures

[crawdaddy031]

If you would like an idea as to wether this is a good idea or not just get a friend to hit you with a padded base ball bat in the lower back area for as long as you can stand it. Any more than a light chop will beat you to death and if it picks up the sea will more than likely swamp you or blow you over. But hey if you liked to bat then go for it. Jim

[Live2Fish]

Originally Posted by crawdaddy031

If you would like an idea as to wether this is a good idea or not just get a friend to hit you with a padded base ball bat in the lower back area for as long as you can stand it. Any more than a light chop will beat you to death and if it picks up the sea will more than likely swamp you or blow you over. But hey if you liked to bat then go for it. Jim

I got ya. I'll be shopping around for a larger v-hull soon.

[BigBand]

A small jon boat is for small, quiet waters only. They are very unstable due to their light weight and narrow construction. You must keep your weight in the middle of the boat (side to side) and try to keep some weight in the bow to help offset your weight and that of the outboard.

[marshmat]

The average 11ft jonboat is good so long as average wave height (trough to crest) is less than the freeboard of the fully loaded jonboat. This is typically from 6 to 12 inches. In higher seas they will pound you like the aforementioned baseball bat when running into the waves, and have a tendency to capsize in beam seas. So a larger V-hull might be a good idea if you want bigger water. General guidelines: A 14' aluminum with a 9.9hp is comfortable to about 1-2 ft waves; a 16-footer with a 30 to about 2-3 ft waves. Waves over 3' (1m) can be safely navigated in these boats by a competent and experienced pilot, but are not fun. To handle 3-4' waves safely you are looking at a minimum 16-18 footer with steering console and 40-80hp.