Question for the masses: Stern faces the swell while drifting. Why?

At the end of the day it's not really a problem. I made sure I refitted the transom decking during the rebuild, so it does keep the swell at bay.

It's just that my stepdad, who's a big guy, prefers to sit on the rear bench seat which brings the stern down a bit. The outboard well cops a little water through the drain holes but it drains away as quick as it enters.

As per my last YouTube uploads regarding the fibreglass repairs,(see the Hartley thread in wooden boat building) the whole well got fresh matting & resin plus gloss paint & I fitted a rubber splash guard to the morse cable through hole.

I'm never going to venture into a bad enough swell to warrant worrying about a rogue wave topping the whole transom & deck. My confidence worries more than the Hartley does!

 

Two other ways for a boat to sink by taking water over the stern, that I know of.

Stopping suddenly and being overtaken by the stern wave. That killed a guy here, but it was a smaller boat with no splash well.

What happened to those athletes a few years ago, trying to unhook a snagged anchor, they tied it to a stern cleat and gave it gas. The anchor line tied short had no scope to it so instead of a sideways pull, it pulled the stern down and quickly swamped the boat. I can't remember how many died.

There was a friend that had one of those Gheenoe things with a 35 hp on it. When he put it in reverse and gave it gas, that boat just burrowed under water like a gopher down a hole. They almost drowned because of wearing hip waders, as it was it took like 10 hours to struggle out of the swamp and marshes. The boat was way overpowered and so probably overloaded stern wise.

I guess that could be counted as a third way to sink a boat, just general foolishness setting up an unforeseen chain of events.

 

general foolishness setting up an unforeseen chain of events.

Isn't that how all accidents happen?