Sea Sled madness. It’s in my brain.

Maybe a photo would be helpful. I’m trying to imagine why access is so difficult. I would imagine a tube of 5200

Youre making me miss the Pacific Northwest. I’ve only sailed past that area on a fishing vessel but, I do have fond memories of Seattle and those crazy people that pair tater tot’s with tacos. I was always taking the inside passage to prince william sound or king salmon further up the coast.

 

Sure, picture's worth a thousand words. All six frames you see here connect to complete ½" plywood watertight bulkheads under the sole. Tabbed all around. I put goretex breather valves between them. Then the ½" plywood sole was glassed down over them. The forward most compartment on each side was filled to the top by water travelling a circuitous path. The second on each side was bone dry. If I'd had limber holes between them, Serenity might have sunk. Instead I had only a vague suspicion that they might have water in them.

 

Sadly, Darkzillicon, this was a decision John made a long time ago.
Now, it's only fools like you and me that build limber-holes and bilge pumps into their boats.
He's a stubborn one.
Good try though.

 

More pics from the day.
Five adults in the forward cockpit, 3.5° down by the head at 10km/hr.
At 40km/hr she was running almost exactly dead level. Maybe ½° trim up. A lot of wetted area drag with the folks up front like that, but doable. They found it very comfortable, despite the wakes everywhere. Lot's of sneezing though. Windshield spotty with dried salt.

 

Love the destroyer steering wheel that’s a beautiful touch.

Maybe you should’ve given her a healthy swim platform to help the forward trim a tad. Maybe install an outdoor gym fully aft. Thanks to comments that others have made I am paying more attention to forward buoyancy on my build. Glad to see you got her up to a respectable speed! Beautiful scenery! Maybe you need a nice outdoor grill on the forward deck?

 

The forward deck is specifically designed to seat 8 in comfort, with small dining tables on either side.

 

The weight I removed was largely from aft. Water from (evidently not quite) sealed compartment beside the fuel tank, under the floor at the back door, bags of cement at the back door. Definitely changed how she sits.

 

Maybe some bent tubing and a Sunbrella awning in the rear area would help shed water… when it’s falling vertically of course. We do a lot of that in florida because the Sun is murder anywhere you’re exposed.

 

How long forward?

 

Now, I don't want to ask, but must.

Doesn't this then result in a low deadrise at the stern boat and a rough ride in big seas? Isn't this then more like the Boston Whalers? And what angle?

signed,

<curious george>

 

I'm picturing something the size of a cafeteria tray. No bigger.

 

I’m a stubborn guy I’m pretty close to running some computational fluid dynamics to optimize a prop for aerated water.

I imagine any protrusion is going to cause substantial drag. I think going with an exotic prop is a better return on money and effort spent.

skewed blades, more blades, surface piercing prop, etc…

 

Here is a Boston Whaler upside down. I'm really not trying to get under anyones skin; it is a simple curiousity. And, of course, there is a history to it all..

BW only went halfway, which is why I offer the picture for sake of discussion.

 

It depends how much change you wish to do...and it would ostensibly mean making the hull into a 'traditional' monohull.

Firstly define 'big seas' and rough ride.
A more flatter stern provides more lift, as the planning surface has now increased. If all other aspects remain the same, then yes, it is likely to to be more prone to slamming. But it is not the slams per se, but the accelerations one needs to consider. But you already have that to an extent...with the inverted V bow, 2 surfaces that 'trap' waves/air when you pitch up and down..i.e slam. Thus what speed and seas have you (DC) driven Serenity in, thus far...and what slams/effect did you notice. Since you're really referring to a short and most likely a steep crested sea. In which case, all small boats will slam when driven hard in Hs over 0.5m. But does the slam feel smooth and "cushioned" or does it feel hard and a sudden jolt - one is more kinder to the body and the other less so. So, the acceleration in the given seas is the more important factor.

If you're 'bold'...you can take the sketch, as shown, and then create rocker, so the hull gets deeper as you go forward and then from midships fwd, create the deeper V to a nice fine angle of entry at the bow which a good deadrise angle, circa 50 deg +. The reason for this profile shape, rather than a classic monohedral, is that with a wider flatter stern, she will have more buoyancy aft. This means you need to move your lightship LCG aft, to maintain correct trim at rest.
If you can't do that, having a profile shape more like this:


The hull lines are deeper as you go fwd....what this does, is to move the LCB fwd (or back to its original location) and allows a nice deadrise up in the fwd 50% of the hull for better seakeeping.
And if you're really clever about it, you can the try to make sure the LCB and LCF are as close together as possible. Because this then reduces the propensity for pitching, and becomes more pure heave.
This is what we have done with several of our patrol boat hulls....resulting in very smooth (lower accelerations) in rough seas.

No, not at all.

 

The solution that I’m thinking about trying on my sled build is to maybe mount the outboard on a bracket.
Standard High Flotation Single Outboard Engine Bracket - 12° Transom https://weldingworldinc.com/collections/high-flotation-single-outboard-engine-bracket/products/standard-high-flotation-single-outboard-engine-bracket-12-transom

this should allow the motor to operate in less disturbed water and also to keep the sled running flat in trim. Maybe more of the aerated water can escape and give the prop better bite and less hull effect.

this could be an option for you as it’s simply a bolt on solution and wouldn’t require changing the hull.