Safety and modifications

[Myers]

Food for thought;
There are many topics on the forum about weight, hull modifications, adding this or that, improving, removing, etc, etc. A story of a little ferry (20-30 person, can't remember exact) hit the press a few seasons back about how it capsized instantly from the combination of passengers sliding to one side and a small wave from another vessel hitting it at the same time. It was a very small old boat and was in, I believe relatively calm lake water. Can't remember the details except for the reason it rolled, it had a topper put on and modified to be a little ferry boat. Point is; Many died and the cause was the boat was modified, became top heavy, never re-inspected or re-evaluated to take the modification, thus it was very unstable for its new use.
I remember this story whenever I add stuff to my boat, I have kayaks and a dinghy on the roof, radar, and a big cover on the back. If you remember this story you know what I mean about changing things and what can happen. -Just something to think about as we start another season.

[spoiled one]

Makes you wonder about these go fast boats with fly bridges, too and the guys with all the fuel strapped to the cabin roof. Let's say you have a stellar 80 degree, blue bird PWS day and you have five 200+ pound friends with you. Where is everyone going to be when you are cruising back into Whittier? This seems like an accident waiting to happen. I actually talked with GC about a fly bridge for "Patience" before the build started and he really did not want to do it due to this possibility of being a bit too tipsy. It probably would be alright if all three of my fuel tanks were full, but not worth the risks on a planing hull.

[alaskapiranha]

Weight displacement

If a boat is designed and built the center of gravity is as intended. You add a lot of weight above that CG, to the right or left, or bow to stern you change the design CG.
A friend said his boat acted strange when he sat up top. Well we went for a ride his other buddy came along, total weight added to the bridge was 650# between the 3 of us. Boy she rolled hard off center and was very slow to recover to center. Bingo everybody down stairs and in the center of the boat and the whole thing changed.
Mobile Offshore Barge Masters Ballast Control Officer trained