|
Most of us that run offshore on a regular basis in the GOM pay attention to the wave period. A 15 foot boat can hand 15 waves if the period is long enough. The period indicates how close the waves are to each other. So for eample, 3 foot seas on 8 seconds are very comfortable and you can run WOT, but the same seas on 6 seconds and you are slowing down, put them on 4 seconds and you will wish you were not there! Note I run a 210 so your numbers would be a bit lower. I highly recommend using a wave forecasting service like bouyweather.com that predicts what the seas will be up too 2 days in advance for free and 7 days if you pay.
As for taking a boat that size out past that 5-10 mile range into the gulf in general terms is not wise, as sooner or later you are going to test two things 1. will be the response time of the USGC and the 2. your insurance policy.
|