How much wind is too much for an 18'?

[jrsick]

We're expecting 17mph winds at the lake this weekend, is that going to be too much for my 18' with 3.0 engine? I planned to go water skiing this weekend but don't want to spend all of my time fighting the wind. Wind should be steady from the south all day. Any opinions welcome.

[cunuck]

17mph is not bad its docking in wind that could be tricky.We boat in winds up to 20mph a little chop in the shallows but hard to dock nice.

[shrew]

It really depends on the size of the body of water. 17mph on a small lake will not be the same as in the open ocean. Wind itself is not a big deal, with the exception of pushing you around a bit. This is aplified at the dock or boat ramp. When the wind whips across a large fetch of water, it then kicks up the waves. The direction of the wind in relationship to your location is also relevent. If the wind is out of the east and you are on the west end of a long body of water, the experience will be much different than the guy on the east end of the same body of water.

Determine wind direction and stay on that side of the lake. (i.e. if the wind is out of the South, then stay on the South side of the lake, for example)

[Huddo007]

Just out of interest here we have a little rule 15,15,15, that said its actually 1.5 seas, 1.5 swell and 15 knot winds as your max, at the end of the day you can "rough" a lot more but boating is about relaxing and a lot of enjoyment, me personally slapping around in rough weather is not worth the fuel costs as wait for another day and really enjoy it

Only my 2 cents

[Huddo007]

I should point out we are also metric so that's 1.5 meter seas ( 4 feet 11 inches)and 1.5 meter swells

[jrsick]

Thanks for the great inputs. I will be on inland sound and waterways. I'm going to give it a try and hope to not do a Lake of the Ozarks repeat. Docking at my marina is always a challenge because it has a 90 degree turn off of the waterway to the ramp, and very little manuver room. I always get wet when I'm recovering the boat to the trailer. I'll post a picture from this weekend and see what you think.

[jrsick]

I went ahead and took the kids tubing in 18kt winds and 3 ft waves (waves always look smaller from the shore). Boat passengers got wetter than the tubers initially but I finally found a leeward spot. The boat got bounced hard but the kids said it was the wildest tube ride ever!

[Huddo007]

See the day is what you make it, glad to hear you still went out and had a good day

[pascavone]

was 26 MPH wind here and the wife was to CHICK to go out..... ;(