Wave height

[gingerbomb]

Good morning, New owner here, picking up a 33 in Morehead City, NC for a trip north to Ct. Question for those with experience... At what wave height in the forecast do you start to think things will be uncomfortable and you'll be knocked off your cruising speed? Thank you.

[Rick]

Congrats on the purchase and welcome aboard, Buzz took good care of her and I'm sure you will too. There's a lot more factors that just wave height. Wave frequency, direction, wind speed, forecast and how far I plan to go all play into decisions. But in general, when I see sea's above 3 or 4 feet, I know that it won't be a smooth ride. Above 6 feet is no fun at all. Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

[asher]

As Rick pointed out wave height and frequency (period) are the two factors that most people look at. In general, as long as period is more than twice wave height I.E. 2ft @ 4 sec / 4 ft @ 8 seconds then the trip will be a success. Now having said that, I’ve had two ft days that were so choppy I cut long runs short and stayed in close. Ive also had rare 6ft days where they were spaced so far apart I cruised along at 23 kts without a care in the world. I do the majority of my cruising around 19-20 kts on my 35’. I feel like at that speed I can pretty much plow through anything under 4’.