I was out in the Gulf off Destin on Saturday. Seas 2-4' with an occasional 6 footer, wave period very short at 3 seconds, very choppy water. Coming back with a port-side quartering sea and 15-20 mph breeze, I tucked the motor down, and continued on plane at 17-18 mph, cutting into the waves with a nice ride, no pounding whatsoever. I did, however, have veritable buckets of water thrown in my face as the wind pick up the spray and blew it over the windshield. it was great. My wife was able to remain seated throughout, without having to hold on for dear life.
Coming back in, boat off to my right, inshore of me, was a 22-23' SeaFox, and he could not maintain plane without audibly slamming from wave to wave, and after trying to keep up for a while, eventually slowed to hull speed.
Three boats off to my left, one a newer Cobia 20' WA, one an older 25' Whaler Outrage, and the other a '69-70 SeaCraft 20' SF
(FL Registration ended in AF, which indicates, I think, 1968-1970 initial registration).
The Cobia was airborne off every wave and really landing hard at what I guess was 20-22 mph.
The Whaler was going a little faster, maybe 25, also spent a lot of time in the air, and made a loud booming sound every time he landed. You could see the shock being transmitted to his outriggers, rods, and passengers, who were hanging on to the half-tower with both hands.
The 20' SeaCraft SF was largely cutting
through the waves, traveling at the same speed as the Whaler, throwing tremendous bow waves and spray, but obviously a much easier, smoother ride. As I knew my boat was behaving much the same, although at a slower speed, it made me grin from ear to ear.
The downside was 3 hours of downrigger and surface trolling and only catching a 42 inch, 8-10 lb remora
