Lesson learned

[GrayAngelfish]

Alright I'll keep this fairly short as most of you will find it pretty obvious but to someone that might not it could save some heartache. I was out a couple weeks ago in the Keys out by the reef and got caught by a squall line and winds went from 10-15 to about 25kts. I pulled anchor and started heading in with the waves. I have a '18 22TRS which like most pathys has a low bow. I inadvertently let a wave pick me up from behind and ended up stuffing the bow. Now for the part I hadn't considered. On all of my previous boats stuffing the bow was not a big deal short of getting wet and throwing stuff around, however on the TRS there are 2 concerns. First is the under gunnel rod holders as those pipes are open into the bilge and allow water straight though and 2nd is the rear seats as they don't lock down at all and allow any water that sloshes over them straight into the bilge. I was able to keep in the power and avoid more water coming in but it took the bilge pump about 10 minutes to catch up none the less so it could have definitely been much worse. Moral of the story is know your boat and be prepared for the worst conditions on any given day.

[HoneyB]

Wow that is kinda scary I honestly thought that boat was a bit more sea worthy than that. I have a 2012 22 trs so I will be even more diligent myself.

[Nag Juice]

Glad you saved her from a bad situation to a catastrophe. I always hit larger seas at 45 degrees. It worked for me if you wanted to try something different. 

“Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor”

[lurem]

Good information for all us! Stay calm and keep your wits about you.

Glad you made it through it safely.

[Bamaskeet]

I washed a fish cooler out of a Boston Whaler many years ago.  

I have some concern about the high stern deck in some of the Pathfinders.

While they allow extra storage and a nice elevated casting area, if you *** a big green wave over the bow, it become difficult to get rid of the water quickly, but low gunnels are some help getting rid of water.

[polliwog]

I found out the same thing in my little HPX 15.  Had my son and grand son sitting forward when a large boat approached toward us at  pretty good speed with a 2ft wave. even though I slowed down the bow didn't have enough lift to ride over the wave and it stiffed the bow.  It was fortunate it was only one wave.  That boat doesn't have outboard scuppers so the water goes ght to the bilge.  Took a while to clear it.  I won't be going anywhere but in shore with that boat.  I have a 20ft hewes lt and I don't trust that to have enough bow lift to keep from stuffing in a big sea.  Bottom line these are inshore boats.

[jh141]

Although Water in the bilge is a BIG Concern ( I have taken a few waves over the bow and my 2012 TRS gets very little water in the Bilge, The older TRS has no Under Gunnel and the seats keep alot of water out)  "BUT" it scares me even more having 4 inches of water on my deck. That will roll a boat over FASTER than anything, something few people are aware of. Keep your deck drains clean and working. IF you get multiple inches of water on the deck keep the boat straight and as level as possible until it drains. Gray, I wonder if you could cap those rod tubes, just a thought. Same reason as when I added rod holders to my gunnel I made sure they were capped at the bottom with just a small drain hole.

[hurricane]

How about finding something to cap the rod tubes, if they're not being used. 

[Joe M]

Not sure what it's called...crutch tip?  Find a size that fits your rod holders and shove it in the hole. I keep a few handy and they will definitely keep out the water. 

[fin-addict]

You may also think about putting in a fwd high cap bilge pump. 

[mdemott]

When I owned a offshore boat I upgraded my bilge pumps to the largest that would work with the size overboard tubes that I had. Helped me a few times during the summer squalls.