A little was discussed in another thread but got off track... I have heard many stories over the years about Browards (not all), in following or aft 1/4ing seas, being a little hard to handle. My question is; Is it just the ones that have been extended or did it happen to "factory" boats as well? I recently purchased a 1998 103' and the previous owner spent a great deal of $ and had discovered that the factory exhaust opening(under water) was causing cavitation in following seas. An Navel Architect, after spending hours on the boat came up with, slightly changing the exhaust opening and adding a "Lip" that vectored the exhaust more outboard. I recently took the boat in 7-8 foot following seas, it did not handle any different too any other Hatteras, Burger etc. that I have run through that same/similar situation. Never having experience with a Broward I was just curious? Note: My Broward was originally a 100 footer with the swim grid (above the waterline) extended to make it now 103'. Steve
Well, it used to be that 8 out of 10 Browards were extended. This is where the handling issues came in and most people only ran extended ones and thought they all run like that. "don't be a coward, go to sea on a Broward" this is where that phrase came from. However, Hatteras that were extended do the same stuff in following seas. The non extended ones don't usually exhibit those traits very much, which seems to be what you're experiencing. I once used to run a broward that was extended 3 times!!!! from 86' to 92' to 96' to finally 103' rudders,props,shafts never moved back.
I ran a burger that was extended 10', without moving the props and rudders. It handled terrible after that. Later the owners merely increased the size of the rudders and that almost made it uncontrollable, I was told by there new Captain.
That's not totally true. I've run a lot of extended motoryachts. MOST people don't know how to trim them so they handle right. When they add a cockpit extension to a motoryacht, it creates a lot of bouyancy in the stern since there usually isn't any superstructure over the cockpit. Generally the easiest thing to counter-act that is to add a fuel tank and a water tank giving the boat additional range and water, which is what was done with most of them. MOST people don't realize that you should keep them full until last, or drain bow and stern to keep the trim fore and aft correct. However, it's a fine art, because get 50 gallons of fuel or water too light in the stern and the bow steers the boat around, get 50-100 gallons too heavy sometimes and you start losing cruise speed.
I have a 97 foot Broward. Never been extended. Handles as well if not better than the Hatters I previously owned.
We've taken it through the Panama Canal twice and into the Caribbean. We also go to the Sea of Cortez. Alaska will be our next big trip. Otherwise, if we are not traveling, we go to Catalina a lot which is a great get-away for the family. The vessel was built in 1987. Let me work on the pictures which is more technologically challenging than just this email. Back to you shortly.
I spent quite a bit of time in SD(Shelter Island), and cruised up to Catalina often. Then we moved the boat up to SF to be closer to our home. We really like it in SoCal. There is allot more "boating" up in the Pacific Northwest, just to short of a season!
My regret is that Southern California doesn't have all the gunk holes and natural harbors that exist on the East coast or in Washington state. On my bucket list is to take our vessel to San Francisco and slowly wind our way up the 1,800 miles of waterways towards Stockton and beyond. But you are right--we have the weather in Southern California making year round boating not only possible but delightful. Frankly, I enjoy Catalina as much as I enjoy almost any other destination. When we are there, its like being a million miles away from home and office but with the knowledge that both are just two hours away. We love our Broward and do a lot of entertaining plus it is our platform for family activity and fun.
Aries is not a name with which I am familiar. Its had a couple of other names but I don't recall Aries. When it was first built is was based in Florida, but it has spend the greater part of its life on the West coast. It even made two trips to Hawaii.
I grew up cruising the California Delta and it's 1800 miles of water ways. There allot of places to visit, most will be tight for a boat your size but it can be done. I would recommend a visit on your way up the coast. I have made the trip from SD/SF to British Columbia 12 times up and back. Let me know when you are going and we can discuss good and bad places to stop along the way. Not a trip I would recommend for the family or the faint hearted, have them fly up and meet you and the boat or hire a Captain and let him get beat up. It is a trip that you should make at least once though.
We were planning to take our boat to San Francisco after which we would have a captain do the delivery to the Seattle area. Just don't have the time to spare for the long trip. I would rather donate that time to the trip from BC north. Thank you for the pointers. I would like to stay in touch, especially as we get closer to planning our trip. Thanks again.
