couple of quick questions - deadrise

Just a couple of quick ones,

Can someone give me a layman's definition of deadrise? My boat has 16 degree deadrise / transom?

I am taking the power squad course in a couple of weeks but i am not sure if they get into chart reading/ plotting. Can anyone recommend a book for dummies that covers how to look at a chart and plot a course on your gps?

can anyone recommend a book on all the symbols you find on a chart??

Thanks All!!

Re: couple of quick questions - deadrise

Imagine your hull sitting on flat land, balanced perfectly level. Deadrise is the angle that the bottom of your hull rises from the horizontal plane of the ground at the transom. So...zero degrees of deadrise would be a perfectly flat bottomed boat (hence no angle to the ground) while a vessel with a very deep V would have a high angle of deadrise (again, relative to the flat plane of the ground.)
So, I believe 15 degrees is a moderate degree of deadrise -- Not super deep v and not flat.
There's probably a shorter way of saying it.

As for books, I hear often of one called Chapman's Piloting: Seamanship and Boat Handling or something like that which is supposed to be very comprehensive.

Re: couple of quick questions - deadrise

Thanks Scoutabout, Most boats in the 20' range would be the same? This helps get you out of the water and up on plane?

Re: couple of quick questions - deadrise

Deadrise is the difference between the width at the bootom of the boat and the top (beam). It indicates the amount of "V" your boat has. A good example is a johnboat which would have zero deadrise. In your case this would mean you have a 16 degree slant on the bottom of your boat as viewed from the back (transom). The more slant (to a point) you have, the better ride on rough water. 16 should ride pretty good. The best quick guide on symbols for me is the ADC Nautical Chart series. You get detailed topographical charts for your area, plus many useful reference charts/guides all in one. If you know where you are going, it also includes lats/lons for GPS entry. This waterproof book kills two birds with one stone.

Re: couple of quick questions - deadrise

Thx Fishmn, looks like that book is only for Maryland area? I am looking for something Canada oriented.

Woodee

Re: couple of quick questions - deadrise

A picture, as they say...



And an excerpt from Answers.com which gives some more insight into deadrise and planing characteristics...

"The amount of deadrise varies with the intended use of the boat. A flat-bottomed boat rises onto a plane quickly and provides a comfortable, stable ride in calm water?but it will pound heavily in rough water. A deep-V hull provides a softer ride in those conditions, but will be more reluctant to rise onto a plane. An all-purpose hull?a common compromise?has a dead-rise angle of about 15 degrees. Deadrise angles are not always constant along the length of the hull; they often vary progressively from midhull to stern. The deeper V at the bow allows the hull to cut through waves more smoothly, while the flatter sections aft make for more efficient planing."

Re: couple of quick questions - deadrise

US Powers squardons dose have a pretty good navigation and chart reading class but it is only in the long 13 week course. Also you need to buy the charting kit. Very cheap and has a divider, compass rose, a parrallel rule and some pratice charts.

As far as ploting a course on a GPS it is very easy if your unit has maping. Just find the place you want to go and put the cursor on it zoom in to make sure you have the exact spot. Set a WayPoint then tell your unit to navigate to that waypoint. If you are not in open waters then you would need to set up a route to take you around shallow waters but it is the same process. If you can draw a striaght line to the spot then you only need one way point. If a straight line to the spot takes your acrossed a land mass or something then you will need to set up a route to take you around that land mass to get to the spot. You can do it on a paper chart or a gps with a built in map.

As far as chart symbols every place that sell charts should have the chart 1 that explains the symbols. This should help.

http://www.charts.gc.ca/pub/en/products/Chart1/chart1.asp

Re: couple of quick questions - deadrise

That's perfect,
thanks Boatist
and thank you everyone else for the deadrise lesson it all makes sense now


Woodee