Wife has bad back :( Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Hi all,
We now have a 1982 Bayliner Capri 1950 four banger beating us to death. My wife poor thing now has a bad back and I am looking at bowriders instead of a deck boat for a move up in size and HP. I am looking to buy a 2001 Maxum 2300 SR with I think a 23 degree dead rise. We will be higher off the water on a larger boat. Do you guys think this is a wise purchase (IYO) ? We will be mostly in lakes in North Carolina with a trip to the Intracostal waterway once a year. The engine is a Mercruiser 5.7 250 HP. Not sure about the speed (hoping not a dog) but has to be better than my Capri. I think this one will be a smoother ride. I need to make sure she can still enjoy boating which she really likes.
Thanks in advance,

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Air pillows soften jolts in the mean time. Slower speeds too.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Being higher off the water, not good for the smooth ride.

In the water is the smother ride.

A really heavy boat in the water, instead of bouncing on top, would be the softest ride.

Best would be a sailboat.
Then a pontoon.
Then a heavy deep vee.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

foodfisher said:

Air pillows soften jolts in the mean time. Slower speeds too.

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+1^^^. Unfortunately if her back is that bad, I don't think a few more degrees of deadrise will make much difference especially when you increase speed. It may be time for you guys to consider a Party barge. Your wifes back will appreciate it and we're good people, just a little slower than most !!!

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Smart tabs help tremendously with ride quality but its hard to make it completely comfortable.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Plus another for a party barge. My wife has a really bad back and is very comfy in ours. They're also cheaper to run and maintain.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

The Rooster said:

+1^^^. Unfortunately if her back is that bad, I don't think a few more degrees of deadrise will make much difference especially when you increase speed. It may be time for you guys to consider a Party barge. Your wifes back will appreciate it and we're good people, just a little slower than most !!!

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Guarantee you that a deep V with a high dead rise at the transom, aka heavy boat will ride smooth. You can take that to the bank. That is what they are made for. BTDT Forget the barges, get a single (mono) hull as mentioned.

It doesn't come without a price. The deeper V, higher dead rise at the transom. and increased weight will cost you more in operating expense, but if you boat for enjoyment and can't enjoy it what's the point?

Do it.

Mark

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

If you make a 24' + boat with 24 degrees of deadrise slam, you are really trying.

If you want a back friendly ride, get a boat with seats that have drop-down bottoms that you lean back into while standing. At 24+ and a serious V, it won't slam. Standing is better.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Thank you guys for these replies!! The pontoon is not in the cards for her, she really likes our bowrider set up. We were looking at deck boats too but to me (the ones we can afford $15000 max) they seem flat and would slap the waves, is that a correct assumption?

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Don't worry about the type of boat (bowrider, deck boat etc). Focus on deadrise since that's what will most significantly influence ride.

Regardless of what you decide, sitting in a stern seat as opposed to the bow or even at the windscreen will make it an easier ride. My wife hates bouncing around even though she isn't hampered by a bad back. She finds sitting in the stern seat next to the doghouse much smoother than sitting next to me at the controls.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Bad backs and boats are a bad combination because the weather is forever changing. The most comfortable "seat" would be my first priority.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Look into suspension seats.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

dave11 said:

Look into suspension seats.

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This ^^^^^^^^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQrr4wWpRyk

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Most high end boats are heavier, Cobalt, Crownline and Chap have all been called heavier boats and truth be known its one of the things that was what attracted me to Crownlines besides the sportier lines and power train options, my wife also has a bad back (of course I have no idea if my wifes is as bad as yours) but this had a lot to do with my decision making process when I upgraded from a 20' boat. Having said all this I can tell you that sometimes when things get to rough my wife will sit back near the transom on the couch section, if your wife is anything like mine it is pretty obvious when her back is bothering her although she rarely says anything, she enjoys going fast to an extent but sometimes I just need to get out of the gas and trim for a nice ride, I have a 25' boat now and it has helped her a bunch but sometimes her back is very delicate so its up to us to control ourselves and just slow down a little bit. In rare instances where were maybe running from weather or something we do have pillows for sunbathing that she has used and we had the idea of her using a bow filler cushion to add padding to the couch but she never needed to go that far, but I think its fair to say that going bigger has helped my wife's back issues as much as my driving for her back, keep the ladies happy boating isn't much fun without them, good luck!

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

The answer for rough water isn't an increase in dead rise at the transom. Too much dead rise is detrimental (pitch and roll) to ride quality. You end up with a boat that cuts the waves well but the pitch and roll at rest can be an issue.

Many “rough” water boats use some sort of variable degree deadrise design hull. The VD deadrise is a compromise between the deep Vee for high-speed performance and a shallow draft hull for the stability that give you the best of both worlds. Typical is a 28-30 degree dead rise on the bow tapering back to an 18-20 degree dead rise on the transom

If you want a better ride yet, go to the CAT hull. My builder is famous for it’s rough water performance and smooth ride but…….when it gets rough, we take the neighbors CAT out for the day. They give a very smooth ride and are very efficient hull to move. My neighbor’s 25’ is power by twin 115 HP that push the boat to 35 kts.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

I've spent a lot of time on a 2300SR. Definitely a good riding boat, top speed loaded up with that combo is right at 40. Look for hardware mounting issues. side panels, etc getting loose. Decent storage even though it is a Bowrider. Also has very high freeboard, so you do feel very high off the water.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

dingbat said:

tapering back to an 18-20 degree dead rise on the transom

I

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That's a lot of dead rise to me and what I had in mind.

Back when I traded a light, pretty shallow V, nearly flat transom trihull (16' Chrysler Sport Fury) for one that had some weight to it, a deep V, lifting strakes and about that for a transom dead rise (18' Caravelle), the comparison was stark. The sponsons helped the stability of both boats at rest whereas on a monohull you have none. I didn't like the way sponsons on trihulls trip you when you are trying to maintain course in a cross wind and the windward side of the hull dips low in the water as you are trying to steer into the waves to stay on course. I finally quit the process and just drove straight into the waves at a lower speed, and periodically got on top and went 90 degrees to the waves on plane to move over and back and forth till I got to my destination. A mono deep V hull can perform the same maneuver without the windward side getting you sopping wet even though it too has to dip to stay on course.

Mark

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

spdracr39 said:

Smart tabs help tremendously with ride quality but its hard to make it completely comfortable.

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DBreskin said:

... sitting in a stern seat as opposed to the bow or even at the windscreen will make it an easier ride.

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+1 and +1

The Most aft seat is the smoothest. It rocks while all the others are bouncing.

Smart tabs are miracle workers.
If your issue is slamming the waves, Tabs are the solution.

I had an 18 ft Bowrider in 1-2 foot rollers on lake Erie this weekend.
We could make 20-25 mph in the waves.
It was an exciting (Not Scary) but comfortable ride.
The bow would follow the waves down into the trough and comeback up the other side instead of slamming the next wave.
There was occasionally a good bit of spray on the windscreen, but if you are a mile off shore on Lake Erie that is to be expected.
If you are going to be mostly inland you should never see any thing like what are on the great lakes.

Smart tabs can be installed in an hour or so and for a little over $100 they are an inexpensive solution.
Before you go spending thousands on a new boat, you should try the Smart Tabs first.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Well guys,
Got the boat 2001 Maxum 2300 Sr bowrider a definate move up from our 1982 Bayliner Capri 1950 !!! She cuts through the waves slow and is gentle at higher speeds. I cannot say enough about this boat. First of all you are and feel higher up yet deep inside snug and coushioned. There is soooo much storage that I tried to fill every nook and cranny and failed. we moved (family of 5) all about the boat and it never listed once in motion or at rest. The power (5.7 250hp) was so quiet and never once felt underpowered even tubing and almost full tank. The wife found new comfort in boating again!!! When we closed the windshield and bow divider door we were seated normally in main cabin area below windshield height and there was no wind at all. Felt like the front seat of a really nice convertable with windows up. I hope this helps someone out in their decision to buy one of theese. Don't hesitate. Great buy all around! Thanks for all your replies.

Re: Wife has bad back Looking at a More comfortable Ride Advice Please!!

Congratulations on the bigger ride. You will enjoy it more with every trip.