Re: 20 MPH wind dangerous?
if ya can skipper a boat good, maybe go out. if your not sure of your seamanship skills stay at home for sure. most concerning to me would be the lack of hp ya got. lack of hp when out in the stuff can be pretty darn dangerous. when i was a kid, i boated to work. 16' alum. fishing boat, 6 hp sea king. coming home one night i rounded the island i had to go around. the wind just blew me right into the rocks (turned engine off and jumped in and walked the boat around the island in the end). perhaps i was to close to land, but it was a real drag to get going again. lack of hp and lack of seamanship skills got me into the prediciment i feel.
that said. ya can go out in the stuff if ya think yer up to it. albeit it is always more dangerous in the stuff....
fwiw...
that's a short (1st time i made a movie) movie of my local watering hole last monday. the lake is 2k sq acres. so pretty small. the winds were ssw, sustained 25-30mph w/gusts to 45. the movie is in the middle of the lake. the south side of the lake was very calm up against the shoreline. the north side was worse than ya see in my short clip...
it was also a drag to load. i had to approach the dock at 90* to the dock for the wind blowing me away. quite a challenge to grab a 19' boat and get her hooked up to the dock when ya gotta approach at 90* bow to dock...
good luck in your decision..
ps. i had my pfd on from start to finish that day. my boat is 19' hardtop, closed bow vhull, w/ much flair to it....
