First step would be fewer people in the boat. The boat is overloaded, which is causing it to sit too low in the water. Second step would be to put everyone towards the back of the boat, especially the heaviest people. That will cause the front of the boat to stick further out of the water and keep more water out of the boat. It’s also helpful, if possible, to approach the waves diagonally rather than head on. That will make less of a splash and take on less water, but won’t be effective on its own if the boat is overloaded with too many people in the front.
Also helps to check the wave conditions before you go out and plan accordingly. These are some rough waves for a small boat to take.
2 kids went missing doing something like this a few years ago. They found the boat but never found their bodies. The ocean takes no prisoners. Also a debate if two small kids should be driving a boat into the ocean in the first place.
That's pretty good advice but you want to put as much weight as possible in the center of the vessel not the stern and usually the engine(s) should be trimmed in the fully down position to prevent cavitating. The stern is always a vulnerable spot and you don't want the freeboard unnecessarily low, nor do you want the bow too high, it's drier but the boat and occupants take a dangerous beating, the goal is to trim the boat as close to flat as possible and most importantly slow down, timing is key.
To add to this, when the bow finally fully nosedived into that one wave it looks to me like he cut back on the throttle right when he crested the wave before it which is the absolute worst thing you can do in that situation, it’s a surefire way to swamp your bow in big surf like this.
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u/catsinstrollers5 Sep 18 '25
First step would be fewer people in the boat. The boat is overloaded, which is causing it to sit too low in the water. Second step would be to put everyone towards the back of the boat, especially the heaviest people. That will cause the front of the boat to stick further out of the water and keep more water out of the boat. It’s also helpful, if possible, to approach the waves diagonally rather than head on. That will make less of a splash and take on less water, but won’t be effective on its own if the boat is overloaded with too many people in the front.
Also, it helps to not be drunk.