Hi im relatively new to fly fishing from a Boat and being a wheelchair user i use the wheelyboats which are ideal,was jsut wanting to know what was maximum wind speed allowed for being out on a small boat on a loch or lake or recomended safe wind speeds any info appreciated.

Good morning (or in your case Good Afternoon) TS.

I've seen several references to Wheely Boats here on the Fora so that got me interested in 'what are they.' Found this Link and scroll down to #17 in the Q & A.

The Wheelyboat Trust. Frequently Asked Questions.

Fred

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had a wee look thats referring to the mk3 and 4 boats where as the one we use is a mk1 or 2 about 3.8m long quite a small tub tbh

As with anything related to boats, I think it's going to be hard to state in terms of hard/fast rules like maximum wind speed.

Much is going to depend on the skill of the operator and the size and characteristics of the individual body of water. A 20 MPH wind may be no problem or it may be a huge problem depending on the size, shape, and depth of the body of water.

Looking at the general shape of the boats in question, I would say that heavy seas handling characteristics are not going to be their strong suit. Their shape reminds me of the "jonboat" that is common on rivers over here. While they are very stable, the flat nose makes them tend to plow into waves rather than cutting through them in the process of riding over them.

The other limitation is that of the captain. Have you operated a boat before? How much and in what kinds of conditions? The key is to know both the limitations of your boat and your limitations as far as handling it. Both are hard to quantify, but over time you develop a gut feeling and it's important to listen to that voice.

Grouse

From personal experience Grouse has nailed this down tight. I'll spare you another 'story from my misguided yout' in the Coast Guard, but it always amazed me just how stupid 'pleasure boater's' could be ... even with the forecast of Gale warnings, "All Ship Notifications" over Channel 16, etc., telling the boating world just what was going to happen over the next day or so in the Straights of "Juan is gona fuxkya."

Hell, even we didn't go out there in our 40 and 44 footers unless we absolutely had to, and those were boats that were designed/built to take a heck of a beating.

But that's another story.


fae

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"The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a
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Dear Tinsoldier ,

On big reservoirs in the Midlands anything over 5 Beaufort usually means all boats off !

The main reson is there is always a chance of microbursts or sudden shifts causing difficult/outright dangerous waves.

As a rule of thumb and we're talking about your fundamental safety as disabled - no more than Beaufort 4 or around 20 knots max .

A lot depends on the size of the lake and the reaches and the way wave can build . That's for you to figure but please err on the side of safety . Flyfishing in high winds can be great fun but might kill you - remember - there's always tomorrow . There's no point at all having the epitaph ' He died doing what he most enjoyed ! "

Have fun and take care

Best wishes

Steve P

I would agree with Steve. A force 5 will have white crests on the waves and should be avoided by all small craft, especially with less able bodied persons on board.

Take a look at this recent pic from my last outing in a pretty strong wind. (We were advised at the lodge that "we may not wish to proceed".)

The waves were manageable to about halfway down the wind, with drift re-set from there. With a fresh battery the engine just coped despite the prop being lifted out cresting some bigger waves.

It's probably not much compared to the big Lochs/Loughs but I've posted the pic for an idea of wave size rather than just wind speed - I'm new to drifting a boat but wouldn't fancy drifting in much more of a wave than this as it was my back kept getting washed over.

Further, to give an idea of conditions in this size of wave, an experienced forum hand also took a boat same day. His battery/engine packed up and he got blown on to the downwind shore, considered ditching then called it a day by lunchtime (probably the more sensible out of the 2 boats).

If you are in a wheely boat I would not have attempted in those conditions.

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Cheers for the comments guys most of my fishing will be in Linlithgow loch not a huge water but a decent size,the boat we us is mark 1 wheelyboat about 11 or 12 foot it has small petrol outboard motor and my fishing partner has done a fair bit of boat fsihing over the years,u can anchor at Linlithgow so that is ok but the wheelyboat mark 1 is a flat bottomed boat and i will err on the side of caution as we ahd some difficulty on menteith a few yrs back with this boat but a different boat partner with no xp ps how does the BEAUFORT SCALE work any links to this for further reading?pps i allways wear a vest out but i rather have a nice day on the boat than wrestling with the weather

Do other folk find that anchoring bow side on to the wind/waves tends to exaggerate the wave action?