The number of passengers allowed on your boat. The max weight of all of your passengers. The maximum combined weight of all gear and passengers. The maximum motor horsepower and weight.
For example, let’s say your boat is 20 ft long and 13 ft wide. When multiplied together, you get 260. Divide 260 by 15 to get 17. 3. Since you can’t carry part of a person, your maximum number of passengers is 17.
Even if you are technically under the weight limit, you may want to reconsider embarking. You’ll have to go extremely slow to avoid shifting the weight around and artificially surpassing the limit. Do not remove important safety gear, like extra life jackets or your radio, to create a little extra space for passengers or gear. If your boat is too heavy, you can’t take it out.
Your boat can be thrown radically off balance when all of the weight is shifted to one specific corner of the boat. This can cause you to capsize or lose control when turning or being hit by a wave. If you can choose between putting weight near the center or around the corners, always go for the center. This centralizes the center of gravity and makes it easier to control your boat.
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with carrying a heavy item so long as you’re under the max weight limit, but you absolutely must ensure the item doesn’t slide around. If you can feel your boat moving as the weight of heavy loads shift in place, you might be close to dangerously overweight.
Don’t haul heavy gear when the waters are turbulent. Either keep your boat docked or remove as much unnecessary weight as possible.
You should always follow posted speed limits to begin with, but it’s especially important when you’re carrying more weight than you normally would. If there is no speed limit, just go slower than you normally would and use common sense. You should always feel like you’re in control of your boat! You can tell your boat is dangerously overloaded if your boat feels unwieldy even when you’re going at idle or low speeds.
Hire a mechanic to inspect your boat at least once a year. This will keep any minor early issues from getting out of hand.
TF – Tropical fresh water. T – Tropical. F – Fresh water. S – Summer W – Winter. WNA – Winter North Atlantic. AB – Indicates which regulatory body installed and tested the Plimsoll line.
