Sailing in 2-3 foot seas is no problem. Anchoring might be a different story. I'd hope you could find a gunk hole calmer than that. The rear facing top hatch is to prevent it flying open and being ripped off going down the highway. And I prefer it drawing air out vs. forcing it in on top of you. I can't imagine a situation where you would have the hatch open if water was coming over the bow. Frankly, I have a hard time imagining water coming over the bow. Maybe if you were plowing headfirst into some really big stuff. Some have also installed cowl vents on the foredeck. A previous owner did that to my boat, and I wish it wasn't there. Doesn't draw enough air to matter and with the cowl vent in place or a deck plate, it leaks. Howard On Apr 26, 2008, at 8:04 PM, Joe Murphy wrote:
I'm looking at the M17 as a next boat and have taken note on how seaworthy they are. In addition, I'm wondering what you all have to say about anchoring out. I like doing overnighters in and around the Beaufort NC area which means a lot of 2-3 foot seas. My experiences have been aboard a NorSea 27.
Thanks much, Joe
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