06-06-2009, 07:39 PM
We must remember that a float tube is a small boat, or small water craft, whichever you prefer to call it.
People vary a huge amount in their balance, weight and understanding of boats.
I for a long time had small boats on a popular river and often the bank anglers would ask me for a lift over to an island. Not many of these anglers were boaters, and my river boat was a small 10' - 12' open rowing dinghy.
During this period I carried many people in different small boats across the deeper river parts. How they behaved in my boats varied enormously one from another.
Some would step from the pier onto the centreline over the keel, so the boat hardly moves but merely settles an inch deeper in the water.
But I always had to watch out because others would step onto the gunwale (!) and if let do this would place their entire weight on this pivot point as they step in, making the boat roll over. They would not see in advance the obvious result of stepping on the side of the boat.
Another few fail to apreciate a small boat is light with no inertia, and treat it like a big immovable liner. These would step onto the front or back with one foot and push the boat away from the pier as they try to move into it, pushing the boat out causing them to "do the splits" over the water, and forcing me to row back or haul on a rope to prevent them falling in.
Most people sit in the middle of a small boat seat, but "landlubbers" sit away over on the side of the seat in a small boat, causing the boat to "list" or heel over. Then I also have to sit on an opposite side of my seat to balance things up.
A few people combined both greater weight and bad balance and I have had to instruct them with great emphasis not to get into the boat wrongly, because I knew with 100% certainty they would turn it over while doing so.
That's small boats, now lets look at the same issues in a float tube.
The tube by design is extremely steady and very tolerant of bad balance and leaning away from the centreline. it's hard to place your weight outside the zone of floatation, and cause an overbalance and capsize.
As somebody said you would probably have to stand up and take a dive.
I saw one person who had really horrible "small boat balance sense" sit in a tube I loaned him, and lean out and over. He was also tall, as well as big, looking like a leaning tree planetd in a tube, and actually managed to cause one side of the tube to begin to lift up, and the other to submerge, something I never saw before, and this alarmed me so I suggested he stick to boating thereafter.
Now consider the tube in a wave. We float like a cork, impossible to sink. We go up the face of a wave and down the sloping far side again. I have tubed in 3 - 4 foot waves with no danger at all.
But these particular guys I am remembering - all of them would have turned a tube over in big waves. How? They would have leaned out while the tube was on the sloping wave surface, and leaned the wrong way, and put their centre of gravity outside the perimeter of the tube.
Doing that would be impossible to me, but natural to them.
Remember - these guys are still able to float tube safely. But for them to be safe they need to buy a bigger size tube than I do. Preferably with a lower seat. That's all.
These guys need a lower seat than me if their tube has a similar size as mine. They just need extra stability, like a newbie kayaker. But we can all tube just fine.
We just need a small water craft that suits our physique, and our ability.
I do tube in a big wave occasionally, and there is no problem. But if there was going to be a problem I know how it would arise.
An open vee tube has less flotation in the open side, between the sponsons. Add a wave, and the slope up to a wavecrest, and simultaneously lean forwards (downhill) towards the trough, and your centre of gravity will go far enough away from centre of buoyancy, that the tube could be made to flip forwards where the opening between the sponsons is a zone of lesser support.
An open end tube with long sponsons is more resistant to this than a similar open tube with shorter sponsons.
A higher seat accentuates this, and a lower one reduces it by lowering the centre of gravity.
The manufacturer's weight rating of a tube is an indication, however it's just part of the picture.
The height of the angler also affects stability, and taller should be treated the same as heavier weight when choosing the most suitable tube to buy.
If you think that you happen to have an "iffy small boat balance sense" this should also suggest the choice of a tube rated for greater weight than your actual weight, or of greater diameter sponsons so safety is not reduced.
[signature]
People vary a huge amount in their balance, weight and understanding of boats.
I for a long time had small boats on a popular river and often the bank anglers would ask me for a lift over to an island. Not many of these anglers were boaters, and my river boat was a small 10' - 12' open rowing dinghy.
During this period I carried many people in different small boats across the deeper river parts. How they behaved in my boats varied enormously one from another.
Some would step from the pier onto the centreline over the keel, so the boat hardly moves but merely settles an inch deeper in the water.
But I always had to watch out because others would step onto the gunwale (!) and if let do this would place their entire weight on this pivot point as they step in, making the boat roll over. They would not see in advance the obvious result of stepping on the side of the boat.
Another few fail to apreciate a small boat is light with no inertia, and treat it like a big immovable liner. These would step onto the front or back with one foot and push the boat away from the pier as they try to move into it, pushing the boat out causing them to "do the splits" over the water, and forcing me to row back or haul on a rope to prevent them falling in.
Most people sit in the middle of a small boat seat, but "landlubbers" sit away over on the side of the seat in a small boat, causing the boat to "list" or heel over. Then I also have to sit on an opposite side of my seat to balance things up.
A few people combined both greater weight and bad balance and I have had to instruct them with great emphasis not to get into the boat wrongly, because I knew with 100% certainty they would turn it over while doing so.
That's small boats, now lets look at the same issues in a float tube.
The tube by design is extremely steady and very tolerant of bad balance and leaning away from the centreline. it's hard to place your weight outside the zone of floatation, and cause an overbalance and capsize.
As somebody said you would probably have to stand up and take a dive.
I saw one person who had really horrible "small boat balance sense" sit in a tube I loaned him, and lean out and over. He was also tall, as well as big, looking like a leaning tree planetd in a tube, and actually managed to cause one side of the tube to begin to lift up, and the other to submerge, something I never saw before, and this alarmed me so I suggested he stick to boating thereafter.
Now consider the tube in a wave. We float like a cork, impossible to sink. We go up the face of a wave and down the sloping far side again. I have tubed in 3 - 4 foot waves with no danger at all.
But these particular guys I am remembering - all of them would have turned a tube over in big waves. How? They would have leaned out while the tube was on the sloping wave surface, and leaned the wrong way, and put their centre of gravity outside the perimeter of the tube.
Doing that would be impossible to me, but natural to them.
Remember - these guys are still able to float tube safely. But for them to be safe they need to buy a bigger size tube than I do. Preferably with a lower seat. That's all.
These guys need a lower seat than me if their tube has a similar size as mine. They just need extra stability, like a newbie kayaker. But we can all tube just fine.
We just need a small water craft that suits our physique, and our ability.
I do tube in a big wave occasionally, and there is no problem. But if there was going to be a problem I know how it would arise.
An open vee tube has less flotation in the open side, between the sponsons. Add a wave, and the slope up to a wavecrest, and simultaneously lean forwards (downhill) towards the trough, and your centre of gravity will go far enough away from centre of buoyancy, that the tube could be made to flip forwards where the opening between the sponsons is a zone of lesser support.
An open end tube with long sponsons is more resistant to this than a similar open tube with shorter sponsons.
A higher seat accentuates this, and a lower one reduces it by lowering the centre of gravity.
The manufacturer's weight rating of a tube is an indication, however it's just part of the picture.
The height of the angler also affects stability, and taller should be treated the same as heavier weight when choosing the most suitable tube to buy.
If you think that you happen to have an "iffy small boat balance sense" this should also suggest the choice of a tube rated for greater weight than your actual weight, or of greater diameter sponsons so safety is not reduced.
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