OB19 in the Chesapeake

[MDFeen]

Hello everybody,

My dad and I are looking into building the OB19 but before we make the final decision, we were curious how well it would be able handle the Chesapeake waters. We’d like to be able to make some runs out of the Magothy across to Kent Island and other parts of the eastern shore.
Also, curious how well a 70hp can push the OB19 around or is a 90hp the way to go? Thanks!

[Jeff]

MDFeen, Welcome to our Builders Forum!! The questions you have asked can best be answered by other builders of the OB19 or the Designer, Jacques Mertens-Goossens. Give Jacques a day to respond!! Again welcome, Jeff

[jacquesmm]

I don't see why the OB19 would not be able to handle the Chesapeake (I sailed there more than once).
As anywhere, the skipper must use good judgement and evaluate the local conditions.
A moderate vee bottom like the OB19 will run differently than a deep vee but will use less power, be more economical and be more stable in most conditions.
70 or 90 depends on the load. If you sail mostly alone or with one other person = 70. if you plan to use the boat mostly with a full crew of 4, then go for a 90.

Owners of OB19 are welcome to give their opinion.

[Browndog]

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your decision to start a boat project.

Another design to consider is the FS 19. I built one for my brother to use in the lower Bay. It has been used extensively in the Bay, and in coastal Georgia, in the Gulf on Florida’s west coast and around the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It has been used inshore, near shore and fair weather offshore use. It has handled many days of small craft advisory conditions and in conditions where frankly we shouldn’t have been out there at all. It has performed beautifully at all times.

It has proved very seaworthy with an extremely smooth and dry ride. I powered it with a 115 HP Yamaha Four stroke since that motor weighed about the same as the 90 HP version. It has more than enough power. I also built the boat on the heavier side due to added fiberglass on all exposed surfaces, reinforced bottom, wide gunwales, livewell and baitwell. Despite the added weight it is still substantially lighter than a similarly sized production fiberglass boat. It is super efficient as a result getting extremely good fuel economy.

There is a build thread on the forum that contains many pictures of the construction process, of the completed boat and performance data.

I spoke to my brother this morning and he will be taking the boat out tomorrow near the mouth of the Bay and trolling for Spanish mackerel.

Best wishes on your project. Whichever design you choose I’m confident you won’t be disappointed.

[MDFeen]

Thanks for the info. That makes sense with the motor size, I think we’re leaning towards having more power.
Browndog I’m glad to hear about using the FS in the bay and having that smooth ride. I checked out your thread of your FS19 build, great looking boat. Thanks again for the info guys!

[Browndog]

Happy to help. I grew up in Maryland and my family had a boat on the Chesapeake bay on the South River for many years. I also used to trailer a variety of boats to Ocean City because we had a place there for almost 40 years. We fished all over the Bay and the Eastern shore. Inshore, near shore and offshore to the Jackspot and Poorman’s Canyon.

When I retired we moved to the coast of Georgia because it is the least developed place on the East Coast and reminds me of what it was like in Maryland when I was a kid, without the winter weather.

[MDFeen]

Browndog, I agree with you there. MD has exploded in the past 20 years, definitely not the same as it used to be. I’ve done lots of flounder fishing on the eastern shore back bays behind OC and Bethany Beach with a flat bottom skiff, which is partly why we’re looking to build another but not another flat bottom!
We bought the plans for the OB19 so we’re going with it! Thanks again for the advice and we’ll keep you all updated!
Quick question out of curiosity, probably for Jacques, what is the deadrise on the OB19?

[Browndog]

When I was a little kid my grandparents bought an apartment in the tallest building in Ocean City at that time. The new building was a staggering 7 stories tall! It was on the beach at 65th street which was pretty much the end of the road at that time. The bridge going across the Assawoman Bay there wasn’t built at that time. There was just the Route 50 bridge down around Caroline Street. What is now known as Ocean Highway was two lanes. All of the marshes on the bayside were fertile ground for my brother and I to catch crabs, go clamming, pick mussels and fish. We had a small flat bottom dinghy that we would row. All of that area we used to tromp around eventually got bulkheaded, drained and filled. Then houses and condos were planted up and down the beach and bay after that.

We spent most of the summer in Ocean City. We worked odd jobs and even as mates on the head boats growing up. Chased girls down on the boardwalk. It was a wonderful time. Over the years we continued to go as we grew up and had families of our own, but it has changed so much now and gotten so crowded that it just isn’t the same for us.

My brother lives in Charlottesville, VA now. He tries to fish on the Lower Chesapeake whenever he can find someone to go with him. Now that I’m retired living in Coastal Georgia I try to balance my time between fishing, golfing and hunting.

Good luck on your project. I’m sure it will work well for your area.

[Madgar]

MDFeen, you’ve gotten some very good input so far and I’ll add my 2 cents. I fish the Chesapeake regularly as I live right where the bay meets the Potomac River. It’s the most southern part of Maryland. The OB19, I feel, would be a great boat for most days as long as your mindful of weather change (which is probably true anywhere). Your average day will have 1-1.5 footers but as your probably aware an quickly become 3-4’. When things are bad a deep v is nice but normal fishing on the bay I feel is more enjoyable on a mod v. The Chesapeake tends to have more rollers which the mod v seems to handle better when fishing, trolling, even anchored. I look forward to your build, best of luck

[wadestep]

HI, I built an OB19 a few years back and have about 350-ish hours on it so far. I commonly run 30+ miles in a day of fishing in a fairly exposed sound (pine island sound). I've also run it along the coast from Fort Myers Fl to Chokoloskee - that's 60-ish miles one way. Picking my days carefully for offshore runs and just about anything under 20 knots of wind for inshore it has done well. Probably would be better if I put trim tabs on it. I have a 115 yamaha 4-stroke. I think I launched in 2012 or so?? It doesn't ride like a deep V but if you get the prow down into the chop it does well. It also does very well at 14-16 MPH in slop.
With my 115 hp 4000 RPM is about 26 MPH, roughly, and I get 5-ish MPG.
There's a builder's thread called 'OB19 in SW FL' with more detailed info.
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.ph ... fl#p457333
https://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.ph ... fl#p457334

I think it does fit the bill of offshore and Bay.