Well i have a 16ft smoker. Big enough i thought, when i bought it. And it does very well in the sound. I have never been scared in it except in the fog LOL.

BUT one day on our trip in Montana, lake fishing for Macks we had a big surprise. The lake is in an L shape and we fished the other side of the bend about 1 mile from the launch. On the way back we hit the bend of the lake and ran into very strong winds. Nothing special except for this time the wind waves were very deeply pocketed. Not really big but had big holes between them that made the boat nose into each wave. After the first 3 waves hit, i got scared. Waves came crashing over the bow and it seemed to get worse the closer we got to the launch. The bilge was on high but by the time we limped back to the launch, we were standing in 6 inches of water and i was ready for a new pair of shorts.

MY boat is by no means small but I know hull design had alot to do with that and i think a boat with a deeper V'd rear hull would have saved us the scare by preventing the rollercoaster effect and cutting into the wave more than just riding over the top of it. Lookaround and do some serious research. Read about what you WONT expect or didn't think of before you commit. Don't throw your life away just cuz it looks cool. GET what you pay for.

I KNOW we would have lost all our gear and the boat and maybe even our lives that day if we were in a smaller boat. I couldn't imagine the circumstances if you were to add a tide into that mix that day. Scary.