I met a woman in Hawaii from Kodiak Island, Alaska.
She and her 9-year-old son commuted to the mainland for mail.
On one occasion, the sea 'came up', their boat capsized, and her son drowned.
Even the Edmund Fitzgerald succumbed to Lake Superior's 'Fall' weather.
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* You're fighting wetted area, and the viscous shearing drag of the water acting along it's total exposed area ( 833-times more powerful than air drag ).
* And your fighting wave drag, bow and stern.
* The once-top-secret bulbous-bow technology addresses bow wave drag.
* A fully-boat-tailed trailing body addresses stern drag ( at the cost of directional stability ).
* The hydrofoil technology addresses wetted area, but requires some significant speed to get up onto the foils.
* Soviet 'bubbler' technology addresses wetted area also, but requires a double-hull and powerful air compressors.
* Reducing 'size' addresses wetted area, but then you REALLY want onboard weather radar if you're out for extended periods.
Quite a balancing act!
