Yeah Cold,
To some degree full deckovers are more swamp proof than an open boat.
Big open deepsided hulls often have so much freeboard on the sides and transom, that you really would have to mess up, or lose power while under way in deep water to swamp it.
Theres no real clearance from the prop tip to the rear deck, cause it can very quite a bit from boat to boat. I personnaly don't like to run a super low tip to boat clearance, but it is usually a matter of individual preference. I think 3" from the tip to anything else is good.
Perhaps thats not enough for some, and way too much for others.
You are correct that most deckovers have reduced freeboard and that dictates a rear deck, and that is because without the rear deck, they would be easier to swamp.
There are plenty of "open" Palm Beach styles out there. But without the rear deck, they usually don't get the scalloped down transom. This of course provides more freeboard at the transom.
If it's a Palm Beach, or Glades style grass sled, You have to pay attention to the water getting on the prop.
If you chop the throttle abruptly, the back wake will catch up with the transom, and run up over it, hitting the spinning prop. Once you are idling along, the water won't usually be up on the rear deck of the boat. It don't get that high.
You have to slow down, look back at the wake catching the boat, give it a little throttle and speed to match the wake as it catches up with the boat, and then it won't go splashing up onto the prop. Then you can idle along with out any drama.
If you tried to make a steep, deep, wet to dry obstacle transition at greatly reduce forward speed, the back of the boat may get forced downwards when you gas it up onto the obstacle, and the prop tips start slapping the water really hard.
Not what you wanna do.
Skinny water to dry transitions won't matter, cause the boats transom can't go down very far. No worries there.
If you were to drive one up out of deep water onto dry ground, you would want to get out of the water quicker, rather than slower. You wouldn't want to idle up to the bank, hit the dry, then punch it.
You would want to drive up to the bank on an easy plane, transition up on to the dry with that faster forward speed, and get your transom up and out quickly by doing so.
This will minimize the down time of the rear of the boat, and allow you to do it with out chopping water with your prop really hard.
This is a good question, and you have been giving it some thought. Many may not even think about this issue for operating a low profile deckboat. Not until they learn it the hard way.
Skinny sided, low profile boats have the prop closer to the water, and the water has more opportunity to get on the prop. No doubt about it.
Does that mean a deepsided boat is better? Not for me, but perhaps for you and where you may run it would be.
Fulldecks are a little tougher to swamp, but they are not unsinkable.
Neither are open boats.
Either way, you gotta know what your doing.
The fact that you considered this at all tells me you think about what could happen "if".
When you get your rig together this extra thought you put into things may help you avoid learning things the hard way while learning how it needs to be operated.
Keep it up. Airboats don't have cruise controls, you do have to think about what your doing while your doing it. After a while, it comes a little more automatically.
No matter what style boat you choose.
I've never had to shift any gears while doing any of the above, so your gonna have to work that into your operating procedures!
