Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

[Fluggels]

Hi,

New boat owner , new poster here.

I just bought an older (85) Bayliner Capri in really nice shape here. Wanted a boat for years but have a hard time committing to "toy" money. Used to wakeboard in the mid 90's with my friends and missed it. Also, wanted to have an outlet for my son during the summer months. Anyway,

I was curious if anyone had any experience with a similar boat, with a 125hp outboard, and creating a usable wake height. I can cut behind this boat currently and clear the wake, but to do it I really have to push hard. The wake is very small. I'm comparing it to an old wood barrel back we used to kneeboard and wakeboard behind.. Granted, that wake was enormous, couldn't see over it when you got in the swail on your kneeboard.

I was hoping for some feedback as to how much some ballast would help. The boat rating is like 1500lb I believe. I was hoping that maybe a 600lb bag in front and an 800 in back might help, but I would rather not invest if it's fruitless. I really don't have a way to pretest weight in my boat.. Spose i could invite all the neighbors over for a couple runs?

Any ideas or help would be great. And no, buying a new centurion with 2600 in on board ballast is not option =P

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

Yup - invite some large friends out on the boat and have them sit in various spots. I don't think that putting 1400lbs of fat sacks in a 25+ year old wood floored bayliner would be a very bright idea. If you are having a hard time clearing the wake then you should concentrate on finding a good boat speed and rope length.

 

[Fluggels]

Re: Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

=)

Hey thanks for the quick response! yup I understand where that might sound a bit odd, The floor in this boat is fresh.. It was garaged for a lot of years. I pulled the carpet back because I had heard many times that the wood floors tend to get soft. To my surprise it was extremely sturdy. I'm not certain the prior owners put more than a year or two on the water. Even the original seats are soft and completely wear free.. Anyway,, The 600 pound bag is spread over a big area.. over 4 feet.. It's probably safer than a 300 pound man on his spindly little feet engineering wise.. I was kinda hoping someone had some experience with the hull type and whether or not it was even feasible to generate a nice wake,, weight or otherwise..

I do like the rope speed idea.. we tried a lot of combinations there from 18mph to about 25.. rope from 70' to 35' or so.. We found what is currently the "sweet" spot at a nice clean crest of the wake. The boat runs so nice,, it's fun to drive. Having a great time regardless. Just thinking of trying to improve our situation without having a herd of people every time we want to board.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

Well, ours is a 195 (capri) but has a 3.0L I/O Hull should be similiar to yours.

Nothing special done to the wake, but my kid can jump pretty well off of it. 60ft rope on the tower running around 20MPH

 

[Fluggels]

Re: Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

Wow!

Very nice photo.. Actually the wake looks a bit bigger than ours, but I assume the added weight of your I/O helps that a bit.. Your Bayliner has a very similar hull design with the incremental lift. It also looks like, and granted I have never towed behind a tower, but it also has to help elevate you a bit on the pop? We are using a small pylon just above the motor.

I have a pic of my son behind ours somewhere here ? his first year,, only a couple times out.

 

[xjcj3a]

Re: Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

You can always just go get some sand bags and try those in certain areas. cheaper then fat sacs. Also throw a DIY pole on your boat. You can make one for 50-70 bucks. That will help get the rope up. I dont have pictures of my DIY pole but a search on here should yield you a design.

 

[Fluggels]

Re: Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

Ahh,,

ok,, Well the sandbags I may give a whirl.. My son really enjoys the sport but the sacs I can transfer to a newer boat if he sticks with it. I love the idea of the DIY pole ? I will search that.. never seen one built but have looked at them in the shop for about 300 or so..

Thanks for the input here.. helpful..

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

Sandbags aren't the brightest of ideas, negative ballast that'll contribute to putting your boat to the bottom if you run into a nightmare of a situation. Water in water is neutral and won't add extra downward weight.

... Not worth the risk to me.

 

[Fluggels]

Re: Building a usable wake on our Bayliner.

Yeah,, I've heard the sand/concrete pail solutions we're a bit sketchy at best.. I think I've kinda decided to just try out 700 Sacks (2 350's) and a 500 in the front.. It's only about 218.00 with the pump,, plus i can only half fill them or w/e I feel is working ok without stressing the wooden floor like jeeps was suggesting.. I will definitely write back in as to how it worked so maybe others with the same thing in mind might have some better idea of what to expect.