jdlough
Master Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2006
- Messages
- 824
I?m experienced with small 8HP tiller-controlled skiffs. Here are my impressions of SmartTabs on my first real boat:
So, installed SmartTabs SX (blemished!) on my new 1997 SeaSwirl 2100 DC w/175HP OB. (Because I didn?t like excessive bow-lift to get on plane, random port-starboard list at high speed, constant trim adjustments to control porpoising vs bow-steer, extreme creepy banks on a sharp turn, etc)
The first time I tried them, the weather kinda sucked. Quite choppy. But my 70+ year old parents were visiting to ride my new boat, so I took them out. Internet weather says no big deal. Internet weather lies. The weather quickly got worse, 2-3? swells, whitecaps, spray, scary crap, and yet I was mearly bummed that it was so bad that I couldn?t really try out the new tabs. (I didn't yet realize that I WAS trying out the tabs) I didn?t even notice that I wasn?t nervous ? I was just bummed that I couldn?t zip down to some cool sight-seeing areas. Should have been my first clue.
My next opportunity I really was concentrating on a shift control cable length issue. I took the boat out about 1/2 mile, stopped - readjusted the cable, gunned the motor, re-readjusted, etc. I forgot all about the tabs. When I thought I had the shift cable just right, in wide open water, I took the boat thru all its paces. Gunning it, quick stops, quick turns at high speeds, etc. I was so pleased that I had the shift issue resolved. The boat was so much more in control. Not nervous a bit ? Yep, I had that shift thing fixed.
I lift-parked the boat. Pleased that I now felt in control again.
Then I realized, ?Waitaminute, I'm a NOOB!!! I NEVER felt in control before when the shift worked, so maybe it?s the tabs!?
So I took the boat of its lift again and headed back out, this time paying attention.
What I noticed most with the SmartTabs was?....?NOTHING.
(except that I could now plane at about 13MPH, and I could get on plane BEFORE I got nervous about losing horizon-sight)
What I mean is my boat experienced NO BAD THINGS.
I didn?t gain 10+ MPH, I didn?t see any bikini-clad chicks, no fish jumped into the boat. My boat was in control, as if I (ME!) had gained some years-experience boating skills. My boat now feels like an extension of what I want it to do. It no longer feels like some twitchy ?Extreme Boat?, it feels like a boat that makes sense. When I turn, it now leans the amount I was expecting. When I want to slow down for a bit, it doesn?t drop off plane like a rock. When I gun it like a teenager, it hops on plane quickly like it?s normal. No surprises, easy control.
To a boater with more experience than me, there may be better explanations. But at my level, it seems that the main benefits of SmartTabs is not so much that things improve, but that bad things go away. I cannot stress this enough. Bad things go away, (or at least greatly reduced), and your boat does what you thought it should do.
It?s subtle, but quite profound.
I just bought my teenagers a 16? Wahoo (Boston Whaler clone) with a too fast 85HP OB. It doesn?t NEED SmartTabs. But you can bet that boat will have SmartTabs on it before the month is over.
Before the tabs, I thought this 1st boat was a starter boat. I like it now. Actually, I like it a lot now. I think it's a keeper. If not, the next boat will have the tabs too!
Jim
So, installed SmartTabs SX (blemished!) on my new 1997 SeaSwirl 2100 DC w/175HP OB. (Because I didn?t like excessive bow-lift to get on plane, random port-starboard list at high speed, constant trim adjustments to control porpoising vs bow-steer, extreme creepy banks on a sharp turn, etc)
The first time I tried them, the weather kinda sucked. Quite choppy. But my 70+ year old parents were visiting to ride my new boat, so I took them out. Internet weather says no big deal. Internet weather lies. The weather quickly got worse, 2-3? swells, whitecaps, spray, scary crap, and yet I was mearly bummed that it was so bad that I couldn?t really try out the new tabs. (I didn't yet realize that I WAS trying out the tabs) I didn?t even notice that I wasn?t nervous ? I was just bummed that I couldn?t zip down to some cool sight-seeing areas. Should have been my first clue.
My next opportunity I really was concentrating on a shift control cable length issue. I took the boat out about 1/2 mile, stopped - readjusted the cable, gunned the motor, re-readjusted, etc. I forgot all about the tabs. When I thought I had the shift cable just right, in wide open water, I took the boat thru all its paces. Gunning it, quick stops, quick turns at high speeds, etc. I was so pleased that I had the shift issue resolved. The boat was so much more in control. Not nervous a bit ? Yep, I had that shift thing fixed.
I lift-parked the boat. Pleased that I now felt in control again.
Then I realized, ?Waitaminute, I'm a NOOB!!! I NEVER felt in control before when the shift worked, so maybe it?s the tabs!?
So I took the boat of its lift again and headed back out, this time paying attention.
What I noticed most with the SmartTabs was?....?NOTHING.
(except that I could now plane at about 13MPH, and I could get on plane BEFORE I got nervous about losing horizon-sight)
What I mean is my boat experienced NO BAD THINGS.
I didn?t gain 10+ MPH, I didn?t see any bikini-clad chicks, no fish jumped into the boat. My boat was in control, as if I (ME!) had gained some years-experience boating skills. My boat now feels like an extension of what I want it to do. It no longer feels like some twitchy ?Extreme Boat?, it feels like a boat that makes sense. When I turn, it now leans the amount I was expecting. When I want to slow down for a bit, it doesn?t drop off plane like a rock. When I gun it like a teenager, it hops on plane quickly like it?s normal. No surprises, easy control.
To a boater with more experience than me, there may be better explanations. But at my level, it seems that the main benefits of SmartTabs is not so much that things improve, but that bad things go away. I cannot stress this enough. Bad things go away, (or at least greatly reduced), and your boat does what you thought it should do.
It?s subtle, but quite profound.
I just bought my teenagers a 16? Wahoo (Boston Whaler clone) with a too fast 85HP OB. It doesn?t NEED SmartTabs. But you can bet that boat will have SmartTabs on it before the month is over.
Before the tabs, I thought this 1st boat was a starter boat. I like it now. Actually, I like it a lot now. I think it's a keeper. If not, the next boat will have the tabs too!
Jim
