1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

ok so im a 1st time boat owner 17 1/2ft 1992 180 nitro fs /150hp johnson evinrude ob- went out twice before with my boat mechanic bud ( 30 years exp) and he was showing and directing me on how to drive and get on plane - and various other boat operating procedures- well went out sun on my own and gave slow boat rides to many choir girls of which my daughter is a part of - they have a summer camp right on the lake front and every fathers day they ask for volunteer dads to take their boats to give the girls slow boat rides around the lake( over 200 girls in the choir)- they have many other activities going on also- well my daughter begged me to take my boat which would be for the first time on my own so i did and gave several rides- nothing major went wrong and all had fun - but let me lay out the minor problems 1. the lake wind was about 15 mph and choppy 2. on the first 2 trips with my mech friend we had no one in the back seat but during this event we were loading three people in the back seat plus 1 in the capts chair next to mine( wife) and my 14 yo 200 lb son up front in the bow- oh and im not light at 320 lbs 3. i could not seem to get the boat on plane i was told to start with trim all the way down- give it full throttle and start totrim up once on plane . so what happened was i got scarred not being used to going full throttle and when i tried the bow would go up so far that the transom would would start to swamp a little plus being in choppy water i was afraid of flipping the boat going full throttle- so i would shut the throttle down and the bow would drop and the water would wash over the transom- the switches on my panel are faded but still readable - so i switched the bilge pump on and the sidew hole which the bilge water comes out of was squirting like a water hose -now with my wife side seat driving and giving me directives (even though she knows nothing about boating)you know " go faster " why are you slowing down" " just take off!" this in a no wake zone! any way during all this i forgot that the bilge switch was still on! and when i went to turn it off and on again it did not work so i lifted the floor panel to see if there was water building upad there was - so for safety reasons i turned for the dock and unloaded the passengers - there was a guy there that is experienced and looked in the back where the bilge is and said your bilge isnt turning - so i figure iburned it out by running it dry? right? or it could be that on an 18 year old boat the bilge was just ready to give out? getting back to the trying to get on plane - dont laugh but i was scared - i mean with the bow so far up in the air and a boat full of passengers i just kept shutting down or slowing down so much that the boat would take on a little water - so i think that i didnt have enough weight in the front and with the choppy water and not knowing the limitations of my boat i was not willing to find out the hard way- not to mention my mech friend had told me that if the water was choppy and i went to fast - i could capsize! oh and i did take a non functioning old trolling motor off the bow which i think weighed about 40 to 50 lbs it was heavy! now my wife kept saying put some people in the bow but i was hesitant since the boaters safety course i took said not to let people ride in the bow as it is dangerous- im not sure if it is illegal but dont want to take any chances - however the other boaters at the dock said i probably needed more weight in the front? what do yall think / any advice? oh and the thing i dont agree with my mech friend about is he told me never to take the plug out ever ! but with all the water i wanted to and tried but it is the type that looks like a plastic screw with a flat head on it - i tried to turn it with a flat head - but it started to chip so i left it alone - my mech friend said to leave it alone so he can come over and see how much water got in there- but i am afraid cause i have read here that leaving water in the boat could rot out the wood and soak the floatation foam among other problems and i cant have huge money problems with the boat - being a working class guy whos wife gets upset everytime i have to spend money on the boat ( like im the only one) so any ideas on any of this?

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

I'll wait for the movie...too much reading for me.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

I was lost after the first paragraph

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

I got out of breath reading that post.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

When starting off, the bow willcome up and as the boat comes on-plane the bow will come back down. Starting with the motor trimmed all the way down and full throttle will shorten the time that the bow is pointing at the sky. If you don't let the boat get on plane and reduce the throttle prematurely then you could be driving around with the bow high the whole time.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

What is the weight capacity listed on your sticker (people and lbs) sounds like you might be over.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

sounds to me like you need more operating lessons. you need to learn how to trim the motor to bring the bow down. but I think you did the right thing by shutting it down. knowing your limit and not being afraid to admit it . nice job.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

sounds like stage fright to me!!...

first, your boat has capacity limits...three in back, wife with you (320), and (200) pound 14yrs old??? really?... I dont recall the size of your boat but man..2 of you covered 500 lbs..add wife and girls..

No disrespect here...just saying that you may have overloaded the capacity..

having said that, when you start with trim down..and then get to speed to plane and trim up can take a bit especially when you have a lot of weight in the boat. its not uncommon for the bow to come so far up that you cannt see over it until the weight of the hull and thrust bring you back down (plane)

I dont think you did anything wrong except had too many on board..

as far as the plug..it its cracking while your screwing it it..its dry rotted and should be replaced anyway..so go get a new one

PS..I do not know ANY boat mechancis that would tell you to never take the drain plug out!!!!...

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

First off... you need to throwh some paragraphs in there dude... thats a WHOLE lot of writing with no break.

To your problems, I think if the boat mechanic told you to never ever take the plug out, then I'd question his credentials. Most boaters with smaller boats like this do take the plug out between trips. I'm sure you could just leave it in, but its not bad to drain any remaining water and let it air out a little. That said, some people leave their boats in the water and so it shouldn't damage the boat to leave the plug in either, and you aren't going to rot things out in a day or two waiting for him to look at it. I'd find out what you need to do to pull the plug whenever you want. He was probably concerned that you'd make a rookie mistake and forget to put it in.

I think you made a big mistake letting your enthusiastic daughter talk you into taking out a lot of kids on the boat when you really have no experience. You should have said no, maybe next year. Boating is a lot more than just knowing how to drive the thing, which is a challenge in itself. The water conditions are always changing (as you observed) and having some experience under your belt with how your boat responds and such would have made it a lot safer to put other folks at risk.

I believe you had the boat way overloaded. I don't know what your max load sticker says, but I have to believe its similar to mine since we have nearly identical boats. I have a 1993 17.5' fish and ski rated for up to 150HP and its max passenger load is 4 people or 500 pounds. From the sounds of it, you and your son would go over that, and you had what... 4 more people in there... which puts you at 6 people, some of which over average weight. You were probably several hundred pounds overloaded. I'm not an insurance expert, but from what I've read on this forum, if you overload your boat and something bad happens then you may not be protected.

My suggestion is to get whatever is broken fixed, and then go out with one other person who is not your wife, and cruise around a few trips to get familiar with the boat before taking on non-family passengers. Sounds like you took a boater safety course, which is great, but that doesn't give you the hands on feel of the boat and water conditions.

For starting off, you should start off with trim down and hit it pretty good with the throttle. Watch your speedometer and as you start to plane off you want to lower your throttle while slowly raising the trim to settle it down... and ideally keep your acceleration steady. If your boat is like mine, there really are no safe "seats" up in the bow, but I do have someone sit on the step where the windshield is folded out of the way, if I want to shift a little weight forward.

When you stop suddenly, its normal for some water to come up in the area in front of the motor and transom, but not all the way up into the boat. Again, I think you were probably well overloaded which would have put the boat too low in the water.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

Next time, bring beer. After a few, the whining from the wife starts to fade away.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

Pretty much what has been said.

A) Overloaded
B) Move as much weight towards the front when possible

Mostly A. A new bilge pump is $30 or so and easy to install.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

Wow. STOP! before you kill someone. Your post is scary.

I went back through your threads and read this one http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=388429

Very first thing I would do is take the boater safety course from a USCG representative. Even if you have taken it before.... your actions have demonstrated that much has been forgotten.

I would solicit a friend, a co-worker, a church member and find someone who is experienced to teach you.

Regardless of what happened, what broke and the miracle no one was injured........ YOU as the operator are directly responsible.

Get the training and education you need for boating.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

I agree with what everybody has said here but would like to add something. Sounds like you were indeed overloaded, add a little water in your bilge and you become grossly overweight. When you throttle up that water rushes to the rear and you become stern heavy.

Back in the 60s before bilge pumps became standard equiptment on small boats the only way to drain your bilge was to get on plane and pull the plug. Sometimes the only way to get the boat on plane was to shift the passengers forward until the bow came down.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

I'm not trying to attack you with this post, but you asked "what you did wrong?". What you did wrong was put the lives of yourself and everyone on your boat in danger. The good thing is nothing bad happened. Consider it a lesson learned and DON'T overload your boat again. Boating is an extremely enjoyable hobby that can go horrifically wrong in the blink of an eye. Safety is always first.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

Get the plug fixed so you can pull it whenever you want, just get in the habit of putting it in before launching! If you replace the bilge pump, you might consider one with an auto float that comes on and shuts off automatically but still allows you to run it manually. Seasense is one brand and they are not expensive.

For getting on plane, practice with only you and 1 passenger in calm water. It is mostly done by feel, I wouldn't try to watch gauges. Start with it trimmed all the way down like you did and give it full throttle till it levels out. Then back off the throttle slightly, but not so much that you lose plane. If it feels like the front is digging in and makes steering difficult then you can trim up. Too much trim up and it starts to "porpoise". Get a feel for what your boat likes. If you have a heavy load, you may not need to trim up.

Coming off plane, slowly ease off the throttle, till you are there, and then you can give it a little throttle goose to keep so much water from coming over the transom into the splashwell. Again this is done by feel and watching the back of the boat and takes practice.

Go out and enjoy your boat!

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

I would fix the bildge pump then just take your son and head back out to the water at a time when it isn't very busy (leave the boss at home). That way you can figure out the boat without a bunch of distractions. Listen to what everyone has told you about plaining the boat they're right on. After a half hour of speeding up and slowing down, you will be shocked how simple it is. Have fun and be safe.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

IN my 35 years of running boats 16-19' long, I seldom if ever have anyone sit in the stern. it is dangerous to have anyone sit ON the bow, especially with body parts hanging outside the boat. In the bow area is where they belong, (assumning it is open bow.)

Your plug sounds defective-- a flat head screw!--which may explain the advice--don't remove THAT plug until you replace the whole thing!

Replace your bilge pump and install a float switch, too. Your life depends on it.

Practice, alone, a lot. Include practicing slowing down so your stern wake doesn't breach your transom.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

Home Cookin' said:

IN my 35 years of running boats 16-19' long, I seldom if ever have anyone sit in the stern. it is dangerous to have anyone sit ON the bow, especially with body parts hanging outside the boat. In the bow area is where they belong, (assumning it is open bow.)

Click to expand...

I don't agree with you for a 17.5' fish and ski. There is an open bow, but its not suitable for passengers when going fast. I'm pretty sure his boat is built like mine and the depth of the area in the open bow area is only a couple of inches since its a fishing platform. You can sit up there, but doing so going at any speed is very, very dangerous. I have someone sit where the windshield opens, facing backwards sometimes, but there feet and legs are down in the floor of the main part of the boat and they have the windshield frame to hold on to if we hit a wake. In a fish and ski, someone is sitting at the stern if you have more than 2-3 people in the boat. I'd never put anyone up in the bow on this boat and go at cruising speeds.

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

Just looked up some pictures of your type of boat, and I can't believe you thought putting 6 people, even if they were average sized people in it. Looks like seating for 3 at the most. That platform in the front is not a place to sit while underway.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/jasonaweeks/DSC02004.jpg

Re: 1st time out on my own / what did i do wrong?

It sounds like you need a bigger boat and some lessons on driving it.