DirtyMaxin
Cadet
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2013
- Messages
- 14
Hey guys,
I'll be blunt, I'm a total noob when it comes to boating. When I was a kid I piloted my fathers Bayliner Arriva (Force outboard), and then once I was 13 he let me drive his flat bottom (426 Wedge :joyous: ) and his 72 Kona (454 and Berkeley), but that was only 2 seasons on the water, and my part was strictly little put or a few speed runs (on non-crowded days, calm waters). The boats were sold and I didn't go to the lake for years, aside from a half day on a rental pontoon.
Fast forward a few years, I went on a few Colorado River/Havasu trips (passenger/tow rig driver only) and then last year, I spent 5 days on the Colorado/Havasu in a 18 ft Maxum 1800sr. I was the sole driver aside from a friend who wanted to go from our cove on Mohave to the Marina for adult beverages and snacks. This particular boat had a horrible time in the chop on Lake Mohave. Our top speed was about 20. That was going into the wind, so the chop hit us hard and dead on. While this was going on my friends in their mini day cruisers and tunnel hulls were to our left and right skipping over the tops of the chop, but everyone in our boat was getting beat on good. This was also my first time in chop in an I/O, so I had fun playing with the trim trying to find a sweet spot that kept us from nose diving into the waves. I eventually was able to find what I would call a sweet spot and was able to keep my speed up, but all our friends were long gone, except for a wakesetter that seemed to be having just as much of a hard time as us, he stayed behind us, didn't even try to take the outside. This boat also did not like crossing wakes from my friends boats as they blasted by us. I was always taught to take it at a 45% angle and stay on the throttle through the cut, and this proved to work well in the Kona and the flat bottom, but this 19 ft Mercruiser V6 just did not like it. This boat was not mine, but a loaner, so I took care to avoid hard hits to this boat, but I was just having a hell of a time avoiding it. The Colorado river (Needles down to Pirate and Beyond to Havasu) was especially rough, as there were a lot of larger boats blowing past us when we were cruising at a decent speed, including one Magic that did a sharp hard U-turn swinging from our right to right in front of us and then back around to our left, and that wake threw us around like a bath toy.
So all of this being said, I am looking for open advice in regards to this and how to avoid these situations in the future. I wont be driving that boat again, but I was recently offered a trade of a 21 ft Sleekcraft, my dad is encouraging it, as hes been itching to get our whole family back on the water. The boat has a 350 and a Mercruiser outdrive (not sure which one), and I think it would be just what I need for a summer on the water, and I have quite a few events on the river/Havasu from April-September. Will a 21 ft semi V will handle the rough stuff much better than an 18 ft deep V?
Also would love to hear your opinions from seasoned boaters to a novice.
Thanks guys!
I'll be blunt, I'm a total noob when it comes to boating. When I was a kid I piloted my fathers Bayliner Arriva (Force outboard), and then once I was 13 he let me drive his flat bottom (426 Wedge :joyous: ) and his 72 Kona (454 and Berkeley), but that was only 2 seasons on the water, and my part was strictly little put or a few speed runs (on non-crowded days, calm waters). The boats were sold and I didn't go to the lake for years, aside from a half day on a rental pontoon.
Fast forward a few years, I went on a few Colorado River/Havasu trips (passenger/tow rig driver only) and then last year, I spent 5 days on the Colorado/Havasu in a 18 ft Maxum 1800sr. I was the sole driver aside from a friend who wanted to go from our cove on Mohave to the Marina for adult beverages and snacks. This particular boat had a horrible time in the chop on Lake Mohave. Our top speed was about 20. That was going into the wind, so the chop hit us hard and dead on. While this was going on my friends in their mini day cruisers and tunnel hulls were to our left and right skipping over the tops of the chop, but everyone in our boat was getting beat on good. This was also my first time in chop in an I/O, so I had fun playing with the trim trying to find a sweet spot that kept us from nose diving into the waves. I eventually was able to find what I would call a sweet spot and was able to keep my speed up, but all our friends were long gone, except for a wakesetter that seemed to be having just as much of a hard time as us, he stayed behind us, didn't even try to take the outside. This boat also did not like crossing wakes from my friends boats as they blasted by us. I was always taught to take it at a 45% angle and stay on the throttle through the cut, and this proved to work well in the Kona and the flat bottom, but this 19 ft Mercruiser V6 just did not like it. This boat was not mine, but a loaner, so I took care to avoid hard hits to this boat, but I was just having a hell of a time avoiding it. The Colorado river (Needles down to Pirate and Beyond to Havasu) was especially rough, as there were a lot of larger boats blowing past us when we were cruising at a decent speed, including one Magic that did a sharp hard U-turn swinging from our right to right in front of us and then back around to our left, and that wake threw us around like a bath toy.
So all of this being said, I am looking for open advice in regards to this and how to avoid these situations in the future. I wont be driving that boat again, but I was recently offered a trade of a 21 ft Sleekcraft, my dad is encouraging it, as hes been itching to get our whole family back on the water. The boat has a 350 and a Mercruiser outdrive (not sure which one), and I think it would be just what I need for a summer on the water, and I have quite a few events on the river/Havasu from April-September. Will a 21 ft semi V will handle the rough stuff much better than an 18 ft deep V?
Also would love to hear your opinions from seasoned boaters to a novice.
Thanks guys!
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