So, after you leave the no wake zone...

[mikey.himself]

I want to refresh myself here. When you are crusing, do you leave your drive all the way down, or do you trim up to keep things pretty? I usually trim all the way down, haul, get on plane, back off throttle, and trim it up with the trimtabs down/adjusted accordingly... is this right? Someone was telling me my drive should be all the way down which seems *** backwards but when i did that the boat teeters back and fourth and nobody on the boat enjoys it. How far is 'too far' to adjust your trim up when your cruising?

 

[Maclin]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

You are doing it the right way. With the trim down at higher speeds you can pick up a lot of bow-steer on some boats, that is probably what everybody is uncomfortable with, it just does not feel right.

You will know when you are too far, it will start porpoising or chine walking.

 

[Boatist]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

I have bennett trim tabs on 21 foot runabout with an I/O motor that also has trim.
There is no right or wrong way and each boat is different.
In general how you trim depends a lot on how your boat comes up on plane.
If you get a lot of bow rise as you get under way then you will want to trim down before starting.

On My boat I leave the engine trim in the middle. If I am going to cruise a ways I will have a speed in mind and a RPM. If the water is calm I make sure I am out of 5 mile zone and far enough out that my wake will not affect people launching or retriveing. I usually cruise at about 25 MPH and 2800 rpms.
I sometimes leave the trim tabs all the way up or trim down 1 to 2 seconds.
If I hop up on plane I do not get a lot of bow rise.

I make sure everyone is seated and fender are in check engine temperature then go full throttle but watch the rpms. The boat will clime up on plane very quickly and I watch the rpms as the rpms reach 3000 I reduce the throttle as speed increases to keep about 3000 rpms. Once the speed levels out I set my curiseing speed that I want.

Next I will adjust the boat trim tabs for the best ride. This will be with the bow pretty high on a calm day with no waves. This give me better fuel mileage as only the back 1/3 of the boat is in the water. Last I slowly adjust the motor trim for best speed without touching the throttle this will give me the best Miles Per Gallon.

If the day has more waves form boats or wind then I will trim the bow down to allow the sharp bow to cut the waves and smooth out the ride. I will trim down with the trim tabs and if going a long way will still slowly trim the motor for best speed which will also be best MPG.

Many people who get a big bow rise will trim the bow down a lot before taking off then as get up on plane trim the bow higher for best ride.

I see many people bring the boat up on plane very slowly over several minutes but have no idea why they do that, it waste fuel, you can not see where you are going, and the boat is in the worst posible postion to give a good ride.

In inland water when I stop I usually do not change the trim tabs or motor trim. When we take off again boat will come right back on plane in the same trim as before. Of course it your backing into a beach with a bow anchor or crossing some shallow water you are going to adjust your motor trim up.

Adjust for the best ride first then adjust motor trim for best fuel mileage.

 

[IES99]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

I want to refresh myself here. When you are crusing, do you leave your drive all the way down, or do you trim up to keep things pretty? I usually trim all the way down, haul, get on plane, back off throttle, and trim it up with the trimtabs down/adjusted accordingly... is this right? Someone was telling me my drive should be all the way down which seems *** backwards but when i did that the boat teeters back and fourth and nobody on the boat enjoys it. How far is 'too far' to adjust your trim up when your cruising?

Yes, you are doing it correctly. I start with the trim down, and adjust as I start planing. If you have it too far down when cruising it will steer itself, which is a very uncomfortable feeling.

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

if your a pitcure guy this might help

http://www.bennetttrimtabs.com/tabsdo.htm

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

thanks for the info, i guess i should mention that this is a 28' rinker express cruiser. Like you guys were saying when its trimmed all the way down the boat steers itself catching on the waves and teetering it around, this is when i wondered if keeping it down was totally wrong...

i usually dump the trim tabs all the way down before i accelerate to plane, then i retreat either side if the weight is out of sync/more load on once side than the other. would this be correct or am i creating alot of resistance?

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

REFER TO DIAGRAM ATTACHED FOR CLARIFICATION WHEN NEEDED.

I have another question. We got a slip this year and we love it except we are terrified of docking it 60% of the time. Typically there is a south east wind (if you are to assume attached image top is north) and as soon as we try to drive nose first into the slip the front is being blown into the east* and it seems like no matter what we try we can't get it to go in properely. We have tried having one person on the dock try and stop, and stabilize the front but its just not working. is there ANYTHING we can try here? The problem here is the amount of room between the boats/channel. my boat is a 28' single engine merc I/O. We're not exactly fresh at docking, but we are certainly not pros. The people in the marina are also noticing it difficult to get into this slip because from the North West there is no shelter from the wind as opposed to being further in the 'channel', the biggest problem is the bow blowing away. We have tried backing in, and the same thing happens. the bow wonders away with the wind. It makes me sick when its time to dock, and i've manouvered this plenty at docks. should we try another slip? any tips or tricks? i know its difficult to imagine this situation but if you can provide any tips it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[donnymac]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

thanks for the info, i guess i should mention that this is a 28' rinker express cruiser. Like you guys were saying when its trimmed all the way down the boat steers itself catching on the waves and teetering it around, this is when i wondered if keeping it down was totally wrong...

i usually dump the trim tabs all the way down before i accelerate to plane, then i retreat either side if the weight is out of sync/more load on once side than the other. would this be correct or am i creating alot of resistance?

I'm not sure if I would put them(trim tabs) all the way down before accelerating. Every boat is different, but my tabs are around half way down on acceleration. When I first got the tabs I started off with them all the way down, It felt like the boat was going to do a sommersault.

 

[old-gubbins]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

I have no actual experience, so this suggestion might be RUBBISH, however ...

Can you enter the channel, go on up, turn around and enter your slip from the other direction, or as you are near the entrance, enter the channel going astern, so that you can then drive into your slip?

Just a thought, but perhaps totally impractical!

Please tell me if I am right or wrong, it would be interesting to know.

O-G

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

If you mean face the bow toward the 'west' (assuming top of diagram again is north) into the wind, and try driving in then, i think it is definately worth a try. I have not tried this, but this could be the key. Usually i always drove in with the bow facing north east, and tried backing in, this is where the bow blows away. I tried to drive in with the bow heading into the slip but by the time i could get it to the nose of the slip again the bow blows away, very frustrating. I'm going to try BACKING into the channel between the slips and drive it in that way and see how it works, otherwise im at a total headspin as to how this can be done without alot of yelling, and hands on help. If we have someone go through the front window and reach the dock with the hook-pipe grabber thing, it has helped.....but if you miss, you have to start ALL over again. definately worth a shot. thanks, i think your onto something.

This situation is where a bow thruster would totally eliminate this problem, or even Twins running one in forward and the other in reverse, but that could be difficult as well. Dont know, never tried, but it has been mentioned by other boaters enabling you to drive it like a bulldozer, it seems like it would work essentially giving you the pushing and pulling power allowing it to spin easily and hold it in position... there just is not a ton of room or time to work with once your in this channel.

 

[old-gubbins]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

Thanks Mikey, Good luck.

o-g

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

mike; i'm new to so i bought a book on boat handling. i would tell you the name of it but it's on my wifes boat 160mi a way.
any how i had been having trouble backing her larger boat, and read in this book any time you need to back up docking ect. to allways try to back to the port side if you have a i/o as you have more control and is easier due to prop torque. this helped me and untill i tryed it i never realized this
you might allready know this and i'm not sure it fits in your docking problems but it just took a second to throw it out there
good luck

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

Janx, I actually did not know that. Thanks for the info, would love to know the name of that book so i could read through it myself and pick up some tips.

Thanks!

 

[Boatist]

Re: So, after you leave the no wake zone...

In a cross wind there a couple of thing you can do that help but it will always be harder than with no wind or current.

Going foward put the trim tab full down on the upwind side. This will create a little more drag and try to steer the bow upwind.

Second is more speed will give you more control but if you miss completely will do more damage.

Last is get some boat hooks to push off or hook on to the dock.

Another thing you can do that requires some aquired skills is to set up some lines before you leave your dock.

Example is if you have a dock on each side of your slip or ever if only on one side your can put up some bow lines attached to the dock. Before you leave in the morning you position this bow line that has a big loop in the end at a point near the end of your dock where you can hook with the boat hook.

Lets say you know when you come back the wind will be blowing from your port side. So you attach a line to the port dock about even with where you want your bow to stop. Now you take this line to the end of the port dock and let it hang end enough that it will be easy to pick up with a boat hook or gaf. The line need to be long enough to allow a crew member to grab the line and pull the end of the line on board. The crew member now run the line around a bow rail or a bow clete and as you pull into you slip he tenders the line and tensions it enough to prevent you bow from blowing down wind. Of course you need at least one crew member to do this task.

if you have a dock on both side this line could be run from the port side of the bow to the end of the starboard dock and when you come into the dock some one with a boat hook just raises the line up to where where it will catch the bow rail and guide you right in.

Also you could just put fenders on the down wind side with a big one on the bow. When you head into your slip you start the bow toward the upwind dock and drive in allowing the wind to push it down wind to the dock where your fenders are. Once you hit the dock Just get out and walk to the upwind dock and attach your lines.

After a couple of times your dock mates will be impressed how easy you bring it in.