Vessel Lean

Big Block Power · Post by **Big Block Power** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:42 am

That would have saved me some gel work

Southernboatman · Post by **Southernboatman** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:07 pm

Ha! Not seen that one before YT!

Driller · Post by **Driller** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 8:54 pm

No doubt, expect I don't own a boat trailer. Maybe it is the boat lift and one of the floats has leaked.

Checked the underside of the boat this evening. No issues.

Gotta wait until both the boat and myself are in the water to check for movement in the stern drive.

Cobaltordie · Post by **Cobaltordie** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:27 am

It is either a rapid shift in weight, good size wave hitting on the port side, or your trim is too far "under" the boat. Do you mean the props are pointing far down? This is not conducive to straight running and indeed will make the boat pitch rapidly and why you need to counter steer to get it to balance out. Why would you ever want to run with the outdrive trimmed to such an extreme? Does this happen when you are holding on to the wheel? I suspect it doesn't take much side pressure on the tilted outdrive for it to quickly pivot and therefore push up/down on one side or the other.

EDIT: As another said, this can also happen in a following sea. I experienced this often when sailing or on a powered sportfisher. Perhaps the combo of having the outdrive trimmed down all the way and the following sea causes this condition. The more I think about this, dangerous activity for me, a fully down or up trimmed outdrive would be more sensitive to causing a list in a following sea. The moment of inertia comes sooner because the fully down or up trimmed outdrive is trying to lift or push down the stern, respectively, and is therefore more susceptible to abeam or aft pressure and pivoting to the side. The same is true for an outdrive trimmed all the way up in beach mode. Good luck and let us know what you learn.

Driller · Post by **Driller** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:10 pm

Understood. I'll pay more attention to trimming up some once the boat is on plane.

I've started to do this as a matter of habit, but I'm still learning.

Southernboatman · Post by **Southernboatman** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:10 am

Take some pics Driller. Would like to see how much lean (ha) we're talking aboot (WI-ha!).

Driller · Post by **Driller** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:59 pm

Check the play in the stern drive today. It has a very small amount of play if I push hard to port and then hard to starboard. Maybe a total of 1/2". Very little movement.

I have spent about 15 hours on the lake this weekend and have adjusted the trim out some after the boat is on plane.

The issue with the list did not occur once. I appreciate all the advice. Looks like as I suspected the fault was with the Captain, not the vessel. Thanks to you guys it appears I can solve the problem.

I need to change the bellows this year, and when I do I'll have them check the gimble bearings and the engine alignment.

Thanks to everyone for your advice.

Cobaltordie · Post by **Cobaltordie** » Sun Jul 23, 2017 6:14 am

Good to hear trimming the outdrive has helped.

FWIW, I took my boat (2006 220s Bow Rider) out yesterday afternoon on a local lake that has a lot of weekend wake boat traffic and experimented with different wave angles and heights to see if I could replicate your experience. Before I share my finding, I just want to say what a great hull design is on my boat. Besides observing my boat's responses to these different wave conditions I also watched other nearby boats. My Cobalt went through wakes and waves with minor thrills and required very little steering input. On other boats I saw a lot of steering corrections and far more rolling and or pounding. Anyway, when I got a low angle (approx 15 degrees or less) to a following sea and the wave rolled up behind me on either the port or starboard quarter (left or right rear corner of the boat) my boat would suddenly list hard and would surf the wave for a couple of seconds before the wave rolled under or I steered into it. And of course if the wave hit me directly amidships it really rolled and listed substantially. So, not so unusual. A good idea to keep your eyes scanning all 360 degrees if you are on a lake with a lot of wake boats.

Have fun on the water. For me, it is great to discover new things about your boat and how it performs and handles in various conditions. Have fun, be safe.

liquid · Post by **liquid** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 2:34 pm

I'm thinking water. Anything in your bilge? You might have a chunk of water stuck somewhere, that's the only thing I could think of that could throw a boat

liquid · Post by **liquid** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 2:47 pm

Sorry - posted that before reading the other 4 pages!

The following Sea post makes a lot of sense... but I'd still be concerned. Buddy of mine had (i think) a Glastron that used to list crazily every once in a while. Turned out the engine had come loose on one side of the stringer (wood). Ripped it right out. He heard it bang once before he figured it out.

I keep thinking water for some reason.

Driller · Post by **Driller** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:31 pm

No water anywhere that I can find. Very small amount in the bilge that the pump can't get to, but other than that all storage compartments are bone dry.

I'll double check the engine mounts, but they looked good with a cursory inspection.

AsLan7 · Post by **AsLan7** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:09 pm

Driller wrote: Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:41 pm If anything the weight is heavy on the port side. Batteries spread 1-port, and 1-starboard.

It is a lot more than just a little lean, and the boat continues on the level after I can get the problem corrected.

It feels like the strakes are caught on the top of the wave on the port side and at the bottom on the starboard, but I can't see it even when it is happening. No waves which would result in the attitude of the boat anyway.

This has me perplexed, Driller.
I'm going to throw your question to my dad who is a member of "TheHullTruth" site.
http://www.thehulltruth.com
Maybe those forum members can shed some light on this one.

I know you think it may be "operator" issues but better safe than sorry.

vans · Post by **vans** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:16 pm

My previous boat, 22' Celebrity had tabs, I know exactly what your talking about
My 22' Cobalt has no tendency to lean like you describe, the Celebrity would stay on angle when hitting wave/wake just right, I just dealt with it for 20 years

It's the trim tabs -my opinion

AsLan7 · Post by **AsLan7** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:19 pm

vans wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:16 pm My previous boat, 22' Celebrity had tabs, I know exactly what your talking about
My 22' Cobalt has no tendency to lean like you describe, the Celebrity would stay on angle when hitting wave/wake just right, I just dealt with it for 20 years

It's the trim tabs -my opinion

That's interesting vans.
I wonder if they are installed slightly off? Slightly asymmetrical?

My last 262 had tabs and I never had this issue. Bigger boat though.

vans · Post by **vans** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 8:06 pm

I was thinking same as I posted, that boat is only one I've owned with tabs, usually see them on bigger boats, they were touchy.

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