So back home.....(got some fiddlers and blue crabs to drown Saturday)
The bottom line is this... wow.... what a difference!
I don't think I will really appreciate the full extent of the performance of these tabs until I have the opportunity to try them in a true 3 foot bay chop but if my short time in the Machipungo inlet today is any clue it will be fantastic.
There wasn't much wind and the ride to the inlet was pretty smooth. I got to play with the responsiveness of the tabs and played with getting up on plane and seeing how slow I could go.
Getting up on plane fast just isn't important to me but it is easier and quicker with the bigger tabs.
Running smoothly at lower speeds on plane has been somewhat of an annoyance in the past because if the boat was slowed too far it would fall off and then require throttle to get back.... you know what I'm talking about. Should not be a problem now. I think I was doing 13 mph by GPS and staying up just fine. Before it didn’t like anything below 15.
Minor adjustments when running at 25 mph requires a tap…… like a keystroke…. Not enough.. another tap.
As I approached the inlet I could see plenty of big breakers in places I don’t normally see them so I knew I’d have some rougher water to play in. It wasn’t long before I was cruising through 2 to 3 footers at 23 mph with absolutely no hull slapping (pounding). There is a turn to the north I took getting a bead on the next bouy. I was in 13 feet of water with the boat coursing through the waves at about 45 degrees.
While I was thrilled at the performance of the tabs (and boat) I was a bit nervous as this was my first trip out this year with new tabs, waterpump, oil change, through hull fittings....this was not the place for something to fail. As I spotted the bouy ahead I noticed there were breakers in places I’ve never seen breakers….. as in the usual path I take. This was an easy decision. Time to go back!
I was well aware of tabs up in a following sea but I waited too late into my turn and I felt the full effect of what was likely just a gentle stuffing of the bow. This resulted in some sudden loss of forward motion. Karen was in her usual relaxed reading position (I would get sick if I read a book on a boat) and was caught off guard but nothing but a dirty surprised look and a quick hand up to keep her head off the front window resulted.
I made this run again just to get it right the second time. Piece of cake.
Playing around with these monster flippers I found an interesting method of using them in shallow water. Running back to the dock was at low tide and there is a stretch where it is easy to get in the mud if not careful. As I approached this area I tilted the motor up and gave it full or near full bow down tabs and kept a speed of around 10 mph. The boat felt level as I went through this 100 yards of 2.5 to 3 feet of water.
Remember the first time you operated a boat with trim tabs and you thought, “now I know what I’ve been missing”, or , “how did I ever get by without them”? Well that is the same reaction I had today. The stock tabs work fine until you experience the way the boat eats up waves with the deeper V forward of wherever it is the stock tabs get you.
I feel like I have a new boat…. For under 500 dollars!
http://www.byownerelectronics.com/store ... t=0&page=1
Richard
