Re: Boat takes a long time to plane
First of all try to determine if that is the problem. Any water marks or signs that water has been standing in the boat for long periods?
To waterlog foam first of all it has to be open cell and second it has to be exposed. It's not going to water log sitting in a garage, under a carport, or with a non leaking canvas top, especially if parked with the bow up above the transom and the drain pulled, or an automatic bailer. Washing your boat down when you get home, taking a few waves over the bow and pumping out while underway, or getting rained on and pumping out underway will not waterlog your foam.
First of all I/O's have a lot of weight at the transom. Second of all people love to sit in the jump seats adjacent to the engine which just aggravates the condition. Third, a lot of hulls are deep V for a soft ride and on a lot of these the V continues all the way to the transom where it's called dead rise.
If you have a flat transom....0 degrees of dead rise you will plane out much faster than if you have 20 degrees of dead rise on a deep V.
What kind of hull do you have?
Then as others have said, the prop? What are the WOT rpm ratings for your engine and where do they run when you and your buddy are underway at WOT? If you are on the low end you have too much pitch. If you reduce the pitch you will improve your "hole shot". Numbers kicked around are 150 to 200 rpm per inch of pitch change ASSUMING YOU STAY WITH THE SAME BRAND/MODEL OF PROP.
As others have stated, tucking the trim all the way in helps to get the bow down which helps to reduce hole shot time. Then trim out to suit once underway.
Then if all else fails, add trim tabs which are an excellent way of providing more surface area for the hole shot. Lots of info here on types and benefits/drawbacks.
To answer your question. If you know the weight of your boat when new compare that to the current weight....course you need to know how much your trailer weighs and the boat needs to be empty, like it was when it came from the factory.....gas tank empty also.
Or If you can access some foam, just probe it. If not you can drill small holes down through your deck (floor) and check it, filling with marine sealer when finished....3M makes numerous sealers.
That ought to give you some ideas.
Mark
