Issues running in choppy water

[viper1216]

like I said, always willing to learn. i'd never be 20-30 miles to cover, at least not in a 20 ft boat! where I usually fish is only about 3-4 miles from land and even then I wouldn't be the only boat out there or even the farthest out! I'm not sure how far viper is talking about but I would assume its nowhere near that far from shore, if it is then its way too far. As for the the smart tabs,i don't find that they lower the bow so much as lift the stern more even with the bow. My rule of thumb and i'd suggest the same to viper is when you see white caps get in out of it, and don't go farther then you can get back from in about 1/2 hour at moderate speed.

Narragansett Bay isn't that large and is surrounded by land pretty much on all sides. I am never more than a mile or so from land and stay in the bay, never open water. And I also won't be out if there is even a remote chance of white caps. 1-2' waves is my cap and I prefer the forecast of a foot or less. 2-3+ forecasted and I'm not going out. I picked up some smart tabs this afternoon. I'm going to pop them on and see what they do. I like the idea of them doing what they need to do without input from me. I really appreciate everyone's input!!

 

[KJM]

just keep a close eye on the weather and conditions and use common sense, you should be fine that close to shore. and keep us posted on if the smart tabs make a difference.

 

[dingbat]

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/gene...ics/10254700-newly-installed-bennett-slt-tabs

 

[viper1216]

Thanks for the info. I have the SmartTabs in hand....and it's the right ones for the boat recommended by the manufacturer....I am still going back and forth on which tabs to go with. I keep reading that the auto adjusting ones will be fine, and then read another thread saying they aren't and to go with the manually adjusted ones. I spoke with the manufacturer, and they advised that I would be fine for what I was trying to do. This is worse than clothes shopping with my wife!!!

 

[Rick Stephens]

Note: the Admiral thought I was a genius when I installed those inexpensive auto adjust SmartTabs. They make the boat ride like it has shock absorbers. I like it when she is happy. I get to take her boating more often and she lets me go faster. Win win.

 

[viper1216]

Update: So I took her out today with the new SmartTabs....all I have to say is WOW....it was great. It was choppy by the time I got into the water this morning. The type of chop that my wife would have made me turn around and gone back to the dock. Not huge waves....maybe 1-2 ft...but 10 knot winds. Boat handled em like a champ!!! By the time we headed back, the wind had kicked up considerably..10-15 knots or so...it was rough....still did great! Got a little wet, as was mentioned. But still got home without an issue or hurt hands from clinging to the wheel to hard. Overall, I am very glad I put these on. If I was going out further from land, I would definitely go with the hydraulics, but for tooling around the bay, they are perfect. Thanks everyone for all your insight!!

 

[tpenfield]

Great news and a nice case study for others to reference. The downside to all this is that it may be harder to convince the Admiral that you need a bigger boat ( when the time comes )

 

[viper1216]

Lol, couple of well placed hits of the throttle should solve that.