[Brian Belcher]

The wife and I are splashing Friday for hopefully, a full week.
The untested genset-inverter-charger-battery charger set up will get its first real test. I devised a bucket and water hose set up to fine tune the genset and test a lot of the I bettered, 120v systems. Just not the A/C nor hot water tank.
BTW, my house water volume, city supplied, was dead spot on to what the gensets water pump drew. It was eerily identical.
So, if the new house voltage holds up, we'll stay till Tuesday.
After that, the gimbal ring gets its repair.
If y'all don't hear back from me by Thursday, either we sank and went down with the ship or we just decided we like the lake life better and don't want to come home.

[CHICKS75]

Good luck & have fun!

What lake?

[Brian Belcher]

Failure.
The genset wouldn't start with the AutoGeneratorStart. It would turn it over but wouldn't start. I would have to hold the button for it to fire up.
The three deep cycle batts would drop below 50% in less than an hour with A/C, TV, stereo, DVD and a few lights on.
I.ve got some fine tuning to do and battery changing to do but I know it will work.
BTW. We had a great time. Bought a huge 3 man innertube and the kids and grandkids loved it. But,boy howdy, did it drink the gas ! 18mph was the ideal speed for my granddaughters but it wasn't fast enough to truly get the boat on plane. 20-21mph seems to be the sweet spot for min plane speed. With my son, daughterinlaw and wife, it was 33 PLUS mph for them. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.

[Firestone]

Brian you have trim tabs or smart tabs? I can get mine planed at 13 mph with the new smart tabs I installed

[Brian Belcher]

Mine are hydr. Very slow operating.
I have to admit that I can't feel the hump as the boat falls over onto plane. All of my bass boats over the last 30 yrs had the hump. All my little alumumuminum boats had the hump.
This boat does not. It just plows. Or that's what it feels like.
I've monkeyed with trim tabs and trim and have a sense of what are the best settings at different speeds.
The boat may be on plane at 10 mph. I just can't feel it !

[Hudson River Steve]

A 7700 lb boat is a little different than a bass boat and especially a light aluminum boat. Just set the planes all the way down and you should be able to plane in the high teens. One caveat is how much weight you have sitting on the rear bench seat. The more people you can move into the cabin...the better. I put the table up and have the kids play cards in the cabin waiting for their turn on the tube!
For your Auto Generator Start, is there an adjustable cranking time setting?

[Brian Belcher]

Steve. No. I bought the cheap one. Or at least I don't think so. I haven't put a lot time on its carb...yet. The auto shut down solenoid is slow

[Hunter12345]

Originally Posted by Hudson River Steve

A 7700 lb boat is a little different than a bass boat and especially a light aluminum boat. Just set the planes all the way down and you should be able to plane in the high teens. One caveat is how much weight you have sitting on the rear bench seat. The more people you can move into the cabin...the better. I put the table up and have the kids play cards in the cabin waiting for their turn on the tube!
For your Auto Generator Start, is there an adjustable cranking time setting?

Steve, does the mariah hull normally " lean" into turns? Im on the fence with these smart tabs, do you think its worth punching holes all over the transom? Dont know about other boats but mine Stays flat around turns.


1998 shabah 180
5.7l 350 mag
Bravo III

[Brian Belcher]

The lean is absolutely normal for a boat with such high dead rise numbers. That high dead rise is what makes our boats so great in choppy/rough waters. The flatter the bottom, the rougher the ride.
The wider apart you get your trim tabs, the more "flat" the turn but by no means does it make it much flatter. The water is already displaced by the transom by the time it gets to the trim tabs.
You could run a tab down far enough that you could flatten out a turn but at the expense of speed and stability.
I think folks get the purpose of tabs confused. They are for leveling your boat at speed, in a straight line.
I've found with mine, which is a 20 degree dead rise, that by dropping the bow a little before the turn helps eliminate a lot of the excessive roll.

[Hunter12345]

Originally Posted by Brian Belcher

The lean is absolutely normal for a boat with such high dead rise numbers. That high dead rise is what makes our boats so great in choppy/rough waters. The flatter the bottom, the rougher the ride.

The wider apart you get your trim tabs, the more "flat" the turn but by no means does it make it much flatter. The water is already displaced by the transom by the time it gets to the trim tabs.

You could run a tab down far enough that you could flatten out a turn but at the expense of speed and stability.

I think folks get the purpose of tabs confused. They are for leveling your boat at speed, in a straight line.

I've found with mine, which is a 20 degree dead rise, that by dropping the bow a little before the turn helps eliminate a lot of the excessive roll.

Yes, i understand that, my point is, do tabs make the mariah hull perform outside its design? If its designed to lean, and you take corners on plane, the tab your steering into counters the natural movement of the way its designed to corner. Know what im saying?


1998 shabah 180
5.7l 350 mag
Bravo III