Adding Extra SS Anchor Chain For Ballast

I was just curious what you meant when you said ‘your glad Sea Ray didn’t make that bow any shorter than it actually is ..’

When I’m out plowing around in heavy seas it’s not uncommon to take waves over our bow, and I hate it and it makes the admiral nervous.
the guys who have recommended bigger tabs are right, we are nowhere near full tabs when we are running. Full tabs slow the boat down and pound the waves. Speed picks up and exhaust gas temps go down as the hull frees up when raising the tabs to between 1/2 and 3/4 down
Maybe you just are to heavy in the back.
I don’t have a hydraulic platform, just a 9 1/2’ rib on the standard platform
 
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When I’m out plowing around in heavy seas it’s not uncommon to take waves over our bow, and I hate it and it makes the admiral nervous.
I guess another good argument for no chain ballast in the anchor well.. thanks.
 
I always thought that most SeaRay cruisers road kinda bow high attitude since the 80's on...… At least all of mine have..
 
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I always thought that most SeaRay cruisers road kinda bow high attitude since the 80's on...… At least all of mine have..
judging by the topics and feedback on boats up to 45 feet, it certainly appears that way ...
 
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those of us whose Sea Rays are equipped with the Lofrans Windlass, I was wondering when we should consider replacing or overhauling them? I don’t really want to wait for mine to fail
 
Ok, can i chime in here,,,, I have an '05 420 gasser with all chain rode. Mine does not float level- meaning i have a bow down attitude at the dock. I have looked everywhere and cannot find extra weight, water etc in the bow. Even with the tanks all full; fuel, water she still just does not float level and it annoys the hell out of me. I have tossed around the idea of adding weight in the stern - just concerned about it -
Thoughts guys??? Underway all is fine once i get her bow up......
thanks alot
 
PO put 200' of chain on my 44DA, and I still have to use a little trim. PO said the boat handles better than before. I can't say by comparison because I bought it this way, but I will say it seems to handle very nicely underway and docking.
 
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PO put 200' of chain on my 44DA, and I still have to use a little trim. PO said the boat handles better than before. I can't say by comparison because I bought it this way, but I will say it seems to handle very nicely underway and docking.
Be interested to know why he added it and exactly what he means by handles better
 
I’ve pretty much gone off thinking I can add some extra chain for ballast but will still buy 250 feet for the anchor. ttmott gave some good advice on what to look for so I’ll ensure it meets the specs he mentioned.

As for the trim issue, I would like to see what options are out there. wasn’t overly concerned about it being a little stern heavy at first, but the more I read about owners making their tabs bigger and/or adding drop fins, and the fact they seemed to return positive results has got my attention... Any advice greatly appreciated

We are currently on a little boat trip with a couple other boats from our marina and one of them is Equipt with “Zipwakes”
Owner loves them. He says getting rid of the trim tabs and installing Zipwakes was a great move.
I know nothing about them other than he says they work great. I never knew they existed until yesterday. Just thought I’d throw it out there.
 
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I can’t believe this hasn’t been discussed but stainless chain is not strong enough to use as anchor chain. There are a couple special stainless alloys but they are cost prohibitive. You should research this and you will end up with galvanized. I would look up the specs but I am mobile and just wanted to point this out before you make a mistake.

Nobody reads my posts... Page 1 Post #6 I was on it :)

I don’t get the stainless for chain? Typically SS chain is cheap stainless with impurities that can still rust and on top of that stainless is weaker. I would go galvanized and get rid of the rope completely.
 
those of us whose Sea Rays are equipped with the Lofrans Windlass, I was wondering when we should consider replacing or overhauling them? I don’t really want to wait for mine to fail

No one can really answer that. There's really no scheduled maintenance on them. They just work until they don't. My era Lofrans (Progress 1) is notorious for a worn away tension finger and/or a weakened tensioner spring. My solution was to switch over to all chain, in which case the tensioner becomes superfluous. Other than that, I suppose you could get the motor rebuilt, and make sure all of your wiring connections are clean and solid.
 
No one can really answer that. There's really no scheduled maintenance on them. They just work until they don't. My era Lofrans (Progress 1) is notorious for a worn away tension finger and/or a weakened tensioner spring. My solution was to switch over to all chain, in which case the tensioner becomes superfluous. Other than that, I suppose you could get the motor rebuilt, and make sure all of your wiring connections are clean and solid.
It’s a tough one alright. Waiting for it to fail isn’t really an option and to overhaul it would probably cost about half the replacement cost ...
 
We are currently on a little boat trip with a couple other boats from our marina and one of them is Equipt with “Zipwakes”
Owner loves them. He says getting rid of the trim tabs and installing Zipwakes was a great move.
I know nothing about them other than he says they work great. I never knew they existed until yesterday. Just thought I’d throw it out there.

I’m glad you did. I have heard of them and believe they are on the expensive side, but if they are effective I’d definitely consider them.

Has anyone got zipwakes installed? Or know of someone who has and can comment? Would love to hear from you
 
Zipwakes look interesting but, unless I’m missing something, after looking at their website for a few minutes I’m not sure they would work for my boat with it’s prop pockets and curved transom.
They seen to recommend covering the transom from end to end which would be difficult to do with my configuration.
Probably a good solution for someone who has a flat transom and no prop pockets though.
But someone with that configuration could probably just extend their tabs and install an auto trim system to achieve the same thing.
Not sure it would be worth abandoning an existing trim tab system to install Zipwakes, but they could be a viable alternative for a boat that has nothing yet.
 
I have an 01 46 Dancer with 200 ft of chain. I give the trimtabs about 10 seconds of down and take off. Bow stays down and gives me my best speed.
 
I have an 01 46 Dancer with 200 ft of chain. I give the trimtabs about 10 seconds of down and take off. Bow stays down and gives me my best speed.

Exactly what I do.. then sit down and enjoy the ride.

And listen to my wife remind me how she liked the 460da more than the 410 we bought. That damn hard top!
 

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