I just discovered that I have a PM about a comment I made about practicing turning in place. My PM box is overfull, so I can't respond there till I get that cleaned up. So thought I would just throw it out as a topic. The question was:
How exactly do you turn in place? Is it a little bit of forward with wheel one way, followed by a bit of reverse with wheel the other way, so that you end up slightly going back and forth, but in the same relative position as your heading changes?And my answer is yes, but the forward and back movement is minimal. It is not zero, like it would be with twin engines, but I think it is maybe a foot, not more than two. It certainly takes more effort than with a twin, and may be less controllable in the wind. I played with the docking simulator when it was put on line, and noticed how far forward the pivot point was. I thought that when I turned my boat in place, it was closer to the center of the boat and that maybe I had some control over the pivot point. But I have found so far it is farther forward, like in the simulator, and I can't move it back. I can't pivot about the helm, for instance.
I also knew I could pivot CW, but had not tried CCW. I found I could turn either way. Pivoting CW makes use of the normal forward and sideways thrust of the prop when you turn it fully one way or the other. I thought 'prop walk' would help turn the boat CW, and hinder turning CCW. But I have not fully thought it through, so this may be wrong. Also, the amount of prop walk effect should be controlled by the outdrive trim. As you trim the prop up towards the surface, i think prop walk should increase. I have not tried turning with the outdrive trimmed up or down from 'normal', so don't know the real effect.
I recently added a swim platform. I took the boat down to the boat launch, and tied it across between the two docks to see how much room I would have to turn in place. Considering that the boat will pivot at a point about where the front cabin window is, it looks at first like it might be tight. But when actually doing it, when you get turned half way around like this, you can just add a bit of movement forward or back as needed for clearance.
One thing I find that I have to be careful of is that I tend to pull in too far before starting a practice turn. I have plenty of water when I start the turn. But when I get nearly turned around, since it pivots so far forward, the boat is now significantly closer to the ramp pavement, and instead of having a bow sloping up, I have an outdrive hanging down. So I can end the turn uncomfortable close to the ramp.
Oh, also note that it is just fine to tie up both lanes of a loading ramp if you are making some important check like this! (Please insert immature green smily face here, I can't figure out how with this new system)
How exactly do you turn in place? Is it a little bit of forward with wheel one way, followed by a bit of reverse with wheel the other way, so that you end up slightly going back and forth, but in the same relative position as your heading changes?
I also knew I could pivot CW, but had not tried CCW. I found I could turn either way. Pivoting CW makes use of the normal forward and sideways thrust of the prop when you turn it fully one way or the other. I thought 'prop walk' would help turn the boat CW, and hinder turning CCW. But I have not fully thought it through, so this may be wrong. Also, the amount of prop walk effect should be controlled by the outdrive trim. As you trim the prop up towards the surface, i think prop walk should increase. I have not tried turning with the outdrive trimmed up or down from 'normal', so don't know the real effect.
I recently added a swim platform. I took the boat down to the boat launch, and tied it across between the two docks to see how much room I would have to turn in place. Considering that the boat will pivot at a point about where the front cabin window is, it looks at first like it might be tight. But when actually doing it, when you get turned half way around like this, you can just add a bit of movement forward or back as needed for clearance.
One thing I find that I have to be careful of is that I tend to pull in too far before starting a practice turn. I have plenty of water when I start the turn. But when I get nearly turned around, since it pivots so far forward, the boat is now significantly closer to the ramp pavement, and instead of having a bow sloping up, I have an outdrive hanging down. So I can end the turn uncomfortable close to the ramp.
Oh, also note that it is just fine to tie up both lanes of a loading ramp if you are making some important check like this! (Please insert immature green smily face here, I can't figure out how with this new system)
