I would say run it and see how it performs.

 

I agree with Quint. The boat may perform fine and you may be the only one to notice it.

 

Actually being smart tabs won't they correct that if there is any difference or do they just correct/adjust bow to stern angle

 

I imagine since the left tab is slightly farther away from the center line of the boat, it will have a slightly stronger pull to the left- but we're talking about a 2% difference, based on an 8'6" beam and a 5000lb loaded boat. So again, I'll just probably leave it alone.

 

You are both probably right..and I doubt anyone other than me will ever notice but it still sucks!

 

A few pics... View attachment 18880 View attachment 18881 View attachment 18882

 

I would fix them. It may not make a difference in performance but after time it would eat away at me. It's only 7 holes and a few hours of your time.

 

I built my garage years ago and measured wrong. The garage door was a couple of inches off center. Nobody would ever notice it so I left it be. For the next 15 years every time i'd pull into my driveway that's all I would see. Of course trim tab holes are much easier to repair but if your like me evertime i'd look at the back of the boat that's what i'd see. It's a curse.

 

I agree that you should try it out, first. But, you might get lucky and it turns out to be only three holes to fill, if the holes along the Al mounting tab are evenly spaced.

 

If it drives you nuts......fix it.

 

I think it's an easy fix to move it. Just epoxy the holes closed. Should take all of 30 minutes.

I guess this reaffirms the old adage, "Measure twice, cut/drill/weld etc once"!

Doug

 

The only concerns would be the holes for the actuator. Can you fill them in the red and make them disappear when you move the actuator over? If some sort of plate could be installed to hide the filled holes then add the same plate to the other side as well. It would bother me more to see filled holes if I was a potential buyer than the offset tab.

 

It would drive me crazy..... I would have to fix it.....

 

I was looking closer at the pics to see if you could move both tabs enough to even them out so no holes will show. I see you have the actuator mounts reversed also on the tabs.

 

The holes are spaced 2" apart and by being off 1", I'm going to have to redrill all 7 holes (including the two top mounts). Also, I called Nauticus about the actuator mounts when i was installing the tabs. They do not supply a left and right mount. They're both the same so to have the transom mounts located in the same place, left and right, you need to reverse the way you mount the actuator to the tab on one side....assuming you mout the tabs correctly in the first place :smt021

Off to West Marine this morning to grab some MarineTex and talk to them about how to patch the two holes that will need to be colored. I stared at it last night and it will drive me crazy so it will be fixed.

 

Are the top shock mounts in a symetrical location or are they off too?
If they are in the same spot you can move the port side tab inboard to match the starboard one. If you had a small stainless strip made that will allow you to redrill the base to reuse the holes in the boat (you'll have to patch the farthest left one) but the new strip reinforces the base you've now redrilled and remount it in the proper spot.

I would fix it though. I think I would fill the holes properly and remount one side. As someone mentioned, it would be good for future owners to have it properly repaired.

 

+1 for fix it. I hate it when things are not symmetrical! I doubt it will cause any performance issues though.

 

Did you happen to ask Nauticus about the problem and see what they suggest? I called and spoke to John the owner a couple of times and he was very helpful and charitable with his time.

I personally doubt you'll ever notice it. There are so many other factors such as weight distribution within the boat that affect ride you probably won't notice this one.

 

The Repair has already started. I've got MarineTex curing in the holes now. I added a compatible colorant to the mix to try and color match the two red holes. The MarineTex is white so I ran into issues with being careful not to add too much colorant and screw up the curing process. The color is close but no exact. Also, you cant gel over epoxy so in hindsight, to do it so there would be no trace, you'd have to use fiberglass resin and a filler. I agree with everyone that I doubt there would be any significant performance issues- I just know it would bug me every time I saw or thought about it.

 

The epoxy is setting up nicely. The red tinted epoxy is a bit pink but it still looks pretty good. I'm leaving on business tomorrow so i'll pick it up on Sunday. Should be a little color sanding and DA bufffing and call it good. I'll post pics later.

 

You can gel over MarineTex. Large areas tend to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, but the size you are talking about should be fine. It's been a few years since I've done it, but I seem to recall letting the epoxy cure for about a week to get rid of that waxy feeling that it develops, then sanding (the key is making sure that waxy substance is gone). Did you make sure to bevel the edges of the hole nicely?

Good luck!

 

Beveled nicely with a countersink bit. Depending on how it looks after I sand flush, i might try gelcoating, although given the size and location, I might be making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

True.

 

Fixed! I covered the holes with MarineTex, let it cure the used a 5/8" countersink bit to bevel the hole. ThenI mixed up some gel coat and filled the rest of the holes and sanded starting with 600 grit working my up to 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper. I finished off the repair by buffing and polishing the area. Would you believe that in order to color match the red, I had to add blue and to match the white, I had to add brown. Check the before and after pictures.
PS- Yeah I know I reversed the side that the actuator is attached. It gives me a little more room to adjust the angle of the tab if needed. Also, it matches the look for the right side even though the mounting point is about an inch inboard relative to the right tab.

View attachment 19063 View attachment 19062

 

Now you're talking.

 

Someone is going to sleep well from now on...

 

Glad you got that done. I was losing sleep over it... ;-)