following sea 28 te

[jillsusan]

Have a 28 Te 05--Love the boat -- some annoying issues with quality but nothing major.

Coming in with a following sea-- I slow her down to 2000 - 2200 rpm 7-10 knots

otherwise there is sometimes no response to the wheel

Just want to make sure this is the correct way to run her.

Thanks

[Denis]

It depends on the size of the following sea for me. I usually try to work the throttle so that I am running at the same rate as the crest or if I can I run a little faster than the wave peaks. I also try to run at a slight angle to the peak. In either case I try to keep the RPM's up so that I have maximum flow over the rudder.

[Cape Codder]

Again, depending upon the size of the waves:
But generally, I keep it running at my normal cruising speed, somewhere aroung 18-19 kts.
There have been times running up Buzzards Bay with sizable waves that I have slowed down to 14-15 kts.
In the following seas, I tend to keep the bow up and not run the tabs bring the bow down.
I am running an 03 Engine Box 28 TE.
Is your 05 a Flushdeck?
I am told there is more weight up front due to the placement of the engine on a Flushdeck, and that it might cause more bow steer do to the weight distribution in a following sea.
But I've never driven one to see the difference.

[jcollins]

I agree with Bob. Keep the bow up. Don't use tabs. Try to keep speed up.

[furball]

I have a follow-up question but first let me tell what I found on my first weekend with our 28.
We had a following sea of 1-1/2' to 2' and winds of about 20kts. My first boat with trim tabs so of course I had them part way down to push the bow down. We were running about 16kts and I decided to turn to port. There was no reaction as I turned the wheel for about 5-7 seconds then she turned 90 degree to port instantly, heeling hard to starboard. Correcting the rudder hard to starboard only amplified the reaction, only to starboard, heeling hard to port. By then I had backed off the throttle and brought the boat back under control. I will never forget that feeling!
Later, I found out that I had done pretty much everything wrong. The 28 definitely will bow steer coming down the face of a wave and in my instance, wave force from behind on the skeg, transom and tabs, strong wind from behind and inexperience with a new boat almost cost me dearly..
Now for my question, in a strong following sea, and you want to come about 180 degrees, at what point in the wave do you start your turn? Same question runnning into heavy seas and you need to come about, where do you begin your turn?
In many respects, this is a much more forgiving boat than my old CC but it is different.
Thanks

John

[JackK]

John -
I can relate to your experience. The first time in a 3-4' following sea, I made very similar movements to you and a friend riding in another boat radio'd to ask - "What the heck do you call that maneuver?" I almost threw my brother out of the navigator seat and scared the crap out of both of us.

Tabs up was my first correction. Second, if the steering doesn't seem to respond quickly, back off the throttle until she does. Do not keep steering. I thought we were going to snap roll.

I now find that I like to be near the bottom of the trough or just climbing the wave in front when making a turn. You can feel when you are surfing and that is definately not the time to make a quick turn.

Jack

[jillsusan]

jack

i just emailed you but then found this post by you from 06

i also can relate- came thru and - rear qtr following sea was going to fast and slid to the port right down the wave-- scared the living heck out of me and my buddy on the boat-- he also asked-- what are you doing?

[chiefrcd]

Same thing here on the initial survey....I almost didn't buy the boat it scared me so badly. This is what I learned....on my 28 trim tabs are worthless. I've run her for almost 6 years and she's never run better using the tabs....with, into or across the seas. I will use them if I have to trim the boat from port to starboard or vise-versa due to weight distribution issues ie. too much beef on one side or another.

[Yearwood]

In calmer waters then are being discussed here, I find the trim tabs to be useful. When cruising at 3400 rpm (Yanmar 300) and I have them retracted by applying pressure for about two seconds I hit the maximum speed over the ground,

[jcollins]

Coming from a clorox bottle boat I used them alot in the first season.
Now I only use them in calm water or like Chief said, when I need to balance the load or folks are moving around. And, it may be my imagination, but I put them down when backing. Again, this is leftover from my single I/O days. As I come down the fairway, to my slip, I put them down. Feels like a little better control when I back in.