Embarrassing question

[jay3361]

I bought a 2005 Skeeter WX-1880 brand new, but it's spent the last 10+ years in storage. I just retired and was looking forward to returning to my boat and fishing. I changed the fuel lines, charged the batteries, added some fresh gas to the empty tanks and took it to the lake for a test drive/shakedown cruise. The boat started right up, idled nicely. After it was warmed up I idled across a large no-wake zone. Once I was clear of the no-wake zone I throttled to 3,000 RPM and ran for about 5 minutes. Everything was in order, the engine running smoothly. I eased up to 4,000 RPM and the boat felt very, very tail-heavy. I confirmed the motor was trimmed fully down, but the transom was pushing down almost to the waterline. If I were younger and fearless, I would have pushed to full throttle and tried to get on plane, but honestly, the tail felt so heavy I was afraid of burying the stern and flooding the boat. I throttled back and headed to the dock. While I had convinced myself the hull was filling with water, my bilge pumps weren't pumping any water overboard and the boat road nice and level at 3,000 RPM.

Once on the trailer I pulled the plug and only about a gallon of water drained (plus about 5 gallons from the live wells which I'd left open).

It's been about 10 years since I've been on the water, and I really didn't have much time in this boat before storing it all those years ago. Most of my prior experience at the helm was in a 36 foot Carver. So here's my embarrassing question. Was the plowing and tail-heavy sensation a result of my timidness about going to full throttle and getting on plane? Or could I have actually driven the stern down and swamped it with a higher throttle setting? I simply do not recall the dramatic bow-high attitude when throttling up all those years ago. It really spooked me.

Thanks!

[OK_BassBum]

Ya gotta mash the gas to get her on plane!
The nose will rise and then fall.
You can't swamp a bass boat with the motor, to much flotation designed in to the boat.
Good Luck!

[utinator]

That's more like a Walleye boat, right? Most bassboats get on plane around 30mph, or about 3000-4000 RPMs. Below that, and the transom just sinks into the water. Your boat might be doing the same at 4000 RPMs, but I'm not familiar with that type of boat. How fast were you going at 3000 and 4000 rpms?

[Keoweefishing]

Push throttle to full to get it on plane.

[jay3361]

That's more like a Walleye boat, right? Most bassboats get on plane around 30mph, or about 3000-4000 RPMs. Below that, and the transom just sinks into the water. Your boat might be doing the same at 4000 RPMs, but I'm not familiar with that type of boat. How fast were you going at 3000 and 4000 rpms?

Yes, it’s a walleye boat. It drafts deeper than a bass boat, so I’d guess I was probably doing about 15 mph or less at 3000 rpm. Maybe closer to 20 at 4000 rpm.

I’ve spent the afternoon thinking about this and am about ready to admit this was all self-inflicted. I think being away from boating for so long and expecting SOMETHING to go wrong, I got spooked when I saw how low the transom had sunk.

[billnorman1]

Water weighs 62 pounds per cubic foot. Close off your livewells.

[jay3361]

Water weighs 62 pounds per cubic foot. Close off your livewells.

roger that!

[utinator]

Yeah, you weren't going near fast enough. I'd expect that boat to plane-out around 25-30 mph. It's deeper and heavier than a bassboat, but it also has a larger running surface. Once you get it on plane, it will probably cruise around 25 mph. Just make sure motor is trimmed down, and give all the gas!

[Texas Larry]

I believe what you felt was normal, at 4000 you were just plowing water. Make sure you have the engine trimmed all the way down. Give it full throttle til you get it on plane (like Ultinator said) and trim up a little at a time to where you want it to be. The faster you are moving, the more trim up you can run. You didn't say what engine and prop you have on it. I don't think I've ever seen a boat swamp from the rear going forward, so I wouldn't worry about that.

I looked at some old posts on another forum, and it appears that boat should run around 55 or so with a 200. If it is a 2 stroke, did you drain it and put fresh oil in it, or change the oil on a 4 stroke? After sitting up that long I sure would.

[jay3361]

I believe what you felt was normal, at 4000 you were just plowing water. Make sure you have the engine trimmed all the way down. Give it full throttle til you get it on plane (like Ultinator said) and trim up a little at a time to where you want it to be. The faster you are moving, the more trim up you can run. You didn't say what engine and prop you have on it. I don't think I've ever seen a boat swamp from the rear going forward, so I wouldn't worry about that.

I looked at some old posts on another forum, and it appears that boat should run around 55 or so with a 200. If it is a 2 stroke, did you drain it and put fresh oil in it, or change the oil on a 4 stroke? After sitting up that long I sure would.

Thanks Larry. The more I've thought about it, the more I agree with you. I was interested in ensuring the engine ran smoothly at various throttle settings so I was easing it up in 1,000 RPM increments. I wasn't driving the boat the way it should be driven. I'm anxious to get it out, firewall it, get it on plane and then I'll throttle back and see how it does at lower RPMs.

Also, I did NOT drain and replace the oil on either engine. I'll do that this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Fishysam]

Water weighs just over 8 pounds a gallon. Not sure about 62 pounds a cubic foot. Just hammer down the 1880 will be fine.