New to me: 2008 BR-175-gctid813580

[fshagan]

Just brought home my first power boat, a 2008 Bayliner BR-175 that's in very good condition. One owner previously, with maintenance performed at the shop around the corner from me.

My boating history is with small sailboats, first a Stevenson's Weekender that I built (15') and then a West Wight Potter 19'. Both were great boats but a leg problem makes rigging them too much of an ordeal. We're looking forward to putting her in the water this weekend!


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[fshagan]

First launch and cruising around the harbor today. Sea conditions were too rough for us to consider for our first sailing, so we putted around. I did test getting up on plane outside of the harbor behind a breakwater so it was a bit more protected.



All in all not a bad first day. No launch ramp drama. I did miss my tiller a little bit when I realized that when you cut power, you can't steer. Hmmmm ....

[6104696]

Great boat, you are gonna love it.

You can steer at slow speeds, but the reaction time is slower. You'll get used to it. When I approach my berth at low speed, I put the drive in neutral about 60-80 feet away and turn the wheel as needed and the outdrive acts like a rudder. I will usually approach with the boat a bit more to port than it should be. Then when the boat is just a few feet from where I want it, I put it into reverse (usually with no throttle) and forward motion gently stops, and torque steer from the prop pulls me to starboard so everything is nicely lined up.

Of course on a windy day, all bets are off.....

[fshagan]

"6104696" post=814146 wrote:
Great boat, you are gonna love it.

You can steer at slow speeds, but the reaction time is slower. You'll get used to it. When I approach my berth at low speed, I put the drive in neutral about 60-80 feet away and turn the wheel as needed and the outdrive acts like a rudder. I will usually approach with the boat a bit more to port than it should be. Then when the boat is just a few feet from where I want it, I put it into reverse (usually with no throttle) and forward motion gently stops, and torque steer from the prop pulls me to starboard so everything is nicely lined up.

Of course on a windy day, all bets are off.....

Thanks for the encouragement! It is a different feel than my heavier sailboat with a little outboard on it and a rudder, that's for sure. We did OK; I slowed enough that my wife jumped on the dock with the line to wrap around the cleat. Our local dock usually has the wind blowing slightly to port as you approach, and we chose the starboard side to dock on, so we didn't help ourselves much with that. Her exit from the boat pushed it a bit farther away from the dock, which is another new thing for us (having a 300# centerboard on the sailboat pretty much eliminates that). Next time we'll dock on the port side and be prepared for the different handling.

We knew we made the right choice when we put the boat on the trailer and only spent about ten minutes putting the bimini in tow position and heading home. That's a welcome change from the 45 minutes we spent de-rigging the sailboat. .

[6104696]

Planing hull powerboats are not designed to operate at the same speeds as sailboats, and you can certainly tell when it's time to approach a slip or pier.

I grew up sailing...and love it....as long as there are whitecaps. I can't imagine towing a sailboat, though. The "portable" sailing that I have done is with sailboards.

When fuel gets to and stays at $5.00 per gallon and higher, I will get myself a Hunter 25 or similar (unfortunately I have a shoal to get over so no deep draft boats for me.....). I hope to always have a powerboat to ski behind....

[fshagan]

"6104696" post=814245 wrote:
Planing hull powerboats are not designed to operate at the same speeds as sailboats, and you can certainly tell when it's time to approach a slip or pier.

Also when cruising in a no wake zone; I found that I had to keep the speed up enough to not have to wiggle the steering wheel like it was a '56 Chevy wandering all over the road. It's not a bad thing, just different.

A bigger sailboat would be nice, kept in a slip and ready to cast off with just a few minutes work. Slip fees run about $300 a month here for a 25' sailboat, so that could buy a lot of gas for the type of boating we do.

The shakedown cruise for this 10 year old boat was pretty good. The only thing I noticed was that the speedo gauge isn't working, so I'll be looking at the pitot tube to see if I can clear it. But other than that one minor thing, and our experience level with the boat, all seems ok.

[RobMick]

Smart Tabs would basically eliminate "bow wander" at slow or idle speeds...if. boating on open or large water bodies, trim Tabs may be a major benefit for you. I have the "self adjusting" Smart Tabs, others may chime in regarding power hydraulic or electric Tabs

[CanuckJack]

Fshagan, congrats on the new, to you, boat. I picked up a 2010 BR 175 a month ago and so far love it.

I had the boat out last weekend at Picton and there's a long no wake zone leaving the marina. The bow constantly wandered at low speeds made me wonder what was going on.

Not a big deal but felt like a real rookie out there, glad to hear it's normal.

[RobMick]

Smart Tabs will basically eliminate that low speed bow wander....