All I can say is Wow.

[Craig]

So we were boating yesterday (off for vacation). The whole day was great and at about 6:30 we decided to call it a day and head back to the marina to load and leave. All was well as we headed back, then I began to notice some dark clouds rolling in behind us. I'm still thinking at this point "we're good" but just to be safe I ran WOT the last 3-4 miles towards the marina as we were headed north away from the clouds. Keeping in mind we had checked the weather before we left, only 30% chance rain shower.....we pulled up the local radar and sure enough small cell to the south of us. We made it back to the marina, tied off, and I went after the truck to load. Backed in at the ramp and began walking back out to the courtesy dock to fire the boat up and load it. Pulled away from the dock and began to idle towards the ramp...then the storm front must have rolled in because the wind jumped from little to nothing to 35+ in a couple seconds. Of course my Bimini was still up and I was already committed on loading onto the trailer with other boats loading as well. At one point the bow of the boat was at least 35-40 degrees off center just to track a semi straight line towards the trailer. I was amazed at how much the wind moves these boats around, I remember at one point thinking "ah ****, I should have just waited". Anyway when I got the boat to the trailer the bow was probably 15ish degrees off center and the bunks and my 14 year old saved the day. He drug the strap out , hooked and started cranking while I powered on and the boat straightened out. These boats are certainly a challenge at low speed maneuvering in a strong wind, and hindsight being 20/20....if there is even a chance of strong winds and you can wait to load, WAIT! These things are like kites in the wind...

My co-pilot idling us out of the no wake area..

Kneeboarding

We put in @ Conley Bottom on Lake Cumberland.

 

[Julian]

Glad you loaded her ok. Yes, these boats are lite and as such can blow around more in strong winds.

 

[Magic]

Wanna see some of my crosswind approaches in the jet? Looking at the runway out of the side window is quite a thrill! lol!

Great job just getting the boat on the trailer without incident! Quite a responsible 14 yr. old you have there! You guys make a great team!


Yeah, your doing it right!

 

[Ronnie]

Kudos to you and your copilot. Sounds like you had a great day, everyone is ok, you didn't break anything and have a hell of a story / lesson. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Gym]

The high freeboard coupled with the deployed Bimini would make it REAL challenging with a strong cross wind. Good thing you have a quick thinking co-pilot. Just wondering...Do you have fins on your boat?

 

[farrelltravis]

Glad everything worked out ok. Your lake looks awesome. Thanks for sharing the pics @Craig

 

[Craig]

The high freeboard coupled with the deployed Bimini would make it REAL challenging with a strong cross wind. Good thing you have a quick thinking co-pilot. Just wondering...Do you have fins on your boat?

Absolutely, we installed thrust vectors last summer and love them.

 

[MikeyL]

THRUST VECTOR XL's are a MUST ...... and a WELCOME addition to any Yamaha.
PS - This is a non-paid endorsement ......... LOL ! Seriously ........ MORE than worth their weight in ......well, maybe not gold, but you git the idea, anyways !
Enjoy and Hey ! Best Wishes to everyone in these 98 degrees days ! Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA

 

[farrelltravis]

I wouldn't agree they are a must. I love finless!

 

[PEARCE]

I wouldn't agree they are a must. I love finless!

X2

 

[0627Devildog]

I would have to say that a pair of VEVE guides (or similar) are an ABSOLUTE MUST. As long as you can land the nose between the guides and don't overpower the throttle they will do the rest to guide you on. In the event you go too deep on the ramp they keep you from swinging out over it until you can correct depth or get clear. They literally saved my ARSE the VERY FIRST LAUNCH after installing them. I highly recommend getting a set for EVERYONE regardless of how much you launch/recover your boat. All it takes is ONE time going sideways over your trailer to RUIN your season.

 

[Johmas50]

@Craig how is the lake looking down there in general? Is there much debris from the raised water level? Thinking about coming over for a visit from Laurel Lake on 4th of July weekend.

 

[davel501]

These boats have tons of freeboard. Running down a lake in a good strong crosswind will wear you out.

 

[Craig]

@Craig how is the lake looking down there in general? Is there much debris from the raised water level? Thinking about coming over for a visit from Laurel Lake on 4th of July weekend.

The lower end of the lake near the dam is great with very little debris, there is some debris near the confluence of the northfork and southfork rivers and around Waitsboro recreation. We put in our second day at Burnside Island and ran down below The mouth of Fishing Creek and had very little debris. It's not as bad as what it was 3-4 weeks ago. I think we're going back this weekend, we try to avoid the lake on holiday weekends. I think the thunder run is coming up in the next couple of weeks too, the lake will be wild that weekend too.

 

[DawgDaze]

Awesome pics and great story. Too much wind can really alter a loading technique in a BIG hurry!
Once you are aimed in at the runners the trailer centers the boat pretty well.....at least for us anyway.
I really like the way your boat looks with that tower. We are still considering one for the Dawg.

 

[MOA_Chaser]

I had trailer guides for my first boat, a 19' I/O. When I got the Yamaha, I got it off of someone who boated in a lake and he didn't really need them. Well, we went boating before I could order them and I found that, by using the bunk boards and the throttle, I really didn't need them and I boat exclusively in rivers. Once you learn to curve into the trailer while coming slightly upstream, and to trust the bunks and use the throttle to guide it on, the guides aren't really needed. Going on my fourth year without them and I don't miss them at all.

 

[Craig]

I have no experience with the guides but wondered afterwards if they would have held the weight of the boat pushing against them at a severe angle?

 

[DoubleThrust]

There are times I wouldn't mind a large (but retractable) skeg towards the stern... running on Erie in rollers was definitely one of those times.

Oh well... these are inland water ways boats mostly. Someday I'll get another boat... or three haha.

 

[sysinu]

Even on my Cobalt, if I had the bimini up or boards still on the racks and wind picks up... it's a no-win situation. When we are coming in before we load the boat while we're idling through no-wake in the marina, we always take the bimini down and if there is room, pull the boards off the racks. I have found that REALLY helps... much more so than the flat bottom nature of these boats.

 

[jdonalds]

Appriaching the dock I always turn the helm over to my 20 year old son who puts the boat onto the trailer better than I do. Then while he drives I fold the Bimini and zip the cover over on it so it won't be a problem if the wind kicks up. If my son isn't along I stop the boat and take care of the Bimini.