My first impressions

[beachbum]

Yup... after that long bitter winter I finally splashed her on Monday... memorial day.

Thankfully I had my long time boat buddy with me. That makes the job easier.

Launch was no problem... the ramp was easy and NOT busy... Started right up and we began the break in period... boring... but worked the slow speed maneuvers.

It is true, these boats are different in responsiveness. I felt like I was over-correcting constantly. Need some serious helm time to improve.

Once we could take the RPMs up ... i noticed the speedometer (paddle wheel type) would not perform over 5000 rpm (separate thread in sx190 section)...

the Garmin echomap 50 worked fine, except the sonar would not read the bottom when travelling at 5000 rpm and higher... that is pretty normal.

The boat truly handled well in the chop and the swift current and eddies created under the Peace Bridge in the Niagara River... You have to really feel your way thru the chop.

I felt that the boat did not have the right speed (slow) compared to the whine and higher rpms of the motor... is that normal?... i assume it was.

Once we established that I could get a decent MPH from the GPS I felt better about the speed... Once we got it on plane we appreciate the acceleration and speed of the boat... we only did that a couple of times...

My boating buddy was hungry and board as we had been out a few hours and not doing much. So... it was time to retrieve... that was different.

I didn't power the boat on to the trailer... we floated and winched and moved the trailer forward and winched and eventually it seated in there wonderfully...

With any luck, I will get out again in the next few days to better my skill at docking and slow speed maneuvers.

Loving the boat so far.

 

[RightStuff]

Congrats on the new ride, it will only get better with time/practice! We are absolutely loving our decision to get ours last fall, now I just have to make more time to use it between work and other 'obligations'.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Congrats on the first trip.....boating on a river is much different then boating on a lake, you will notice a huge difference in the way the boat performs from each other. Last time out I thought my boat had something wrong with it and then realized that we were going against a very swift current and not with it.

 

[Glassman]

Congrats and thanks for sharing Bum! I went to college up around there and always wondered what it would be like to go boating there....it was usually freezing cold or covered in 10 feet of snow back in the winter of '76-'77:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_of_1977

And that is how I ended up in California!

 

[96Pirate]

Congrats on taking the boat out. I am in the same "boat". Just bought an 07 Ar230 and 1st time out was, well different, at low speed. I need to get out and just practice. Good luck with it.

 

[Gym]

@beachbum just a couple of tips that might help. With the steering at slow speed. I watch the tip of the bow for the first indication of it turning off course rather than waiting for the boat to actually turn. When I see that I counteract with the wheel. That way all my corrections are very small but fairly often. As far as winching. I converted to winching rather than power loading when I changed my bunk boards to Ultimate Bunk Boards which are very slick. I learned that to winch the boat on I just needed to sink the trailer another inch or so. That way it winches on pretty easy, just one hand, but the bunk boards still grab the hull to guide it on the trailer. Hope this helps. Have a great summer with your new boat.

 

[itsdgm]

Congrats on a great first outing. Here's to many more!!!

 

[scokill]

Congrats on the boat. Regarding steering...it get's easier. We were tied up this weekend and had to go get some friends at the dock. My buddy on the end said "take my boat"....I/O runabout. I've had I/O in the past and a lot of time on the water with one, but let me tell you that it was different and I was nervous not driving a jetboat! I didn't have any issues, but it was different and I felt like I didn't have as much control.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Congrats on the new boat! Regarding seemingly high RPM to travel at pretty slow speeds, that was one of the first things I noticed about our SX210 as well. 5,000 rpm to go like 6 mph, whereas a prop boat would be running maybe 1,000 rpm? Then 6,000 rpm will get me up on plane andto almost 30 with just me on the boat or into the mid 20's with the family? WTH? It's just the way these boats seem to be - they aren't very good for serene subplane cruising. I am guessing that the pumps are just not efficient at those speeds. Accordingly, I pretty much use "no wake" mode as the fastest sub-planing rpm for traversing slow sections, as it is just plain annoying to me running at 4-5K rpm without going faster. That's about the only thing I don't really enjoy about the boat and I can certainly live with it!

 

[SCSTWG]

Congrats on the boat. I purchased mine late last summer and I am still a disaster at the dock. I love the boat, but I need more hours with the low speed maneuvering to get good at it. It will come with time and the boat is great.

 

[Skysurfer2010]

Just keep practicing. One day the low speed handling will just click with you. These boats are so extremely maneuverable. I actually love docking in front of I/O's and seeing their reactions.

 

[Sacamano]

Just keep practicing. One day the low speed handling will just click with you. These boats are so extremely maneuverable. I actually love docking in front of I/O's and seeing their reactions.

x2

 

[Kevin107]

Congrats on the boat. I purchased mine late last summer and I am still a disaster at the dock. I love the boat, but I need more hours with the low speed maneuvering to get good at it. It will come with time and the boat is great.

Do you have any fins installed? It helps ALOT

 

[Kevin M]

Congratulations on the new boat! Putting the hours at the helm will be the only thing that will get you comfortable driving the boat. I mastered mine about half way through last summer. I have no issues bringing the boat in and slide it between two boats at the dock. I do not have fins and am not getting them. Docking on the river is a challenge and I have done it a number of times on the Ohio river. Just practice somewhere where you can keep going back and forth and just getting used to how much thrust you need to go forward and reverse. Enjoy your boat!

 

[beachbum]

Thanks for all the good wishes and excellent advice.
More hours at the helm... Might get to 70 F on the weekend.

It is time!

 

[itsdgm]

Just make sure to remember how it felt to operate your boat for the first time. Then ask yourself if you ever plan on being the guy in the water while your friend gives it a "try" for the first time. I opted for the fins because I bring several of my friends out with us. Most of them have boating experience, like I did when I first bought our Yamaha. I then realized that this boat requires more time behind the helm (without fins) to get comfortable than I'm willing to spend teaching all my friends. Fins = point and shoot. Anybody who's operated an I/O will be able to figure out a Yamaha with fins pretty quickly.

 

[Kelso]

The fins also take away the need to constantly correct steering while at no wake speed. That in itself was worth the price to me.

 

[bobbie]

x2 on the fins....huge difference at slow speeds. also...i added a throttle sync. that too is also great for friends driving the boat...you don't have to show the two throttle handles.

 

[Britboater]

Congrats on your new purchase, like you, my first impressions of the 190 was a little "this feels different" but now I'm totally into it.
I fitted fins, if only to help out with slow speed manoeuvring. You can actually make the boat rock when at no wake speed by moving the steering wheel quickly, defiantly more bite, anything that helps is a bonus in IMO.

 

[beachbum]

Another ride up the river and then into Lake Erie to my mooring. The boat handles well in the current and rapids above the Peace Bridge and below. Of course when we decided to make the trip up the lake the water was calm and the rain hadn't been troubling us.... at the mouth of the river was this front of rain and beautiful sunlit thunderclouds... hmmm... at the helm to make the decision. My crew wanted the adventure so... into the downpour... I couldn't see a think until i put a ball cap on ... the bimini was not up... we motored attempting to keep an eye on our proximity to one of the shorelines... rain passed... we laughed... boat handles well in mild chop.

Haven't experienced the larger rollers yet.

Today... a rather sleepless night with the boat on the mooring.... wind and weather keep me on guard. Really don't want to get out in the water if I don't have to.... It is 64 F ... kinda chilly to be out reapplying an anchor in the middle of the night.

We'll see how this works out.