Sweet Baby Jesus! Maneuvering at 5mph!

[Shady28]

My apologies if my comments came across as crass or lacking sensitivity or intelligence to you.

I'm pretty proud of my 62 posts, being a member of this forum and participating when I can. I think we were all at 62 posts at some point in our past. I'm sorry that discounts my value or opinion as a member on this board or as a future customer of Cobra Jet Steering, LLC.

 

[2kwik4u]

.........I'm pretty proud of my 62 posts.........

Yea, but you seem a little....well.......Shady.......Sorry, couldn't help myself. I have Dad-Joke-Itus and haven't found a cure yet.

 

[tabbibus]

My apologies if my comments came across as crass or lacking sensitivity or intelligence to you.

I'm pretty proud of my 62 posts, being a member of this forum and participating when I can. I think we were all at 62 posts at some point in our past. I'm sorry that discounts my value or opinion as a member on this board or as a future customer of Cobra Jet Steering, LLC.

You should be more accurate next time you say something... it is 63 posts not 62.

 

[Betik]

Yea, but you seem a little....well.......Shady.......Sorry, couldn't help myself. I have Dad-Joke-Itus and haven't found a cure yet.

I guess your tongue is 2kiw4ur brain!!!!!
Note: I have studied this type of condition extensively because my wife hates it. Sorry to tell you no treatment available, let alone cure.

 

[shar]

Those should come up at speed. Shouldn’t have introduced any drag on the wheel while on plane, as I understand it.

@BigAbe75 I'm wondering if this isn't a design flaw with the X iteration versus previous versions/releases.

From JBP's website:


I need to give them a call. Unfortunately the boat is back in storage, and our season is coming to an end... I don't want to wait until next season to resolve this (which would also put me well outside of the return window) but i'm not sure how much can be done without getting back on the lake

 

[Betik]

maybe take the springs off !!!!!
is it really that much of trouble though? I have Cobras ( adjusted all the way down) and it needs some muscle at 40mph, but at 25mph which is our usual speed, it is not much of problem.

 

[shar]

maybe take the springs off !!!!!
is it really that much of trouble though? I have Cobras ( adjusted all the way down) and it needs some muscle at 40mph, but at 25mph which is our usual speed, it is not much of problem.

I could try removing a spring. or both? but if it was engineered to perform/work a certain way, I'm not confident that is a great solution/idea either. I'll confirm with JBP.

The amount of muscle required at 30mph+ is a little concerning. To me, it is significantly greater than what others here have stated here in various reviews. Again, those are all reviews with previous versions of this product. I'm really thinking the redesign of the X version to support the wider jet nozzles and adding the additional spring could be the culprit here.

 

[tabbibus]

I could try removing a spring. or both? but if it was engineered to perform/work a certain way, I'm not confident that is a great solution/idea either. I'll confirm with JBP.

The amount of muscle required at 30mph+ is a little concerning. To me, it is significantly greater than what others here have stated here in various reviews. Again, those are all reviews with previous versions of this product. I'm really thinking the redesign of the X version to support the wider jet nozzles and adding the additional spring could be the culprit here.

please report back what you find.

 

[Betik]

@shar maybe you need to hit the gym LOL

I am not really sure because I have different type of fins, i was Thinking out loud as a possible idea

 

[Wesley Cobb]

Jumping into the thread late but...

My number one concern before I bought my boat -- low speed maneuvering and docking. This is my first boat but, I had driven boats with outboard motors through a boat club I was in at the time.

I actually watched a lot of YouTube videos from a boating magazine. They were very helpful! The best advice I got from them was to "always drive the rear of the boat." The boat steers in both forward and reverse but reacts the same way...meaning, hard left steering and reverse works the same as hard right and forward. (Note: this holds a lot of weight when pulling away from a dock as well so one does not bang the aft against the dock while pulling away.) I also learned it reacts more quickly in forward than reverse.

I offer an example for illustration...I have to back into a long, U-shaped loading dock to be removed from the water (I dry store my boat at a marina). I will approach the side of the dock I want to side up against -- let's say the left side -- at an sharp angle in idle. I turn hard right and bump the engines into forward to get the turn going more quickly and pivot the boat in a small circle. As the aft comes around I will turn hard left and go into reverse to keep it moving around but at a more controlled turn rate. If I want to turn faster, I will go hard right and bump into forward. I then use reverse to slowly increase turn, back straight, or slow the turn. I just keep in mind I am driving the rear of the boat.

This mindset, and lots of practice made my not stress the end of the boating day. Hope this helps.

 

[Matt Phillips]

one of my favorite tricks is (like say when dropping off someone off at the end of a dock) is to approach it head on, then about 30-40 feet from the dock, swing her around in her own boat length and have the people step off the back porch onto the dock. then idle away. It always gets good looks from those on the dock.

With practice, you'll get there.

My best recommendation is to throw a fender into the middle of the lake on a calm day, then practice approaching it without hitting it. This is an easy way to practice without the humiliation of being near the dock (nor hitting it). I even had the sheriff come up to me once while I was practicing and he asked me what I was doing. When I told him I was practicing my close in docking skills using a fender, he approved and went on his way.

 

[tabbibus]

one of my favorite tricks is (like say when dropping off someone off at the end of a dock) is to approach it head on, then about 30-40 feet from the dock, swing her around in her own boat length and have the people step off the back porch onto the dock. then idle away. It always gets good looks from those on the dock.

With practice, you'll get there.

My best recommendation is to throw a fender into the middle of the lake on a calm day, then practice approaching it without hitting it. This is an easy way to practice without the humiliation of being near the dock (nor hitting it). I even had the sheriff come up to me once while I was practicing and he asked me what I was doing. When I told him I was practicing my close in docking skills using a fender, he approved and went on his way.

If you ever get that maneuver on video, please share! It is like the action heroes never looking at the explosion behind them!

 

[J-RAD]

one of my favorite tricks is (like say when dropping off someone off at the end of a dock) is to approach it head on, then about 30-40 feet from the dock, swing her around in her own boat length and have the people step off the back porch onto the dock. then idle away. It always gets good looks from those on the dock.

With practice, you'll get there.

I always reverse up to the dock for pick up and drop off. Rarely do we have reason to hang out at the dock here. Great trick and it does get a few stares.

 

[shar]

There are a lot of good comments/advice/tips in here concerning low speed maneuvering. I don't want it to get lost in the midst of my Thrust Vector X install, so I am going to create a new thread to track it (below).

https://jetboaters.net/threads/thrust-vector-x-install.24771/

 

[Betik]

Practicing with fender is great idea but I would consider an actual dock during week day.
the reason is that a fender in the water will be pushed by the water being displaced by to boat. Hence giving you biased feedback.

in hour home lake the dock is very narrow ( 3 feet maybe), as it part of the ramp. So backing to it is usually not an option as you end up blocking 2 spots. So we have to almost always parallel approach. We typically follow a decision tree approach.
If no wind: approach with the stern towards the ramp that way the depth alarm tells us when we went a bit too far. It always makes an easier departure if the bow is pointing out.

if East or West wind: put Bimini down and point the bow to the wind. Work the throttle until we dock.

If the wind is south or north and less than 15 mph then: put Bimini down and along the boat about 5 feet from the dock and let the wind push us to the dock. If the wind is above 15 knots or with high guests we point the bow to it and work the throttle.

if 40+ mph wind then take shelter until the storm passes. If a medical situation dictates that we have to get on land then bring my wife close the ramp and she swims out. She brings the truck and we load on straight on the trailer.

 

[2kwik4u]

I always reverse up to the dock for pick up and drop off. Rarely do we have reason to hang out at the dock here. Great trick and it does get a few stares.

Same here. Can't go fast enough to hit it very hard, and it's super easy to step off the platform onto the dock most days.

 

[Dean P]

This approach works great with floating docks but not so well with fixed docks. Going off the front (or sides) is almost always easier (although I don't like it when people walk on my seats; not good).

 

[Betik]

(although I don't like it when people walk on my seats; not good).

with their shoes on I might add