1980 17 foot aqua sport with trim issue

[Far67rar]

I have a 1980 17 foot aqua sport with external bait wells on the back, I recently moved to Port Charlotte FL and have found that the bay can get very rough. My issue is with 2 foot waves I get very wet and with 3-4 foot waves I get scared. The bow of the boat crashes threw the wave it has really bad bow steer and the spray from the wave seems to be coming off the boat about 4-5 feet behind the bow. I have tryed to trim the bow higher but it gets to a point and lifts the engine out of the water instead of lifting the bow. I took my father for a ride he thinks the bow should raise alot more, he thinks either the bow is full of water or the external bait wells are acting like trim tabs holding the bow down. The boat has been in the water for about a year now and I don't know how tell if there is water in the bow. I am wondering has anyone ever had this problem and can it be the bait wells. I like having them on the boat and on a smooth day it is fine but if taking them off would help on a rough day I will. also would a fin mounted on the outboard help.

[Marcq]

Welcome aboard Far67rar   Just wondering, what size motor do you have on her?

Marc..

[fitz73222]

Hey Far67rar,

You may be asking alot of a 17 foot boat to be in that kind of water. We were out in the 22-2 Sunday on the intercoastal by St. Augustine, with the wind blowing out of the south @25 blowing a 2 foot chop and it was not an enjoyable ride by any means. I was really glad I wasn`t in my 17.5 Baycraft flats boat, I would not have been able to plane without breaking everything on the boat! I love my transom mounted livewells and they do act as trim tabs especially with twin 115`s. Usually the way to get a decent ride in a chop is to tuck the engine in and get the bow down to utilize the V entry and smooth out the ride. If the water is to rough to do that. Come down off plane, trim out a slight amount, get the bow high and take a slow ride to the ramp watching the following sea. The boat has been in the water for a year? Maybe time to haul her out and make sure the inner hull isnt holding a lot of water, which could very easily be the case and affecting performance.

[Far67rar]

This boat has a 90hp Murcury on it, I am not sure how long the shaft is

[akbridge]

I know what you mean with the chop down there.  My wife, friends and I explored around Matalacha and got the poopy beat out us.  I found it was best to keep the bow down and chop the wave with the bow if the waves are tight enough together.  
I have heard of the factory baitwells acting like trim tabs, but never thought it could be an issue.  Adding a doelfin to the engine will only push the bow down more.  I have the far extreme problem.  I had to add a doelfin to keep the bow down on my 170.  Otherwise it would porpoise badly.
It might be time to pull the boat and check out the hull for being water logged or a hook in the last foot of the hull.  How fast does your boat go with you minimal gear WOT?

[Far67rar]

When I first put it in the water it ran 34mph here lately it has only been able to run about 29mph. I thought that the slow down might be caused by my prop getting old and worn down a little. I have bottom paint on it and check the hull for barnicals at least once a month, I have only had to scrape it once for the most part it gets used at least once per week and it seems to stay clean. What is a hook on the bottom? It also always has a little water in the back of the bilge I can see it threw the access cover the bilge pump does not get it all out.

[akbridge]

I would bet that the foam in the hull has absorbed water.  How much water is in the bilge?  A cup, pint, gallons?  Does the boat sit lower in the water than it used to?  If its sitting a half inch lower, that is a huge volume of water across the entire boat.  Is the boat sluggish to get up on a plane?  Does it list to one side or the other?  
 
Hmmm  I doubt it would develop a hook while in the water.  A hook can be seen when the boat is out of the water (well I guess it could be done in the water with scuba gear) with a straight edge and a keen eye.  What you do is place a straight edge on the bottom of the hull parallel to the keel.  What you are looking for is a gap between the straight edge and the hull ahead of the transom.  Anything larger than an 1/8" could cause issues.  Does the boat ride more bow down the faster you go?  

It might be that one or both of your baitwells have sagged and are causing the boat to ride bow down.  I have seen these livewells overtime get kind of loose and not fit so well.  Its something to look into.

[RickK]

I have a 1980 17 foot aqua sport with external bait wells on the back, I recently moved to Port Charlotte FL and have found that the bay can get very rough. My issue is with 2 foot waves I get very wet and with 3-4 foot waves I get scared. The bow of the boat crashes threw the wave it has really bad bow steer and the spray from the wave seems to be coming off the boat about 4-5 feet behind the bow. I have tryed to trim the bow higher but it gets to a point and lifts the engine out of the water instead of lifting the bow. I took my father for a ride he thinks the bow should raise alot more, he thinks either the bow is full of water or the external bait wells are acting like trim tabs holding the bow down. The boat has been in the water for about a year now and I don't know how tell if there is water in the bow. I am wondering has anyone ever had this problem and can it be the bait wells. I like having them on the boat and on a smooth day it is fine but if taking them off would help on a rough day I will. also would a fin mounted on the outboard help.

Welcome aboard Far67rar  :!:  :!:
Been there done that in my 170 - they are not for open water on a rough day.  Seems they can handle 1 ft chop ok depending on the angle you take them. Wet boats - been getting wet for 22 years now in the 170. Just gotta slow down or get beat up.
Your Charlotte Harbor is like our N. Sarasota bay and like Tampa Bay - you don't want to be out in anything that's less then about 25ft when it's rough.  I got beat up pretty bad at the last gathering coming north in the bay into a 25mph wind IN MY 230 - was like 3+ ftrs in the bay.
As the others have said the extra length of the boxes will act like planers but you either love the boxes or hate them.  Sounds like you like them.  I put a Bobs stabilzer plate on my 115 and lost 2-3 mph and didn't see any appreciable gain in performance - so I took it back off.
Do you have access to your bilge? Does it have a bilge pump?  I don't have access to mine nor have a pump in the bilge.  Supposed to be no way for water to get in....

[SC170nFL]

I was out in Charlotte Harbor Saturday in my 1985 170 Osprey and it was choppy.Took a pretty good beating, but I am use to it. Have had boat 15 years, and use it here and Charleston, Sc. I don't have the bait boxes, but think they would be nice because I have a 140 Johnson looper and it really pushes the transom down.
I run my engine trimed all the way down to push the bow into the wave. You might get wet, but trimed up it will porpose so bad it makes for a lousy ride.

[FLChris]

You got to watch the Charlotte Harbor it can change pretty quick on you and another thing you have to watch out for are shallow part of the harbor especially low tide. My 17ft you can feel when it start getting choppy out there.

[Far67rar]

The boat does not appear to sit lower in the water, Then drain holes for the top deck set under water all the time (always have) so I had to put plugs in them but with it staying in the water it leaves no way to get water out of the boat. I put a drain from the top deck to the bilge so that the water would run from the top deck to the bilge then get pumped out by the bilge pump. The bilge pump does not get all the water it turns on automaticly with about 10 gallons in the boat and shuts off leaving about 5 gallons I think. The boat does not list when it is sitting still but going threw the water at speed it leans to the right side alittle. The faster I go the more down the bow seems to go the more I try to trim it up. The fast change in the bay is my biggest problem, if it is a bad day to start with I just stay home but I have left home on a good day to go to like Bocca Grande or Turtle Bay and have the weather turn bad and not be able to get home. They bay seems to get rough on some days even when the weather is good

[fitz73222]

Which type of Mercury are you running, an inline 6 or a 3 cylinder? Are you running a stock aluminum propeller. Have you changed props recently?

[Far67rar]

It has a 2003 Mercury 90hp 3 cylinder, it is a stainless steal prop that was on the boat when I purchased it 4 years ago

[fitz73222]

Then haul the boat, remove the brass inner hull drain plug and drain it. Unless the bottom is dirty with growth, 5 mph loss of speed is like having 3 extra people in the boat. Your stainless prop should have adequate cup to pick up the bow under normal conditions. Something is wrong and water may be the issue. Check and see if the rear livewells are draining properly when you run and not plugged with moss or barnacles. The holes are only a 1/4-5/16 inch in diameter. This may not cause the bow to drop but could kill top end if your are hauling around 15 gallons of water that can`t escape through the normal overflow drain system. That 90 Merc should have a 2.07 to 1 gear ratio and run a 15-17 pitch prop. Has your hole shot gone away? You should be around 5300-5500 rpm at full throttle. what is your max RPM now?

[gran398]

Agree, water/growth are possible issues, as Fitz suggested. Not a pretty topic, but you may have waterlogged stringers.

Here's a thought. Check here on the board the dry hull weight as manufactured, add the engine weight, fuel weight, batt/ trailer weight, etc, then take her to some truck scales. You should get a fairly accurate idea. Pretty close, or not so close.

Best, and keep us posted.

gran