Do you ever bury the bow?

I was wondering how often you guys accidently take on water over the bow when youve got your boat filled with ballast?

never.

Only two good times, but on my own wake tho. 1st on accident, 2nd cause the young ladies seated in the bow looked like they need some cooling off.

never? come on. My first boat was a 92 Sport Nautique and on choppy days with 8 people in the boat a roller could come over it when i wasn't even moving. Sometimes it is unavoidable.

The Tomcat is insanely hard to dunk but it can be done if you foolishly turn into the wave when going back for a fallen surfer instead of waiting for them to pass.

surfing is the worst.can get scary with your old lady driving.

I do it quite often. Never real bad but take on some water when it is choppy or hit a roller. We weight it down with with 900lbs in the front 650 in the rear, 11 people and the wedge, boat sits pretty low in the water.

i get yelled at a lot because when i drive my friends tige 21i i have the tendency to take on some water. ALTHOUGH i must say i have taken on quite a massive wave once or twice. not my fault the bow is practically under water without people even in it!

I had my first major "chilli dip" on Labor Day.The water coming off the bow filler cushion looked like a little waterfall.

i have only burried the bow one time when some people were complaining about being hot up in the bow but i have never done it on accident. One time when i was surfing my mom had to drive me and appearantly she dipped down so bad that people in the very back got their heads wet.

taking on water while going over your own wake to pick up a downed rider is just bad driving. I've never dipped the bow and we have it loaded with people and weight. I could see how one could do it on a lake like tahoe, gets super rough.

been there, done that. Dont wanna go back because sh*t seems to go out when boat floods. Although I must say...its kinda funny watchin 3 people running to the stern at the same time with very limited space to do so.

I might take a little dip one a year.

I did once at Lake Mead in high winds. Going with the wind at your back is pretty tricky with 5 foot whitecaps. Imagine the waves rolling with you and you get going just a little bit faster than the wave itself...the nose creeps over the top of the wave and then the rest of the boat until the front half is heavier than the back, then the nose dives into the back of the next 5 foot roller. Water went all over everyone, even over the top of the bimini. Scared the •••••• out of me. Many boats got sunk at Mead on that very same weekend. I imagine had I taken 2 or 3 of those, I would have been in trouble. A few weeks later I was at the dealer and saw a boat exactly like mine that they dragged up from the depths that same weekend.

evey now and then. nothing like my old stars and strips tho. not only would you take a nice roller over the bow, being closed, it would conveniently drench the passenger

The first time I dove chase boat (about 4 years go), I took a giant double up over the nose. Hit us like tital wave. 4 inches of water throughout my boat and ruined two of Buffalo's cameras. Remember that shiat walt?! Secretly I know Buffalo still hates me. We had too many people and too much weight in the boat to be filming.

I do it from time to time, bu when I do it, I always go big. A month or so ago I SOAKED Jeff Weatherall's girlfriend while diving chaseboat....right after I promised her it wouldn't happen. Sorry!

Take a look at J-Rod's profile picture and then ask the boats in the back ground. We all know what happened to Shaw's Pro V watching the BC.

P.S. J-Rod, Stickers never came! Thanks for trying...

In my old malibu i did a couple of times. In my boat now never.

Up until last sunday, I had never done that. But we had our club's Malibu sportster sacked out. It's low enough in the water when it's empty of weight, but put some in, and wow, that nose gets tippy as hell. And I was doing everything I could to keep it from dunking. At one point it dunked just coming to a stop it was so nose heavy....

Anytime someone comes on my boat (ladies) and doesnt want to get in the water they always think the bow is the dryest place to be. I will hit a roller just to get them wet and make them get into their bikinis. My buddy drove my boat when I was boarding with all the ballast full and he absolutely swamped the boat.

Almost never but it is sometimes unavoidable when loaded down to surf on a busy day and you catch some rollers. I personally haven't done it since my 94 MB sport (2 years) but some of my drivers have the last couple years.

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quote:

Remember that shiat walt?!

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Like it was yesterday.I think that was more of a bad situation due to all the people on the boat and rollers coming from all over the place.

My wife was sleeping up front this year so I dipped he nose under.

talk about a dirty mouth!

^ hahaha!! thats great!

I've done it several times. Surfing, mostly. I contend that if you know how to drive, it won't happen. There are circumstances that make it unavoidable. I could see a chaseboat being one of those.

The best dunks are in the old school closed bow 2001 types. Nobody sees it coming and then it really IS a waterfall!!!

Old school boat (Sanger DLX)...circus day at Naci one Memorial Day. Hangin' in a cove and decided to take the kids out....(2) knee boards. Headed out towards the middle and realized it was like playing on the freeway during rush hour and the rollers were massive. Lasted about 30 secs before the riders dropped. Had to go into "protect the kids driving mode", and took two over the front during that pick up session. Part of one roller made it over the bimini and drenched the guy sitting in the back....not good. In our boat you have to be paying attention not to dip it when loaded. Now I only dip it when the people in front need a cool down. The wife will still take on some water on a semi-regular basis (her trailer backing skills are stronger than her boat driving skills).

Trapper,did you buy her some Orbit gum?

LOL the closed bow 2001,the windshield can make a dunk take on the look of a tidal wave.Makes it like a wall of water flying into the boat.

Did it last weekend while driving my buddies 07 Bu VLS. The damn Malibu Cruise Control with drive by wire won't let you accelerate after it's been set. Even if you've pulled the throttle back. So you see the wake coming, you nail the throttle and nothing but two wakes coming over the bow.

A few years ago, we were riding 13 people in my VLX with full ballast, the bow would dunk coming down off of plane, there wasn't anything I could do to keep the thing from not dunking that day.

Last weekend I buried it about 10 times trying the cross Lake George with six people in the boat and no ballast. Heavy winds and some steep short interval waves. At one point I turned around to let the pumps catch up. It was a rough ride and scary for the younger ones.

Whats the best way to avoid dipping the nose when picking up a downed surfer. Should you keep the bow forward and wait for the waves to pass and then turn around?

> Whats the best way to avoid dipping the nose when picking up a downed surfer.

Most of the time I pull the throttle off and turn right (when surfing off the left side.) This puts the high side of the boat to the small wake, then I wait for the wake to pass while the boat is sideways. it works pretty well and avoids a power turn.

Is it better to turn with the weighted side of the boat inwards or outwards. I surf port side so am I better turning to the right or left to pick up a downed surfer.

Thx

When surfing the best deal is to powerdown and make a figure eight picking the rider up on the driver side.Like Craig said this will give you the small wake unless your on the other side.If that be the case you should power into them raising the nose.My problem is taking water over the back when I downthrottle.

the key is to wait for it. takes a bit longer than boarding b/c the wave is slower. The boat will turn better when turning to the weighted side, but thats the big side of the wave. the other side is better, but some boats don't like to turn that way.

Brock, bring the throttle to about 1/2 then feather it as the boat comes off plane. If you chop it with a wave back there you'll get soaked!

Another trick I learned is to hit reverse just slightly as the roller approaches the bow and it will lift up the nose enough to keep from dipping it. This helps a ton if you have people or a ton of ballast in the front.

^^^^ yep

Ive tried dunking the Tomcat but havent been able too. Although the "Bonecrusher" buried my Calabria Pro V at Spring Ride 2yrs ago.

I dunk mine all the time to get the ladies in the front wet. When I dont wanna dunk it I can avoid it easy, i do it on purpose sometimes though. I watched my buddy turn around to pick me up when we were surfing and he went str8 through one and the water hit the wind sheild and shot up and over into the seating area with water up to the cup holder next to the driver on an x-star.

okay, so I'm a little confused. If I have all of my weight on the left side (passenger side) do I want to turn to the right or left when picking up a downed surfer. I read somewhere that you want to turn with the weighted side inwards so that would be to the left for me but that would put me facing the bigger side of the wave. Thanks for the help. I have an 04 VLX with alot of weight up front.

Peter, I would bring the throttle to halfway and turn to the right about 30-45*. slowly come off plane and feather it to keep water off the transome. Once planed out and in neutral, wait for the wave to pass and slowly turn left and idle to your rider. It takes about 20 seconds (give or take) for the wave to pass you, but your rider is pry trying to recover the board at this point, so no rush. If you come off plane and wait, you can't hurt anything by turning the other way.

However! if you surf while turning the boat slightly, you don't want to turn this direction! turn the other way.

got it. so turn right and then left after wave passes to pick up rider. Thanks for the info

When I have the boat loaded with full stock plus 1000#s or more (surf setup) it is tough not to dip the nose once or twice in a session.

I do as Nacho does, no sense in going back over my wave.

When you get this much weight in a boat they are sometimes unpredictable, when in doubt go slow, powering up to lift the nose doesn't always work.

Guys i have done it once ever. And it was by accident when i first got a boat. It's definately all part of learning. But i can tell you now i have never done it again lol.
U learn quick smart how not to dip the bow.

the worst time was been my wake off a bulk head, turn around to pick up my rider. in gear not paying attention to the front. my rider starts pointing i look up and WOW!

Original prostar 205 hull, 1500 Lbs ballast, 6 to 8 people on board, many of who are close to 200 Lbs or more. Im thinking of investing in a second or third bilge pump to keep up.

probably 3 or 4 times a season...but it's just a little bit of water (probably a gallon or less i estimate). heck, when i have 4500 lbs of ballast in it, it can happen if you just slow down to fast. i've only take 2 "big" dunks in the last two summers.

Some of you guys saying you have never dunked the bow must not ride with a lot of weight. My Malibu with stock ballast and a couple people in the bow will pretty much dunk the nose just coming to a stop. Any little roller will pretty much go over the nose.

Rarely take water over the bow when boarding, but regularly do when surfing. More skillful driving on my part would avoid most of them, though when it's rough out there, some are still going to happen.

I know the bow turns down for visibility but I would prefer less down-turn, a little flair or maybe lifting strakes would help.

The problem is not my own wakes or driving but the wet trips across big water and wakes off large boats.

Uncle Jessie does it every time we take his boat out!! HAHAHAHAHA I'm serious too. lol

I don't do it that often but my friends do. My bow is less then 12" out of the water even with no one in it practically. I have to be careful when weighted if I pull off the throttle to fast and some one is sitting in the bow I can dunk the nose right in from the wash hitting the back of the boat.

Corby...get this bus off me!!! Yea, i used to be all anal about it, but since my boat has a leak and I can't keep it dry, I only half care now... We do ride the SAN loaded, with about 550lbs in the noise!

Corby, you'd do it more often to if your boat a bigger wake

My buddy does it at least once every time he drives my boat. I try to tell how to avoid it but he's not a good listner. No big deal......untill he sinks it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68AOltMu768&feature=related

i think he got a little crazy with the idea..

haha ive seen that video before... still crazy though

Never buried the front, closed bow. Buried the back, had to pull all the plugs and pump water out of the engine after that one... Not a good day. Had about 2-3000 pounds of ballast under the floor, unintentionally. Spotted the bilge pump going when I was the first rider in and thought it was weird but no one wanted to go back to the ramp and check, or I didn't make the point clearly enough, one of the 2...

Jos,

What kind of setup are you runnin man? Closed bow with 3000 lbs max? Damn son, if i put my Mustang in your boat you would be good to go. haha

Jos -- there are certain things I know I will never forget, and the plug is definitely one of them.
glad you got her all fixed up.

its very nice being anal about certain things.

As I noted above my buddies do.

While I went and grabbed the truck on the weekend my friend dipped the nose of the boat because he didn't throttle up as a wake came by. He now owes me a new iPod as mine was on the floor at the time.

In my old Sanger DX I did it a couple of times, kinda unavoidable with that hull I think. New boat not once, actually i've not even come close to having water come over the bow.

I do it all the time in my 205DD, not on purpose of course. But when I'm running 2-3 people up front along with 500 pounds under the seats and in the walkway it's not very hard to do, even sitting still. when weighted I try to get the bow eye to touch the water when sitting still with no one in the boat, thats how I know I have enough weight up front.

Graham - Haha, and she's only 18 ft too. It's the kind of system where you leave the one of the hull plugs out and don't notice, then the space under the floor fills up. Usually only run around 600 up front plus crew.

Keith - Yeah that was my job, but I had just torn my foot open on something when I jumped off the boat while she was still on the trailer, so I was kinda distracted. Never again.

The Enzo make a really nice and large surf wake. It's really hard to chili dip, even in the surf wake.

Chili dip? I like that one!

There's a lot of dipping being done but has anyone made an unrecoverable dip? Flame out and more waves a coming.

I have a Mastercraft stars & stripes. With weight in it I can dip it rather easy. I always tell people pulling me the proper way to come back to me after I fall. They never listen, pull a power turn, slow at the wrong time and bury the nose. Then get pissed when they get drenched. I consider it punishment for not listening

The only major time we have done it was on july 24th, we have a fire-work show on are lake and are pontoon hit a roller with four people in front. Water went half way up the boat and atleast a foot deep.

The only major time we have done it was on july 24th, we have a firework show on are lake and are pontoon hit a roller with four people in front. Water went half way up the boat and atleast a foot deep.