first time power boater looking for some piloting tips on a 30' deep v boat
 

Hey everyone. I picked up a 86 scarap panther with twin 454 mags earlier this year. I'm about to hit the water, but frankly this is really unchart3d territory for me as all i have ever driven previously is a 15' tiller drive with 15hp outboard haha.

I'm looking for general does amd donts. Throttling control rurning and approaching waves, how not to sruff a boat lol.

Ill moatly be in the columbia river which quite often runs 3 to 4ft waves one right after another. A wind ride thing. I know seat 3xperience is key, but advice of what to do when i do get i to situations can help avoid them.

Thanks

Look into tres martins performance school. If not be careful. Don't go flyin off waves. Try to use good judgement.

Just take your time. You'll be fine.

Raising drives will gain you speed. Lowering them will lower the bow and smooth out the ride as you start spanning the waves. Use trim tabs to level the boat side to side or to lower the bow and span waves better.

To start off getting on plane lower drives all the way down in position / tabs down position. 1/2 throttle or around 3500 rpms. when she planes start raising the drives 1/2 and the tabs 1/2 then fine tune. Be careful with adjusting tabs at high speeds a little dab will do you. Wear your jackets and strap on the lanyard. Be safe practice makes perfect.

If you can't afford the Tres Martin deal I would really reccomend finding someone close to you and go run the boat together. Get some pointers in person on the water. Straight hull 30 s a no brainer to most but safety is paramount.

I had a boater friend go with me the first few times. Knowledge of performance boating and the local waters shortened my learning curve incredibly! I don't care how much you read!

And hopefully she has a nice set of 38"s

I'd recommend going out on off days when theres less of a crowd at the dock and on the water. Running out on the river will most likely be an easy learning exp but learning how to dock properly and manuver a twin screw might be more of a challenge for a new comer operating in close quarters with other boats. Having the place to yourself for the first couple times without other boaters and boats will ease everyones tension. Just getting the loading and unloading proceedures on the ramp can be a challenge at first.

Also check through the forums on locations. I'm sure there is someone here on OSO that can help aid you in the right direction or maybe take you for a ride along on your on boat. At least this has helped me. As most would love to share their knowledge on driving skills. I was lucky and learned everything from my pops! And now we kinda have the same boat! Haha And Velocity Vector had the perfect procedure to start you off. Every boat may be different. I start with
-drive down
-tabs straight (up)
-4k throttle (gradually)
-once up top, back off about 500rpms
-starting trimming the drive up lightly until I feel the boat (settle in) almost like hitting over drive.
-with more speed add more trim to the drive. And vise versa.
-use trim tabs lightly to even load (left to right)
-with 3-4' comes lots of seat time and approach. Take your time and overall enjoy! ;-) and congrats on the Scarab!

On trimming ive had the same questions whats the best position for the drives when it starts purposing is that good or bad? seems like if i bring up my drives just a lil the boat start jumping outta the water or is that what your looking for to get less surface area? ive been searcing for a while on this topic.