Afternoon everyone... hope everyone had a great weekend! We sure did! Lots of good weather here in the Mid Atlantic this past weekend!

A few questions for that folks that have experience with running the bigger boats... how are you setting up tabs and drive angle for running in rough water? And are you running water in your freshwater tank for ballast up front?
I'm asking because I had a situation Memorial weekend where I had to run back, with my kids and significant other in some pretty snotty water. They all sat in back and enjoyed the roller coaster ride... me, well, not so much. I was running westbound in a following sea with white caps on top of the ocean/bay swell with a gusting east wind. Not fun with the kids on the boat (the weather showed up earlier than expected). It was a rough ride for sure, but was it a rough ride because it really was that rough, or could I have made it better?

Instincts said to try and and get up on top, and run her hard, but a few times of trying that found us really airing out the boat with the bow quite high. My tabs were parallel to the hull surface to slightly negative, and my drives were mostly tucked in (getting the drives to neutral wasn't possible). It ended up being a slower ride with lots of up and down crashing. Again, passengers loved it, I hated it (was pretty humbling and unexpected).

Exeprience at the helm will ultimately help, but what could I have done differently or better? I've seen some rough water videos of a 357 handling some pretty rough stuff (with about the same outcome), but those seas were a lot nastier than what we came through (or were they?). I've had her in four and five footers but this was different.

Any and all all guidance is graciously and happily accepted.

Its hard to say one guy can run the Tabs,Throttles and steer with only 2 hands. From what you said, I think more tabs down and neutral on the drives might have helped. Sometimes you have to be real quick on getting back on the throttles to avoid a stuff if you all of a sudden have too much Tab.. Its a ever changing Fine Line. Thats why boats that can run fast in rough can also have Fuel tanks up front you can transfer fuel around as needed and ballast tanks with bladders so it doesn't slosh around.

The back seat is always the smoothest spot in the boat. At the helm the shock of every bump is transferred right through you. The conditions you described are going to be difficult no matter what you do but I like to get up on top and push the bow down to spread the water with as much boat as possible. You may not prefer this, because you trade the bucking for some pretty bumpy and loud water to hull impact. Bottom line is, heavy inconsistent wave heights and a nasty cross wind are going to be unpleasant. You are a good captain for being concerned about your crew first. Good on you.

Running home from the shootout back to our place it's gets really really rough. I'm sure you have heard stories. The thing about lake of the ozarks is it's totally a different waves then say Lake Michigan or Erie, where they are consistent. I usually run with the tabs in a more downward or negative position, and the drives neutral or a slightly positive position. My thoughts are the drives will keep the bow up when coming to a wave and then the tabs will keep it from getting too high...kinda a cause and effect motion...just my thoughts..

But then there are times when I run the drives all the way tucked in and tabs all down and just go really slow, like 2000-2200 rpm to just plow through waves..

Don't forget. Chopping the throttle at the right time can keep the bow low. A little too late and its sky high

In response to the idea that you are running in seas big enough to reduce your speed and try not to bury your bow, tabs can be sketchy when you are running down the waves, don't set them below flat or pull them up completely. Going with the waves the idea is to not let your bow go down into the trough with any chance of running into the back of the next wave. So if you can pull the throttle back as you crest the wave, keep your bow low and let the weight of the engines and V-hull crush the top of the wave some, you'll have a flatter ride with less chance to stuff bow into the back of the next wave.
If you want to run faster, then you have to manage throttles to keep the bow low and don't sky it off the waves, bow high can lead to a nasty landing in the trough with the bow going even higher when you recover with throttle.