WOW

Glad you made it through. Inquiring minds want to now what drift was it?

Never really thought about front to back balance, except when running with the kicker, by myself. Then I stick the anchor in the bow so I can see where I am going.

Perhaps you need to get a bigger friend or make him carry rocks in his fishing vest . Perhaps some rocks in the bow would help balance things out. Perhaps a level on the gunnell (sp).

I have only really, really wanted to get out of the boat once, it was too deep and I would have been wet up to my, or perhaps deeper, so I hung in there and we made it through. I don't think anyone can tell you when it's time to bail. It's got to be one of those instant decisions that you make. Remember the cook in "Apocolypse Now"?

Sounds like a upper Sauk scenerio!

Bob D

Noticed that my DB seemed more sluggish after I put on an electric and 2 batteries (Geez that's probably 100# or more)Hadn't thought about it making the boat unsafe.

How do you check the trim without having someone on shore?
I suppose having the stern up is paramount.

Never jump out of the boat in front of a log jam- if you think your boat is going to get caught in it or sucked down and you know you gotta bail I would suggest trying to climb on it. The water psi
when it hits a jam especially at high flows is absolutly incredible and the water has to get around it some how so it funnels down and acts like a massive vaccum. I had a very bad inccedent on the cle elum river about six years ago when me and a frieng got sucked into a huge log jam and barely made it out alive. I can not empisize enough on beaching your boat and walking down and looking to see which way you have to set up to make it through safely. Often people make the mistake of not doing this and it has cost them their boat, gear and sometime their lives!
You never know what lies around the next bend after a high water has gully washed threw.
BE SAFE!

Hey, I know this feeling. Like you're rowing with carpet on the exterior bottom of your boat.

Dump a bucket of water in your boat. Now move your front seat forward or back to get the feeling of 'slickness'. You know the proper feeling, because you knew when you DIDN'T have it.

Once the boat is trimmed how you like it, take a good look at the water on the floor of your boat.
Now everytime you launch, dump a bucket of water in the boat, get everyting in it's place, including your passengers. Now move the front seat until the water is where you know it ought to be.

Your boat is trimmed. And if you consistently fish with the same people, you won't have to re-do it.

Hope this helps. Good luck.


diana

Hey, I know this feeling. Like you're rowing with carpet on the exterior bottom of your boat.

Dump a bucket of water in your boat. Now move your front seat forward or back to get the feeling of 'slickness'. You know the proper feeling, because you knew when you DIDN'T have it.

Once the boat is trimmed how you like it, take a good look at the water on the floor of your boat.
Now everytime you launch, dump a bucket of water in the boat, get everyting in it's place, including your passengers. Now move the front seat until the water is where you know it ought to be.

Your boat is trimmed. And if you consistently fish with the same people, you won't have to re-do it.

Hope this helps. Good luck.


diana

Hey, I know this feeling. Like you're rowing with carpet on the exterior bottom of your boat.

Dump a bucket of water in your boat. Now move your front seat forward or back to get the feeling of 'slickness'. You know the proper feeling, because you knew when you DIDN'T have it.

Once the boat is trimmed how you like it, take a good look at the water on the floor of your boat.
Now everytime you launch, dump a bucket of water in the boat, get everyting in it's place, including your passengers. Now move the front seat until the water is where you know it ought to be.

Your boat is trimmed. And if you consistently fish with the same people, you won't have to re-do it.

Hope this helps. Good luck.


diana

Hey Diana,

Duh...Why couldn't my puny little brain figure that one out?? Excellent suggestion and I will put it to immediate effect....

I'd rather not say which drift I was on, let's just say that it wasn't the Sauk, it was a river that I am intimately familiar with...

We did go on to catch a decent 14 pound steelhead and touch three others that day...

The feeling I experienced when I pulled back on the oars I can only liken to having dipped my oars into concrete...

Never bail out of the boat behind a log jam is also good advice, if there is an option you want to be on top of the jam and not underneath it that's for sure...

When the boat is properly trimmed shouldn't the stern and bow be approximately the same height above the water??

StlhdH20,

You have rowed my boat in the past w/ the electric and bat's. Whas this alot different than your experience last weekend?

Steel-Addicted

"We are puny men, not manly men like the mighty Fish Jesus"
6'0 and 210....explain that! :p

H2o, sounds like that spot was a sure get out and walk it down...even for the manliest of men!

Glad you and the other captain (who does fit the puny description) made it through unscathed which I'm sure was not the case for you BVD's.

FJ...out.

Diana, killer info. thanks!

FJ...out.

What work's for me is to adjust the front seat as
needed.The more weight up front the further back towards the oarsmen,the lighter the weight the further forward the seat should go.Most boat's have four or five adjustments for the front seat,
most the time it's either in the middle or one knotch towards the back.When it's me and one other
person I'll move it back up.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Come on now 2o it was you who called him puny. The switch-a-roo, leaving me with the burdon to bare the wrath of dad in law in order to keep you in the good graces is flat out cold.

My defense hinges on the premiss that it was you who LEAD ME TO BELIEVE that your "boating partner" was per say diminutive in stature.

And don't try to weasel your way out of this one. These are all YOUR words.

1) The other captain of my boat.
2) WE are puny men, not manly men like Fish Jesus.
3) I'm 6'0 and 210...a contradiction to #2. :p
4) The other captain is 5'9 140...diminutive in
stature maybe but most certainly manly.

Those widow maker spots always seem to be the ones that appear well you know...innocent.

Be safe dad in law and 2o...as we all should be.

F in L...I admire your ability to row that manly man of a son in law around all day long.

FJ...out.

Ha

All joking aside my father-in-law is both wiry tough and an excellent oarsmen who has caught his share of fish.

In a way Diana's solution to the problem is very mathematical. You can use the water in the bottom of the boat to determine the exact center of gravity, no matter how the weight is distributed. I guess the only question I am left with is where should the center of gravity be?? I know where it feels right and that is slightly front of midships, I'd like to hear a different opinion....

2 0,
There is no universal trim advice. Every make of boat is a bit different than another, so if the boat plan calls for more metal up front, or to the back, that manufacturer differs from anther.

There isn't anything here that you haven't already found. You know the "slick spot". If someone writes back and says that the stern should be X inches out of the water, and you do it and the boat feels like glue.....well, 'nuff said. It sounds like you know your boat. Stick with it.

I'll mention one thing, tho, my boat is 20 years old ( tho sporting a very nice paint job! ), and I store it propped up with the bow in the air. Occasionally, it fills up with water because it slipped off the wood prop and makes a seal with the ground. The wood under the floorboard gets super-saturated, adding a huge amount of extra weight, right in the stern. Unless I found a couple of monsterously manly types to put in the front, I'd never get it trimmed.

Moral of this story: Don't let your drift boat sit with water in it.

diana