Sea Ray 175 in the waves. Advice needed, I can not seem to trim down enough. Change Prop?

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97Alpha175

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May 10, 2022
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Hello All! I have a Sea Ray 175 (18ft bow rider) with Mercruiser 3.0lx with Alpha one gen 2 drive and a 14.25 x 21p 3 blade aluminum prop.
I was out on Lake Pontchartrain yesterday and in the chop I found it hard to keep the bow down.
In my almost zero experience I have trimmed up slightly in fresh water to smooth things out (with only 2 passengers) but yesterday in salt water It was kind of porposing at 27 mph. I would guess the waves were only 1.5 - 2ft at the worst. Is this normal?
I know weight distribution is a thing and I had 4.5 people on the boat and no one was on the bow seating.
I am trying to smooth this out as I would like to hit the ocean one day and 2ft of waves seems like nothing to worry about but it was a little rough.
Should I have tried going faster? My passengers don't really like it over 30mph. Can I get a lower pitch prop or 4 blade to help (I read lower pitch helps get on plane easier)?
Thanks in advance! :)
 
Does your boat have trim tabs and a 2 ft wave is a pretty good size wave for an 18-ft boat Believe it or not I have a 22 ft boat and a 2 ft wave is a decent size wave. Sometimes you just have to slow down top speed isn't everything not from a safety standpoint
 
2 foot chop in a low freeboard bow rider isn’t going to be fun.

Hard to tell if you have a trim issue or not. Try it with the same number of people an a flat calm day and see what happens.
 
I had a hard time planning with my Larson 180 sport 3.0 with an sx- a drive. Everyone wanted to sit where it's the most comfortable ride. Would take a little while to get on plane for sure, but once we did we were rollin
 
Scoflaw I thought I got rid of you by putting you on "ignore". Your brain must have been on fire with your genius comment. So where do I put the new bigger boat on top of my bow?? Will that help my boat in rough waves? Please stay off my posts in the future all your comments are just trash talking or off point. You are building more comments to what, make you look experienced. Ohh please! Please! Stay out of my posts. Please! I would block you if I could. Useless comments are the worst in a forum where people are trying to learn.
 
What do you want to learn Grasshopper?
5 people in an 18 foot boat in 2 foot seas.
Common sense man.
Blocking is still an option if you can figure it out. HAHA
 
So some more information. I do not have trim tabs or a whale tail. I was driving on the same waters earlier in the day and i was trimming up a small amount in maybe 6in-1ft waves. My boat gets on plane pretty good. It only takes a few seconds at most. Even in rough water the bow comes down fine. I can sit and see clearly over the bow. I was taught to trim up to reduce drag and speed up. When I go too high I back down a bit. But in the 2 foot waves going up made things worse.
I hope this adds some info to my issue. But since I posted this I learned about trim tabs and whale tails. Any thoughts on that?? Thanks again in advance :)
 
Oh and trimmed down no water is coming over the bow at all or in the boat from any direction for that matter. The boat is C rated. Not rated for off shore but should handle 2-3 ft waves decently. I guess I just assumed if I trimmed down I would be plowing more. I mean some cruisers have a closed bow so no one can sit there anyway.
Maybe I am inexperienced but I think trim tabs are probably my best bet but a whale tail sounds like a cheap fix too.
 
No offense but your wave height perception may be a bit off.

I’m a little over 26’ long and 3’ waves are not comfortable at all.

this is on a bay with short intervals. Heading straight into the waves can be punishing.

With following seas, I can bury the nose coming back down the wave if I don’t carefully regulate the speed.

The is NO WAY I’d take an 18’ boat out in those conditions.
 
97Alpha175 said:
Oh and trimmed down no water is coming over the bow at all or in the boat from any direction for that matter. The boat is C rated. Not rated for off shore but should handle 2-3 ft waves decently. I guess I just assumed if I trimmed down I would be plowing more. I mean some cruisers have a closed bow so no one can sit there anyway.
Maybe I am inexperienced but I think trim tabs are probably my best bet but a whale tail sounds like a cheap fix too.
Click to expand...
Trim tabs would help. My current boat is a different animal and can run through just about anything trimmed up, tabs up and everyone in the cockpit. Our lake can get some significant chop on a busy day especially if the wind out of the south. Can easily get 2'-4' waves. When I had my 240 Sun Deck on days like that I would run with the drive trimmed all the way down and the tabs all the down. Otherwise the boat would propose and pound.
 
I have and it sucked , got a bigger boat. 18 feet is just what it is 18 ft. I went up 4 ft and it was awesome
 
I have learned a lot from scoflaw. And that's no joke we boat in the same area and I've gone through five and six foot waves You don't want to be out there in any type of boat in that kind of weather condition white caps wind any of that it affects almost not just your boat if it's windy and white caps I stay in and cruise the river I don't go into the ocean unless it's not windy 2 ft seas or less it's just part of boating if you want to be able to handle rough water you have to flip the coin for a big big boat that can handle it
 
Smart tabs are a great option on an 18 footer. You will get some stern lift while still being able to trim the bow up a little. Depending on the direction the waves are coming from you are going to slam pretty good in a 175. The porpoising just makes things worse. In a following sea you will be able to pick up more speed and have a softer ride but be careful not to torpedo the bow into a rogue wave.
 
How much your boat weighs is also a big difference My 18-ft Larson weighed I think 2350 lb My Sea Ray 22 ft weighs 5000 lb that right there gives you a better ride just an adding the weight
 
blaster said:
Smart tabs are a great option on an 18 footer. You will get some stern lift while still being able to trim the bow up a little. Depending on the direction the waves are coming from you are going to slam pretty good in a 175. The porpoising just makes things worse. In a following sea you will be able to pick up more speed and have a softer ride but be careful not to torpedo the bow into a rogue wave.
Click to expand...
+1 on smart tabs. Makes a big difference and all positive.
 
My boat was actually handling the 1.5-2ft waves no problem. Steering/handling was great and when quartering it was super smooth. But either up sea or down I wanted a bit more bow down.
It would slam when head on but the porpousing was where I felt bow down would help. So really 2ft seas were totally doable with this boat pretty loaded up. No water coming on board from any direction. I assume going out in 2ft seas I will run into 3ft seas especially if I do not judge the weather/ tides right.
I am trying to prepare for 3ft seas and avoid anything over that at all costs.
No offense taken Espos4 I think my perception is that 2ft is totally manageable but I would like more control of my bow to come down some. With more control if I get stuck in 3ft I can manage better.
So Scott215 I totally agree. That is/was my plan. 2ft kept me working constantly but was fairly smooth and no water in the boat. I just want some tips to help and I think trim tabs are the answer. And practice of course. My wife would have a heart attack if I was in 3ft or 4ft seas in this boat and 4ft I would too.
One day if I keep boating I will go bigger but that is not now. I am trying to make the most of what I have.
Trim tabs.. Check, Whale tail/ Doel Fin?? Any thoughts??
Blaster I am planning to stay in 2ft or less because of the idea of a rouge wave or just misjudging a wave and burying the bow. Practice makes perfect and being prepared is my thought. I am in the preparing/test stage.

So is there any input on Props for this issue?? Whale tail?? I posted here because at first I thought a 19 pitch prop might help. Thanks again for alllllmost all the input ;)
 
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