How Far Instead of How Fast

[Hector Leiva]

With the exception of the annual member trek to Bimini wondering how far forum members have gone off shore fishing with their Jetboat. Would also be curious in learning the Boat model, chart plotter, fish finder, radio, radar and deep sea fishing equipment the boat was outfitted with if any. Hopefully it goes without saying that it was done on a clear and calm weather day. Wondering what these boats are capable of handling and how adventurous some members are. Thanks. P.S. What did you catch and how big?

 

[wahoowah]

I fish in the gulf, so answers may be different for other bodies of water. For me, it really depends on the conditions. In a choppy day where I have to show it down for a more comfortable ride, it's going to use more gas. Best cruise for my boat (2019 210 FSH Sport) is 6000-6500 RPM, about 28-30 MPH. On good days, when I can lock best cruise in I can go farther. Long way to say, on a choppy day I can get about 25+ miles out, move between bottom fishing spots or do limited trolling, and still get back in with just under 30% of the tank in reserve. On a glassy day, I can get 40 miles out, do extensive trolling or moving around, and still get back in with the same amount of gas. Really just got to get a feel for your boat and the gas burn, watch the dial, and determine what reserve you're comfortable with.

 

[wahoowah]

For your other questions, I have a SIMRAD GO7 XSR with the totalscan transducer, a vhf radio, and an EPIRB. No radar, get my weather from the SIRIUS weather service and have an antenna for that plugged into the plotter. I just installed trim tabs Wednesday, but haven't been put in the gulf with them yet. The pending tropical storm this weekend will delay that until next weekend at the earliest.

 

[Hector Leiva]

For your other questions, I have a SIMRAD GO7 XSR with the totalscan transducer, a vhf radio, and an EPIRB. No radar, get my weather from the SIRIUS weather service and have an antenna for that plugged into the plotter. I just installed trim tabs Wednesday, but haven't been put in the gulf with them yet. The pending tropical storm this weekend will delay that until next weekend at the earliest.

Thanks for the response and great info. Extremely curious about the Sirius weather service and antenna plugged into plotter (I have same plotter). How does it work and What type of service do you get (audio or visual). Can you provide more info. On the trim tabs there are a number of forum members who have mentioned installing them on 190/210 FSH. What is their advantage on A jet boat? I have always heard they are not necessary as jet boats reach plane quickly without them. The only other advantage I can guess at is that they help maintain the Boat balanced in rough water or when walking around.

 

[wahoowah]

Thanks for the response and great info. Extremely curious about the Sirius weather service and antenna plugged into plotter (I have same plotter). How does it work and What type of service do you get (audio or visual). Can you provide more info. On the trim tabs there are a number of forum members who have mentioned installing them on 190/210 FSH. What is their advantage on A jet boat? I have always heard they are not necessary as jet boats reach plane quickly without them. The only other advantage I can guess at is that they help maintain the Boat balanced in rough water or when walking around.

The Sirius antenna plugs into the radar input on the back of the plotter and overlays the current satellite broadcast onto your chart. It also has text based forecasts in a submenu. Depending on the level of service you pay for you can also get sea temps and tide data.

I didn't go with the trim tabs either last year when I initially bought the boat, because you're right these boats don't really need any help getting on plane. My wife had a pretty bad car wreck back in the fall though and is no longer a fan of chop or bumpy conditions. After doing some research here (read the posts by @Foobar) and elsewhere, I decided to install some with an auto leveling control to smooth out the ride. Like I said though, the install was 2 days ago and the weather is going to prevent me from testing them out anywhere other than the bay for a bit, so jury is still out for my personal experience with them. Lots of people on here have put them on and love them though.

 

[Hector Leiva]

The Sirius antenna plugs into the radar input on the back of the plotter and overlays the current satellite broadcast onto your chart. It also has text based forecasts in a submenu. Depending on the level of service you pay for you can also get sea temps and tide data.

I didn't go with the trim tabs either last year when I initially bought the boat, because you're right these boats don't really need any help getting on plane. My wife had a pretty bad car wreck back in the fall though and is no longer a fan of chop or bumpy conditions. After doing some research here (read the posts by @Foobar) and elsewhere, I decided to install some with an auto leveling control to smooth out the ride. Like I said though, the install was 2 days ago and the weather is going to prevent me from testing them out anywhere other than the bay for a bit, so jury is still out for my personal experience with them. Lots of people on here have put them on and love them though.

Thanks again. Hopefully other forum members will be as gracious and share their info.

 

[Julian]

All my add ons are linked in my Signature under the 242X link. Garmin 94SV, Standard Horizon GX1500 radio etc.

 

[wahoowah]

Follow up: Went out today for the first time with the auto leveling trim tabs. It. Was. Amazing. Wave forecast was off (as usual) but what would have been a very uncomfortable or very slow ride was nice and smooth. Ran at 28 mph in 2-3 ft waves and it was like driving down a bumpy road, when before I would have been flying off wavetops at that speed. When it did calm down to 1ish foot waves, it was like a smooth, glassy day. Can't believe I used this boat for a year without them!

 

[Hector Leiva]

Follow up: Went out today for the first time with the auto leveling trim tabs. It. Was. Amazing. Wave forecast was off (as usual) but what would have been a very uncomfortable or very slow ride was nice and smooth. Ran at 28 mph in 2-3 ft waves and it was like driving down a bumpy road, when before I would have been flying off wavetops at that speed. When it did calm down to 1ish foot waves, it was like a smooth, glassy day. Can't believe I used this boat for a year without them!

Thanks again for the input and important info. I never thought trim tabs would make such a major improvement to a jet boat. Will definitely be looking a adding then pm to my boat.

 

[Flyr54]

Follow up: Went out today for the first time with the auto leveling trim tabs. It. Was. Amazing. Wave forecast was off (as usual) but what would have been a very uncomfortable or very slow ride was nice and smooth. Ran at 28 mph in 2-3 ft waves and it was like driving down a bumpy road, when before I would have been flying off wavetops at that speed. When it did calm down to 1ish foot waves, it was like a smooth, glassy day. Can't believe I used this boat for a year without them!

I have the same boat what tab did you go with and did you install yourself?
also any pics would be helpful

 

[wahoowah]

I went with the same 10x14 setup that is in the thread "210 FSH - Lectrotab Trim Tabs" and did the install myself. I don't have any pictures on my phone if it currently but I'll get some next time I'm at the boat, but the pictures in the other thread are pretty similar.