Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | Sounds like a nice rig - congrats.
I'll try to answer your questions based on my own experience (definately not an expert)
1) Transom savers - kinda like fluoro leaders; people love 'em or hate 'em. I'd go to the nearest Yamaha dealer and ask to talk to their mechanics/service techs - they should be able to give you a real answer. The conditions under which you trailer your boat will probably have a part to play here too.
2) Practice, practice practice. Practice on ramps with different slopes as well. Practice in current, practice in wind. If you can find time midweek (less boat ramp pressure) take advantage of it. If you can find ramps with little use - make use of them. No one does it perfectly every time; don't beat yourself up over it.
3) Did I mention practice? Come up w/ a routine during your practice sessions. I prep the boat prior to launch - plug included! I back the trailer into the water, unhook it (ONLY after it is over the water), give it a push and ride it in. Then I beach (or tie up) the boat and park the truck. It may help to have some knee boots or hip boots depending on the ramp. Reverse it for loading. Pay attention to how far to back up the trailer buy looking at the depth of the water on a known and stationary piece of the trailer (e.g., fender, tail light bracket, etc.). Power loading is allowed here so I drive the boat up to the roller stop near the winch (you may not want to do that until you've had quite a bit of practice). I then lean over the bow and hook up the winch strap and safety chain. Pull it out and stow gear once off the ramp. If you can't powerload, the guide-ons might be of use particularly in the wind/current. If people grumble about it, tough. If they didn't offer to help, they can patiently wait in line.
4) Anchors are a matter of both personal preferance and holding ability for the type of conditions you are going to be anchoring in. I have a boat of similar size as you (slightly smaller) and use a navy-style in 25 lbs w/ about 4' of chain. I have about 75' of rope on that. Adequate rope is of more importance than anchor style I believe. I also have on board an additional 20 lb navy-style w/ about 200' of smaller diameter rope on it. I'm not sure if this is absolutely correct, but I think it's 7x as much rope as the depth you are anchored in is the right amount. Different types of anchors hold drastically differently depending upon bottom type; you may want to do some additional research on this one to get the right one for your purposes. My anchors are basically 'jack of all trades, master of none' compromises.
5) Not having an onboard charger myself, I can't proclaim experiene on this one. I do know that deep-cycle batteries experience longer life if recharged as soon as possible after discharge. So, if you use them, I suggest plugging them in, if you didn't use them, it's your call. If you trust the charger, I don't suppose it can hurt.
Best of luck w/ your new boat. Have fun and don't sweat the small stuff.
Sorno |
