X boat flips upside down

[Bill Warnock]

Here's another good reason to empty before you take the boat out of the water. You have to do this if you are using a sling launch.

Hey Duane...
For whatever reason... The guys that do our sling extractions... Insist that we maintain our water ballast until such time the mac is safely rest- ing on the trailer. Then they open the drain valve on the transom while towing the mac to it's designated storage spot.

I think they mentioned something about keeping things more stable while going through the lifting process. For imformational purposes... At this facility... From sea level to where the trailer is staged for loading purposes... Is probably an additional height of around 30 feet.

Maybe due to the height factor... What with wind turbulence... So on and so forth... Has influenced the ballast policy. (?)

Since i am a relative newbie with this storage yard... Captain steve or rich may be more familiar with this yard's justification of their water ballast policy concerning the resident macs.

Bill

[Captain Steve]

Bill is right...full ballast on sling out. When I asked they said they were concerned with a partial ballast that would shift around while on sling out, as it does not totally empty on power "dump". Otherwise the argument is mute as it is empty,or close to, on sling in. When I first moved there they wanted the ballast left in all the time...even on the trailer.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I guess either way would work. I find the power dump does completely empty my tank. I run at 9-10 knots, good bow high attitude. This speed clears the surounding water completely from the transom valve, I leave it open until the flow is a trickle. This can be clearly seen with a glance over the transom as the valve is totally exposed. Usually the boat will be up to around 12 knots when it's empty with a lower bow attitude. Often I'll pull it up the ramp, open the valve and not even get a trickle. If you do the empty procedure correctly you will not have a partial ballast situation. I'd much rather not put an extra 1500 lbs on my trailer even for a short time.