Tabla de contenidos para March 2018 en WAKEBOARDING

1. What should you do to a hydraulic steering system at least once per season? A. Drain all hydraulic fluid and refill with fresh. B. Remove old hydraulic hoses and replace with new ones. C. Check the system for air, and bleed out excess air bubbles if necessary. D. Check the system for binding, corrosion and fluid leaks. E. A and B. F. C and D. 2. What should you do to any steering system as part of annual maintenance? A. Nothing, it needs no maintenance. B. Lubricate any grease fittings. C. Remove the system from the boat for storage. D. Check for leaking hydraulic fluid, leaking fittings, corrosion or binding; top off fluid and bleed any excess air. E. A and C. F. B and D. 3. High-performance offshore-type steering…

Through membership in an online B.A.S.S. forum, I met some great fishermen across the country, befriending one who lived close to me and planning a bass fishing trip on Lake Okeechobee with him. He wasn’t familiar with Big O, but I have fished it for 40 years, participating in many open and club tournaments. As such, my friend placed all of his confidence in my knowledge of where to go, what to throw, and not getting lost in over 700 square miles of water and swamp. My friend brought two buddies, with the understanding that one would ride with me in my 15-foot Back Country flats boat, and he and the other friend would fish his 17-foot Nitro. We launched out of Clewiston, taking the Rim Canal to Bay Bottom,…

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT Why not use your smartphone as a backup display? Fasten this IR illuminated camera over your license plate just like a frame and the camera transmits clear images day or night and is always in place and ready. The company says most users connect the Wi-Fi backup camera’s power cable to the vehicle's backup light circuit. That powers up the camera when the vehicle is shifted into reverse. When powered up, it automatically establishes a Wi-Fi connection to a smartphone via the free WIFIAV app (iOS or Android) and displays the camera image. Some users want to be able to see their trailered rig as they move down the highway. In that case, wire the camera and Wi-Fi transmitter to an ignition-activated power source and…

SCAN ME Watch a video highlighting key features of this boat by scanning this tag or visiting boatingmag.com/3058. Chaparral’s new big bowrider enters a category flush with competition in size and power, but few competitors deliver the 287 SSX’s panache. The Georgia boatbuilder continually brings home customer-satisfaction awards for its boats and the customer service that supports them. How did mega runabouts become the rage? They are ideal for weekend entertaining at the lake cottage or condo and handle big crowds with comfort. Foremost, the 287 SSX’s ride is exemplary, making it ideal on the largest bays like the Chesapeake and sprawling impoundments like North Carolina’s Lake Norman. At 29 feet long with a 9-foot beam, it’s not an easily trailerable boat, but that’s no matter to the weekenders who…

It’s a strange feeling to experience vertigo on the water. Not just your average run-of-the-mill vertigo, but the intense about-to-plungeinto- an-abyss variety. Reflections from above blended with the shimmering images below, and I couldn’t tell what was stone and what was a play of water and light. Sheer sandstone cliffs soared above my head and plunged into the crystalline depths below my board. I might as well have been gliding through the air. I attempted to balance the desire to stare in every direction with the need to calm my trembling legs. And the silence was absolute. That is, until I rounded the last bend on my stand-up paddleboard and spotted our MasterCraft X10 gently resting with its bow tucked at the slot canyon’s entrance. I climbed back aboard and,…

Some people love going overboard. That’s what scuba diving, snorkeling and freediving are all about — jumping in to swim with the fishes. To explore coral reefs. Shoot pictures. Spear fish. Catch lobsters. Collect scallops. Eradicate invasive lionfish. Or enjoy the relatively new sport of underwater fishing for hog snapper. While many boaters enjoy snorkeling from time to time, there’s a whole different category of underwater enthusiasts out there, says Ken Clinton, president of Largo, Florida-based Intrepid Powerboats. “About 10 percent of Intrepid customers want a boat built specifically for diving,” says Clinton. Designing and customizing a new boat to suit the passion of a buyer is one of Intrepid’s specialties. The same holds true for Miami-based Belzona Marine, a boat company that was built around owner Joel Svensen’s lifelong…

It should be obvious, I suppose, that a boat running level across its beam will ride better. When leaning to one side — listing — a boat is contacting the water on one of the two basically flat hull panels instead of a sharper V shape. As a result, a listing boat will generally ride harder, and wetter too, because spray will tend to get thrown vertically rather than out to each side. Listing also induces a turn to the side in which the boat is leaning. This, then, requires more attention to the helm and more physical effort, especially if the boat is equipped with cable steering or is powered by a tillermodel outboard. A wrinkle involves boats with flat bottoms, which have no water-slicing V shape to speak…

Electronic onboard security systems from companies such as GOST and Siren Marine can go well beyond alerting if your boat is moved. They can be customized to inform you about the status of the batteries, bilge water, bilge pumps, shore power and more. They can also be tied into motion and vibration sensors to tell you if someone is tampering with your boat while you are away from it. Additional sensors/relays let you control elements such as lights and the bilge pump. If your boat is stolen, the same systems can track the vessel’s location. A security product such as the Siren Marine MTC monitoring and tracking system with a built-in GPS and global cellular service will work on a boat of any size, type or age, regardless of whether…

This tire-pressure monitor system saved a trailer tire for me on a recent 200-mile trip. The rear tire picked up debris from a car crash and began to lose air. Without this device, it would have deflated, overheated and shredded before I could see or feel the problem. Four watch-battery-powered pressure sensors replace valve-stem caps. They remain dormant until the trailer reaches a speed of 10 mph, then they transmit tire air pressure and temperature to an LED screen on a 12-volt receptacle plug. The simple device allows you to adjust normal tire pressure to establish alarms when pressure exceeds or bleeds below a preset level. The sensors also report tire temperature in Fahrenheit or Centigrade and tire pressure in standard or metric values. ALSO COOL: A USB charging slot…

On test day, we ran with a crew of four on a fully loaded Buddy Davis 42 CC. We charged out of the inlet into tightly stacked 4-foot swells with the occasional 6- to 8-footer rolling through, bolstered by steady 20-knot winds. The mega center console handled the sporty conditions like a true off shore battlewagon. With a higher-thanaverage 3.3-to-1 length-tobeam ratio and a sharp entry that tapers to a 24-degree deadrise at the transom, this 42 is designed to slice through waves. Its stout resin-infused fiberglass construction helps the boat handle the conditions without rattle or shudder. The wide Carolina flare at the bow helped to deflect spray down and away from the cockpit. The deep-V hull performed better at faster speeds settling into a comfortable rhythm at around…

On September 21, 2017, Johnny Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shops and White River Marine Group, cut the ribbon to the Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri. It was the culmination of a fourdecade quest that, some might say, was the driving force behind his development of the world’s grandest outdoor sporting empire. The 350,000-squarefoot complex housing the museum and aquarium features more than 1.5 miles of trails through realistic wildlife habitats and 1.5 million gallons of freshwater and saltwater aquariums. The Wonders of Wildlife contains 35,000 live fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds displayed in their natural habitats. “This facility is really all about sportsmen and women, hunters and anglers in our country that have meant so much to conservation,” Morris said…

As a charter-boat captain who has ventured off shore for over a thousand trips, I have had to deal with injuries including knife cuts, shark bites, broken bones and profuse bleeding. Aboard a boat, you are farther removed from professional help than when on land. The following tips outline three must-know first-aid techniques PROFUSE BLEEDING Applying direct pressure to the wound is usually the best first step. Sterile gauze packing is preferred, but a clean T-shirt gets the job done. I keep a Tac Pac Pro on board my 228 EdgeWater CC to supplement my primary medical kit, which includes the requisite sterile pressure and packing dressings, tourniquet and more (see “Tac Pac Pro”). I also keep sutures, cyanoacrylate super glue and QuikClot in my kit, and have used all…

New truck and SUV prices march higher, and boaters oft en choose used vehicles to economize. Or, determined to keep new-vehicle reliability, they choose base-trim models and upgrade them. Either way, we’ve tracked down some aft ermarket technology to cover your … rear … with backup cameras and even a top-shelf media center. PIONEER AVH-1330NEX If you’re driving a vehicle that missed out on an OEM touchscreen audio display and hands-free Bluetooth phone capabilities, here’s an elegant, easy and economical way to bring your vehicle into the smartphone world and add a backup camera. It’s only one of Pioneer’s dozen or so Apple CarPlay options too, so there is apt to be one to integrate into your ride. It links to iOS devices and allows mapping and tunes to be…

SCAN ME View our photo gallery of the Four Winns Horizon 350 OB by scanning this tag or visiting boatingmag.com/3057. The Four Winns Horizon 350 OB offers wide-beam elbow room and all the space you’d want for two dayboating essentials: friends and coolers. The big, new Horizon is more seaworthy and sexier than a pontoon yet not nearly as fishy as a glammed-up center console, which are two other options if your main priority is simply fun in the sun. The OB on the end of model name stands for outboard but might as well stand for “only better.” By converting its Horizon 350 from sterndrive to outboard power, Four Winns has improved this boat in several ways. Performance of the OB version with twin 350 hp Mercury Verado motors…

When Chris-Craft first introduced its Catalina line, it proved ahead of the trend of converting center consoles from utilitarian fishing machines into luxurious and seaworthy dayboats. By protecting the helm console behind a fully enclosed glass windshield it calls a pilothouse, Chris- Craft furthers the center console evolution. Chris-Craft is certainly not the first builder to do this — Everglades Boats immediately springs to mind — but it did an excellent job of incorporating the windshield and hardtop into the Catalina’s overall design so that the whole boat maintains a distinctive style. You know the look — a rising sheer line, aft tumblehome, richly colored hull sides with a boot stripe, and as much teak as your budget can stand. The 30 Pilothouse turns heads, and its quality construction ensures…

Jet outboards, like these new models from Honda, have long been favored by boaters who run in shallow, rocky rivers. From the Snake River in Idaho to the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the Missouri River in Iowa, jet outboards really shine in clear, weed-free shallows where the chance of striking an obstruction is high, because unlike outboards that turn propellers, the water jet protrudes just an inch or two below the bottom of some boats — and remains above the bottom of so-called tunnel boats. But river-running is not the only use for outboards that employ a jet of water to propel a boat. “Use by first responders is a great application for jet outboards,” says Alan Simmons, Honda Marine’s manager of field services and specialty markets. Simmons explained…

I’M BARELY 20 MINUTES INTO MY SHIFT on the WaveRunner assembly line at Yamaha Motors Manufacturing Corporation when the supervisor wisely singles me out. I’m thinking, clearly he recognizes a superior craftsman, knows of my many decades of industry experience, or perhaps is just keen to compliment an obviously strong work ethic. His words, however, take a different tack. “Hey, magazine guy, I’ve been watching you,” he says, barely stifling a chuckle. “And, well, here … you better put this on.” This refers to the garishly bright neon vest he holds at arm’s length, a garment YMMC reserves for only the most novice, most inexperienced, dare I say most clueless of employees. A bright yellow warning sign that no, I’m not some superior craftsman or even an experienced factory worker,…