Tabla de contenidos para April 2018 en WAKEBOARDING

I just returned from the Miami International Boat Show, where I underwent an epiphany. My position at this magazine affords me both a backstage pass to the latest boat and marine-engine projects in development as well as a front-row seat once those projects hit the water. For a boat nut and motorhead, it’s a dream job, but one that comes with some not-so-expected consequences. One of these consequences, apparently, is that the future can creep up on me while I watch it coming. Call it not seeing the fleet for the vessels, but boats now display a level of technical sophistication, design and build refinement, and systems integration that I did not envision even five years ago. In the same way that solar panels on residential roofs overnight (seemingly) went…

HIBERNATION Q: Hey Doc. We are snowbirds and take our Sea Hunt, which is powered with a 115 Yamaha outboard, to Florida each winter, so fuel deterioration hasn’t been a problem. This year we are unable to go south. I filled the tank with fresh, liberally stabilized fuel, ran the engine for 30 minutes and completed the normal winterizing process. Assuming we can use the boat this coming season, there won’t be a problem. My concern is if it can’t be used for two to three years or longer. Can I just add fresh stabilizer, run the engine again and be OK? It appears virtually impossible to drain the tank. The only way might be to remove a deck plate in the sole that provides access to the tank sending…

Like most maintenance formulas for marine applications, there’s a great deal of mystery to the chemistry inside the bottle. What are the distinctions between a vinyl cleaner, a cleaner/restorer and a vinyl protectant? Further, there’s more than a little mystery to the manufacturing of the vinyl itself. Some are made with protective coatings that seal the pores and stop stains on the surface, making them relatively easy to wipe off. Some vinyl fabrics have more porous surfaces, nodding, perhaps, to comfort on a hot, sticky day. OUR GUINEA PIGS We used three seafaring beanbag chairs that had seen much duty as stowaway seating for offshore fishing trips, outdoor seating on summer nights and as dog beds for our TV-watching canines. These sported ground-in dog tracks, blue stains from wet denim…

WE SAY Renowned for fiberglass bass boats, Ranger Boats also builds aluminum models, including the VS1670WT, the smallest model in the Ranger Deep V aluminum series. At nearly 17 feet length overall, the hull knifed smoothly through the chop. The 7-foot-5-inch beam combined with foam flotation in the sides provided excellent stability. All-welded wood-free construction should endure for many years. Three custom Ranger-built pedestal seats fit in six bases at strategic points. A WT model, our tester sported a full windshield to protect against chilly blasts. A walk-through panel swings open for easy access fore and aft. The helm comes with a flush-mounted Lowrance Hook 5 fish finder/chart plotter. SeaStar Solutions’ No Feedback cable steering is standard. A Minn Kota 55 PowerDrive bow trolling motor comes standard. A pair of…

If you were a boater growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, you had your eye on two techno races: the Space Race to the moon between America and Russia, and the outboard horsepower battle between Mercury and Evinrude. We settled the race to the moon, but the race for outboard horsepower supremacy has simply never stopped to this day, and other brands such as Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki have entered the contest. It was the latest round of “if you build it, they will come” that recently brought me, along with a select group of America’s boating press, to Mercury’s legendary, top-secret test facility on Lake X in central Florida. There, we learned Mercury had defied most rumors of pumping out a new 600-horsepower outboard to take a shot…

Miniature stabilizing systems for transducers represent the latest technology trend in fish-finder and imaging systems. You’ll find such stabilizing features in the transducers for Furuno’s DFF3D multibeam network sonar and Raymarine’s RealVision 3D system in the Axiom and Axiom Pro MFDs. These systems are similar to the miniature multiaxis motion sensors in mobile phones. In transducers, they mitigate the effect of sea conditions on bottom readings. This smooths the typical saw-toothed pattern you see on bottom readings when a boat is heaving. In addition, the technology compensates for pitch and roll, which can adversely affect the beam angle of the transducer. The attitude and heading reference sensor (AHRS) in transducers for Raymarine’s RealVision 3D system also compensates for yaw to help eliminate distortion of DownVision and SideVision imaging as the…

When it comes to marine electronics, one of the most common goals among boaters today focuses on staying connected to the internet while afloat, says Boating’s long-standing electronics expert, Ken Englert. The Winegard Company makes its living keeping vagabond types connected. Until recently, it focused largely on the RV market, but is now jumping into the marine market with the ConnecT. This is a simple and robust internet and 4GLTE extender system for boaters. ConnecT includes a signal amplifier with an integrated high-performance external antenna that captures and rebroadcasts Wi-Fi and 4GLTE signals for a secure, fast connection. With ConnecT, you can surf the Web, get some work done, video chat, or stream your favorite entertainment while in the marina or relaxing after a tournament. With nationwide 4GLTE coverage and…

Have you always been into fishing and boating? Growing up in Florida, we went fishing every chance we got. Mostly fresh water for largemouth, but we’d also go a little bit in Mosquito Lagoon. What’s the biggest largemouth bass you’ve ever caught? It was 6 pounds. I caught it on a Zoom Horny Toad. Do you get to fish during the season? During spring training, I fish quite a bit, but it’s hard to get out during the regular season. I try to fish a lot during the offseason. Do you own a boat? I own a 21-foot Back Country with a Mercury Pro XS 250. What’s a typical day? I like to take my 2-year-old out fishing. It’s tough fishing, but I grew up going out with my dad,…

I boat in an area where non-ethanol fuel is not available. I have been using Valvtect XP+ Gasoline Treatment at every fill-up and during five months of winter layup for each of the past three years. Put another way, that’s 1,700 gallons of gasoline I have treated without suffering any ill effects of phase separation, octane loss or a gunked-up fuel system. Simply use a ratio of 1 ounce of treatment to 10 gallons of gasoline. It’s available in 4-, 16- and 32-ounce bottles. $5.99 to $21.99; defender.com…

So, you want to teach your kids to water-ski? Good for you. You can ski behind almost any kind of boat. Plus, it’s a healthy, fun activity that the entire family can enjoy together. Here’s what you should look for when outfitting your boat to ski with kids. TRAINER SKIS Training skis are connected at the tips by a bar, rod or length of line. This helps prevent the skis from splaying, making it easier for youngsters to get “up.” Radar Fireball training skis ($140, radarskis.com) come with a training rope and markers, allowing kids to take a personal interest in their equipment. TRAINER PLATFORM O’Brien’s Platform Trainer Water Ski ($130, obrien.com) provides a leg up for student skiers weighing up to 85 pounds. Its broad planing surface, combined with…

Yamaha says the new V MAX SHO 90 outboard is designed to lead its class in torque and top speed. This motor will prove a nice fit on freshwater fishing boats, bay boats and pontoons, and represents the only performance four-stroke 90 on the market. Now the smallest model in the V MAX line, the SHO 90 uses the same 1.8-liter single overhead cam in-line four-cylinder powerhead as the F90B model but swaps the standard 2.15-to-1 gear ratio for 2.33-to-1 cogs and gets specific mapping in the electronic control unit (ECU). And to let everyone know you’ve got the hot motor, the SHO 90 features graphics similar to those on the big V-6 V MAX models. Retail pricing for the SHO 90 starts at $10,715, which is $310 more than…

Each year on my birthday (which occurs this month), I schedule a physical exam with the family physician and endure the indignities that go with it. When you think about it, a vessel safety check (VSC) is like a physical exam for your boat, and the doctor is a U.S. Coast Guard-approved vessel examiner—all volunteer members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary or U.S. Power Squadrons. Unlike a physical, a VSC is free. This 15-point exam takes about 20 to 30 minutes and is designed to ensure that boaters have the appropriate safety equipment, it’s in working order, and the skipper knows how to use it, says Harry Jacobs, a 38-year member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and an approved vessel examiner in Southern California. “Participation is completely voluntary,” Jacobs…

A marine stereo system can be as simple or complex as you like. Systems such as those from Clarion, Fusion, JL, Polk, Prospec and Rockford Fosgate offer lots of room for expansion. Beyond a head unit and speakers, you can add features like amplifiers, subwoofers, tower speakers, remote controls, SiriusXM and speakers with LEDs to create a rockin’ audio/visual experience. Yet many of today’s aftermarket installations prove less ambitious, consisting of a source unit, control/display and four marine speakers. Some add an amplifier and NMEA 2000 networking to control the sound through a multifunction display. Here we outline DIY steps for a simple yet state-of-the-art Clarion Marine Bluetooth- and SiriusXM-enabled stereo system that offers the flexibility to add components later. GET SIRIUS The CMS4 system from Clarion is SiriusXM-ready. To…

WE SAY With its open layout, seating for 16, and acres of transom lounge, Bennington’s 25 GSBA vies for high honors at the sandbar or cove. Facing lounges adorn the bow. The consoles are set back quite a bit, limiting room in the stern but affording better hull balance and giving the bow seating a huge footprint. We admired the simply arranged dash atop the sweptback and curvaceous console, noting the presence of vital instrumentation and a digitally controlled Kicker sound system. Aft, an aircraft-size transom lounge, upholstered in stitched Tuscan Dune and Perforated Firecracker color-combination vinyl, features a reversible backrest. The seat hinges up to reveal a changing station, plus access to batteries. Note the Bennington logo plate at the base of the lounge. At the transom, we noted…

Here are a few suggestions. The radar-offset feature in many radars allows you to move the center of your radar’s picture toward the bottom of the screen, enabling you to see farther in the forward direction. Some sets have the added ability to offset the radar picture to the left or right side of the screen to provide more range to port or starboard. This is helpful if there is a land mass to one side or the other, because you really don’t care what lies inland from the shoreline. For a better view and understanding of your surroundings, you can also overlay your radar returns on your chart-plotter screen. That will turn your display into a living navigational map. This will show you actual vessel traffic superimposed right on…