Help please, listing to port in Horizon 200

Arrgh, I just wrote a long post and it vanished into Cyberonia!

Take 2: newbie question here, two actually, appreciate any help you can give.

Just maidened my first owned boat, a 20.6 foot 1988 Four Winns Horizon 200 yesterday. It was a minor disaster, or at least felt like one.

First, the boat, under power, seemed to like to list about 10 degrees to port when pointed straight ahead. It was a windy day, about 2-3 foot swells. It didn't seem quite so bad in some directions as others. I'm not a seasoned powerboat operator, so maybe it's just knowing the boat better. We were hauling at 40 mph or so on top of the waves for the most part. It seemed to happen most at higher power settings, though can't be sure because we didn't get to run it that long foward...see below.

The boat was loaded evenly with people and cargo, so it wasn't an obvious load problem. If anything, it was heaver on the right side than the left. 8' beam on this boat.

The motor is a Chevy v-8, marine cam (according to the mechanic/seller who put the newly rebuilt motor in last year.) Outdrive is an OMC Cobra. Horsepower is 290 hp, it's got some go...if only it would go, forward that is.

Second problem: After nearly wiping out a very expensive looking cruiser during launch at a dock on Lake George, NY, due to wierd throttle lever problems, (at first I thought it was my newbie klutziness, turned out to actually be the boat), I managed to get safely out on the water, only to have the forward lever position completely fail to engage the propeller some 30 minutes later.

I radioed shore patrol, they came out and futzed with it for half an hour but no luck. He thought it was either linkage or "something wrong in the outdrive". A very helpful guy but no luck.

Rather than spend the $200 they charge to tow you on Lake George, I opted to poke along stern first, since reverse was working just fine, telling myself not to go to fast and dive the rear...that would have been particularly hard to take, pulling a reverse Titanic.

After four very tedious, (but scenically enjoyable), miles, a kind soul in a Sea Ray (my next boat, if I ever buy another one) took pity on us and towed us the rest of the way to the launch. We trailered her home without further incident.

Efforts to return the boat to the seller or at least get some partial monetary reimbursement failed to stir the remotest compassion. "It worked great for me last weekend, sorry, I can't help you etc etc". After my concise response, I took the boat to a boat yard where it will be diagnosed, we hope, by the weekend.

Meanwhile, I'm clueless, not only on how to buy a good boat apparently but also on how to get the boat to run without listing

Also, any idea what the culprit might be with the forward drive failure? I could feel it trying to engage (sort of like trying to shift a car with clutch partially in) but it just wouldn't grab.

Thanks for any ideas.

JIm

 

Caveat Emptor. Did you have the boat surveyed before buying it? The proper way to buy a used boat is to, 1. find the boat, make an initial offer, negotiate a price and make a deposit subject to a survey. 2 have boat surveyed, both in and out of the water by a certified marine surveyor. Tell the surveyor you want a conditon and value survey 3. Discuss survey with seller and renegotiate price or tell them too many problems. no deal.

Now. Listing problems. It is all too common for these types of boats to list a little to one side especially in a cross wind. Doesn't mean it's right, but it happens. It has to do with weight distribution, prop torque, high freeboard and several other parameters. Mostly these problems are a result of manufacturers listening too much to the marketing people and not to the designers. They want max volume inside (more berths) but a boat that is still trailerable. Well the only way to go is up. This results in a large structure sitting on a small waterplane area, and as the boat gets up on a plane the waterplane area gets even smaller. Eventually the boat wants to adopt a more stable attitude so it settles to one side or the other. Not a lot, but enough to make one nervous.

One. Weight distribution. Keep it as low and as far aft as possible
two. Adjust trim tabs if you have them and power trim on the sterndrive for max efficiency.
Three: make sure you have the right prop.
Four: fill water and fuel tanks. With everything full and having done 1, 2 and 3, does it still list when on a plane?

If it does then it's a design problem.


Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh at first. But buying a boat is not like buying a car. I am a professional in the marine industry and could probably be a certified marine surveyor with my experience and education (don't want to). But I would still not buy a boat without having some one else who is a disinterested third party, go over the boat and take it out for a ride.

I hope you solve this. I am sure some of the other members of this forum will have other ideas as well.

 

Sound advice from Peter as usual.
Now about your clutch problem. I take it you have the bulkhead-mounted single lever control, as most single Cobras do, and not a two-lever or binnacle-mounted control. With the single lever control, pulling the hub of the lever out from the bulkhead about 1" disengages the shifter and allows you to control the throttle in neutral. So when it refused to go into forward gear, did it still rev up when you pushed the lever forward? Or did the lever just jam? If you still had throttle control in forward, with the lever in the normal (not throttle-in-neutral) mode, then the shift linkage in the control box is probably at fault. If it just jammed, the whole control box is probably shot. If the lever moved normally, and the drive felt like it tried to engage but couldn't, then the shift mechanism in the drive's lower unit would be a likely candidate. If the previous owner didn't change the lower gear oil properly, or let it get filthy, that could jam the shift mechanism. Make sure to give your mechanic as much detail as you can about what happened, as there are several possible culprits on the shift problem. As far as I know though, this is not a common problem with properly maintained Cobras.