First boat w/straight shaft & rudder

I have a 30' Kamikraft, made in Ha. local favorite and it is very hard to maneuver. I tried practice no help, others have driven it with the same results. Can a straight shaft be fitted somehow so as to be more controllable? I live in Pa. and my brother is in Ha., he changed the propeller. Can changing the propeller cause this type of uncontrollable turning? The boat is not able to back up in a smooth movement so as to dock properly.

 

Hey, I have a Kamikraft also but I have a V drive w/ a 3126 Cat. For me it was pretty difficult maneuvering the boat when I first got it but I've gotten the hang of it now. I've had other local captains drive my boat and they said it was a lot easier than their boat. Was your boat built in Hawaii? If so who built it? I've noticed that Hawaii boat builders oversize their rudders.
It may also be that because you have a straight shaft the weight is distributed too far forward so the front of the boat acts like a keel that keeps the boat from turning in reverse.
My rudder is posted outside my transom and is pretty small compared to other locally built boats. I think it was a company in washington that designed my rudder and prop. I think they gave my prop was made so that it there isn't that much toque in the way it pulls especially in reverse. (I hate the way it looks out of the water but it works)

travis

 

Straight shaft inboards are well known for crappy low speed handling and they truly suck at backing down, particularly if a substantial skeg or poor trim is present. This is the nature of the beast. A bow thruster will offer tremendous help in slow speed maneuvering and getting the bow swinging the way you want when backing. No, a new prop will not make any difference and it will take the engine out of it's "target RPM", which isn't good.

Often, many will add considerable amounts of additional material to the rudder to help reversing, but it's a limited set of returns. If you increase the rudder size to make backing efficient, then high speed steering will be so twitchy the boat will be hard to control.

Most of us with straight shaft boats, learn to work "prop walk" to best advantage. A calculated "blip" of the throttle at the right time can nudge the stern the way you want. It takes practice and experience, but they'll still suck melons compared to outdrives and outboards.

 

If your Boat has a LH prop (Counter Clockwise rotation, when going forward as viewed from the rear) Try docking your boat on it's Starboard side (right). When in reverse the stern should move to the right, simplifing everything.
If RH prop, dock on Port side.

 

janjos got it

Unfotunately good judgement is based on experience and experience is based bad judgement!

my single ib backs up to port, check yours out in a wide open area to see the rate of swing at idle and try to stay off the throttle in close quaters things just happen faster( good & bad)

 

Pumping the rudder

If you are trying to back try this - Set the rudder in the direction you want the stern to go, Clutch in astern hold it for a second or so to get some sternway (you should feel the stern go down), clutch back to neutral and wait for a second or so (the stern will come back up), come back astern again (the stern will go back down but not as much because you will already have sternway). That should get the boat moving the way you want it. Just remember that if you need to add more throttle, go easy. If she starts going the wrong way again, stop your screw and let the rudder get a bite again.

After you get the hang of it it will become second nature. It is just a bit tricky in the beginning.