New (to me) Nautique; questions

[Trevorg7]

Last week I bought a 1993 Ski Nautique from its original owner. The boat is super clean and I will get more pictures soon; got one of my wife driving. We took it out to Lake Tulloch (CA) yesterday and had a blast. Boat ran great and we added to the original 351 hours.

So questions which I'll preface with the note that I've never owned a direct drive before rather many I/Os.

I found manuvering in reverse to be a challenge. Logically I guess it makes sense as while in reverse there is not a lot of flow over the rudder. Is this a 'trait' of a direct drive or am I doing something wrong. Any tips?

Thanks in advance.

T

[mndanielsncsu]

I just got my first Nautique earlier this year, a 93 Sport. I agree that backing is difficult to get used to since they only back to the left. I've found it easiest for me to just bump it in and out of reverse. By doing so, you don't get too much momentum to the left and can't control it more easily. Hope this helps...

[TRDon]

its kinda like a jetski cant be turned unless it is under power. It is just what it is and you have to learn to work with it. But the benefits are are beyond the reverse.

[MikeC]

T,
First, congratulations on your purchase!! There's nothing better than driving a quality inboard, but you have to get used to it. You should go out into open water and practice, you'll be amazed at how much easier your inboard is to manuever after you understand what is happening to the boat.

Things that are different than a stern drive:
Acceleration - It will snap your head back with it's acceleration, plus there is no torque steer or bow rise. It will track exactly where you point it.
Turning - The center of gravity is in the middle of this boat, plus you have probably noticed the handy tracking fins. These two things combined put the pivot point of the boat right behind the driver, unlike the stern drive where it pivots around the drive unit. So when you turn it actually swings the rear of the boat out to the side (so be careful when you leave the dock, when you turn away you'll swing the swim platform towards the dock). This also allows you to literally turn on a "dime" at cruising speed, it will almost do a complete 180 within the length of the boat at high speeds (be careful, things, i.e. people, coolers, glasses, phones, etc. can go flying). At low speeds you need to have water flow across the rudder to turn tight. When you're returning to pick up a skier you'll naturally put the boat into neutral as you approach them, let's say the wind starts drifting you away from them, you turn the rudder and nothing happens even though you are moving. If you put the boat in gear and blip the throttle a little bit the boat will turn immediatly.

Reverse - there is now way to be polite about this - the stern drive is easier to backup, because the prop is just dragging the boat where you point it. With that said, once you get used to backing an inboard there really is nothing to it - it just takes practice. When you put your boat into reverse the stern should pull to port (left on a DD Nautique other boats and newer Vdrive Nautiques pull to the right) due to prop rotation, if you want to back in a circle this is great. If you want to back for a long distance (why, I don't know because the boat will turn around in it's own length and you can go forward so much easier) but if you do it requires some speed to get water flow across the rudder, then you can make it go left or right in reverse. For most of your backing needs it takes little blips of the throttle in reverse, the key is short, small bursts of power. Once the boat starts pulling the stern around, it's not going to stop, the only way to fix it is to go forward and start again. Reverse is great for docking though, pull towards the dock at a slight angle, leave the rudder straight, give it a little reverse and it will pull the stern right over to the dock - get this down and everyone will think you're an old pro. I personally only use reverse for three things - to pull the boat off the trailer, to stop the boat next to a skier and to pull the stern around when pulling up to the dock.

Good luck and enjoy!!

[CradGen2]

The best thing about that picture is your wife looks happy to own a Nautique. should make getting the next one easier.. Welcome to the family. Let see some more pics...

[Bullet]

just take you time in reverse---after about 10 outings you will have it figured out---you will figure out that is will turn a 360 on the same pivot point with ease!!

[Trevorg7]

Thank you all for the welcome!

I will have more pictures soon but in the meantime here are a few from the sale add.

To summerize what I've heard; in reverse its a feel/time behind the wheel learning curve but while in reverse it will naturally (prop rotation) spin the boat clockwise.

Thanks again.

T

[Craig Kaufman]

Why does my boat pull to the right in reverse

I have a V drive with a left hand rotation and my buddy has a direct drive Malibu with a right hand rotation.........
Why do both boats pull to the right in reverse?

[DanielC]

I doubt the Malibu has a right hand propeller on it. It is probably a left hand propeller.

[DanielC]

Trevor,
The best piece of advise I can give you is to go out and play with your "new to you" boat. Go out into the middle of the lake, throw a floating dock bumper out into the water, drive away from it, and practice "docking" next to it. Have your wife do the same thing.

As you have already know, you need water flow over the rudder in reverse to make the rudder control the boat.
You have already figured out how to make the boat back to the left, or port side. Here is how to dock on the right side. Approach the dock going forward, with the boat turning hard to the left. Plan your turn to the left so the boat arrives close to the dock, parallel to the dock. Your boat will have momentum going forward and it will also have momentum spinning counterclockwise, viewed from above. When you go to reverse, the reverse stops the forward momentum, and the tendency to pull to port in reverse stops the counterclockwise spinning momentum.

[scott5star]

You guys rock as usual, I had alot of the same questions after taking our new to us 95 out. Thanks for all of the great info.