I just had my first experience boating in the rain on a performance boat. Normally if there is rain forcasted I button her up tight. I wouldn't want my baby to get wet! :-) . Boy what an expierence! It actually was down in VA on the second leg of our poker run. Another winni.com member was following me. We turn out of a small river then on to Norfolk. If you have ever been there the river narrows where the bridge crosses and their is a tidal current that meets the river. Very similar to where Merrimac River meets the ocean. The waves on a calm day are tricky.
Well we take off and the wind kicks up and we get caught in a down pour. The only comparrison I could make is like a microburst I have seen over moultonboro bay. The wind driven waves were coming at and angle, the tidal waves were opposite, visability was down to maybe 100ft, and to top it all off we are getting passed by boats doing 100 mph (safely mind you) off our left side causing cross wakes. Needless to say I learned VERY quickly what my boat could do.
Surprisingly you would think slow down but what worked was lowering the tabs to neutrel and powering up to about 4000 rpms and trim to 3. This put me on top of the "washing machine" as we called it, and I was able to ride the tops pretty well. My arm hurt after all the throttle action though... LOL
One item I will carry hence forth though are 4 paintball masks. Boy was I jealous when I saw the big guys pass me with those on. It felt like needles. But hey look at it this way, some ladies pay top dollar at spas to have their skin exfoliated... I and my crew had it done for free!
