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On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 02:30:32 GMT, (Tom)
wrote:

~~ snippage ~~

The bay where we bought our place is very shallow and most boats use
hydraulic jack plates to raise the engine to motor out of shallows and
get on plane without digging so much mud. Once on plane you can lower
the engine back to running depth. Supposedly this boat will get on
plane in about 18 - 20" of water - jack plate and trim tabs are
supposed to reduce that by 4-6" - we'll soon see if that's true. Never
had one on the Cajun nor needed it. Toledo Bend is a pretty deep lake
for the most part and a set depth worked fine for me. I guess you
could optimize your speed but it went plenty fast for me.

The Ranger won't do that. I need at least a couple of feet. That may
be due to the set back design of the transom.

I'd still be very wary of trying to run a boat at speed in that kind
of water.

As to getting wet - trust me, you will get wet in these type boats.
It's a fact of life that bay boat producers don't want to admit. :)

Have fun. Let us know how that jack plate deal works out.

Later,

Tom