On 8/1/13 10:17 AM, Eisboch wrote:


"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...

On 8/1/13 9:28 AM, Eisboch wrote:


I agree. When I first got into boating I tried to rely on the displayed
drive trim setting but soon realized it was only a general reference and
after a while I never bothered to even look at it.



I don't recall having a trim gauge on any of my outboard boats prior to
my two Parkers.

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Me either on outboards, except for on a couple of newer ones. The
tried and true method of adjusting the trim for max RPM for a given
throttle setting always seemed to work fine. The throttle setting was
obviously dependent on sea state, so the trim setting also varied.

On the two I/Os I had the trim was useful in making sure the leg was
fully up when retrieving the boat at the launch, but that was about
it. Oh, it was also useful in troubleshooting a problem on the old
Century I had. A leak in the hydraulics would allow the leg to slowly
be pushed back down, once adjusted and the damn boat would start to bow
steer. Not fun at higher speeds.




I managed to avoid owning I/O's for my entire boating life. My father
sold them but didn't like them for many reasons, and I suppose I picked
up on his opinion/prejudice.

My dad's best friend was a competitor boat dealer who handled Century
boats. I always loved the fancy mahogany speedboats but my favorite was
a 20-footer (I'm guessing from a long ago memory) lapstrake model, not
unlike a Lyman, straight inboard, maybe 120 hp or so. Nice riding boat,
soft chines.