On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:53:17 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Of course if you'd turned on the stabilizers you could have probably
played shuffle board on deck. :-)

How do those things work?

Very well thanks.

Ohhhhh, you wanted the details.

The brain of the system is a small hydraulically powered gyroscope.
When the boat starts to roll, the gyro actuates valves, sending
hydraulic fluid to control rams and fins on each side of the boat.
The fins are about the size and shape of a midsized sailboat rudder.
They are mounted on large stainless shafts which extend up through the
bottom of the boat into the engine room. The stabilizer system turns
the fins in the direction necessary to counteract the roll of the
boat.

It is very fast and impressive in action. The boat will start a small
roll and then it is like a hand reaches down from the sky and
straightens up the boat again. The hydraulic system is driven by a
pump on the port side engine and no electronics are involved in the
control system, just one switch to turn it in and off.

I view some sort of stabilization system as a necessity for going
offshore any distance in a non-planing boat. It would get real
tiresome without it.

These things are made in Connecticut by the way:

http://www.naiad.com/frame.asp

About $30K for a 40 to 50 ft boat.