My new Mobius LS - and a (horror) story

[Kidder]

We picked up our new Pride & Joy on Friday. Waterski Boats Dallas made everything painless and it went as smooth as any big purchase we've ever made. They took us out for a checkout ride and then we headed down to our local lake and drove around for another two hours breaking it in.

On Saturday we took some friends out and floated around and pulled a tube. Then the fun began. The wind went from 4-5 to 25+ and I started stressing about docking to let my friends out. My fears were not quite right. It was way WORSE than I thought it would be. First off, the marina was crowded and secondly the wind was blowing right down the docking area. Now I'm used to my Sea Ray 195 with the I/O. The Moomba, as most of you know, behaves so much differently. First off, I went in way too hot and kissed the side of the dock quite nicely (no damage). When we got everyone safely off the boat I attempted to turn around in a tight area that was closed on one end. This is where things got ugly. I couldn't turn left and reversing wasn't much better. I started drifting towards the fishing dock which had two nice big steel brackets that stuck out 3 feet from the dock. I yelled at a couple of people on the dock to help me and they positioned themselves to keep me from hitting anything. With their help, I made it out of there unscathed. Needless to say I was incredibly embarrassed and, well, I was actually shaking a bit because I was pretty damn scared. I beat myself up for the rest of the day reliving that nightmare. I didn't sleep well, either.

So, I woke up this morning and googled some stuff and I think I now understand what to do. I'd driven inboards before, but, I realized I'd never docked one. Now that I think I understand I'm starting to let up on myself. For those that have any extra advice to share, PLEASE DO.

Anyway, we love the boat and I look forward to many years of fun on it.

Here's a couple of pics I took when we got it home on Friday.

http://www.juddemerson.com/mobius/mobius_starboard.jpg

http://www.juddemerson.com/mobius/mobius_port.jpg

[Miller_Time]

1st off the boat looks amazing! Great color choice!

Secondly, we've all had that scary moment the first time or two out with an inboard for the first time. Mine was putting it on the trailer for the second time. Came it too hot and reverse spun the boat, I thought i was for sure going to tear something up, but luckly I cound fend off the trailer enough to stop the boat, I did get a nice cut from the tower but that was my fault. dont stick your arm out the side of the boat and grab something, cause the tower will catch it! haha

But you'll get the hang of it in no time, and be a master at it, inboards in my opinion are easier to park once you learn to use their quirks to your advantage.

[jkendall79]

Nice boat Kidder! I also went from a Sea Ray I/O to a Moomba, and had a few scary moments getting the hang of it. It doesn't take long to get the hang of docking and trailering, just have patience, get a bunch of fenders, and remember practice makes perfect.

[Kidder]

1st off the boat looks amazing! Great color choice!

Thanks! And, it wasn't a choice. They had two Mobius LS'. They were both equipped the same with the exception of one having the appearance package. So, we bought the one with the package. :D

We like the color, though. Actually, I've yet to see a Moomba that didn't look outstanding!

[Hydrofoiljunky]

Love the Color scheme, Same boat and same color that we decided on :-) I had the same problem, coming from a 180 sea ray. Man is it different trying to back this one up. Someone advised me to go out to a buoy or even throw a tube in the water and practice pulling up to it from different angles and working with the reverse to get used to the difference. I've only done the buoy thing a couple times, but I notice myself getting better each time I go out. It'll come..........Glad everything turned out alright for ya...



Chad

[tazz3069]

Great looking boat. I think we have all been there with the first time driving. I still, to this day, get very nervouse trailering the boat. I am affraid of either hitting the prop, going to fast and hitting the back of the truck, and the most important hurting someone. Practise does make perfect. Practise also helps when there are not 100 people trying to do the same thing.

[maxpower220]

First, you really need to go out one day when there is no one at the dock and practice at the dock and loading onto the trailer. This will give you confidence and you will learn what the boat does. When I bought my first inboard, the dealer spent over an hour with me at the dock and the trailer. Slow is your friend; don't rush anything. If you point the boat at a 45 degree angle coming into the dock, then ease in and out of the throttle. Once you get close, ease the boat into reverse and the forward motion will slow or stop and the back end of the boat will swing into the dock. If you have your bumpers out, you will be at the dock ready to load/unload. When leaving the dock, turn right (toward the dock) and add forward power then ease into reverse to get the boat moving backward. Then turn away from the dock and leave. This is all based on no current and no wind. Those 2 things change and you will need to adapt to the situation.
Nice looking boat, good choice.

[zegm]

Nice looking boat!!!! We have a Brittany Blue LS and we love it!!! One word of advice, when you get over 10 hours on the engine the oil and filter will need to be changed soon. It is extremely difficult to get to the oil filter on the LS, take it to the dealer and let them do it. We haven't been skiing for 3 weeks due to this problem and the method the tech used to get the filter off. He had never changed one on the LS before and well lets say he got overzealess and he doesn't work there anymore!

[Sled491]

Love the matching powder coated tower. Wow so many new black Moombas this year. Let your wife learn to load the boat and drop you off at the dock, you'll be happy later. Since day one my wife has been loading the boat and dropping me off at the dock when at lakes other than our own, just helps the confidence when she's pulling skiers.

[GeauxTigers]

First, you really need to go out one day when there is no one at the dock and practice at the dock and loading onto the trailer. This will give you confidence and you will learn what the boat does. When I bought my first inboard, the dealer spent over an hour with me at the dock and the trailer. Slow is your friend; don't rush anything. If you point the boat at a 45 degree angle coming into the dock, then ease in and out of the throttle. Once you get close, ease the boat into reverse and the forward motion will slow or stop and the back end of the boat will swing into the dock. If you have your bumpers out, you will be at the dock ready to load/unload. When leaving the dock, turn right (toward the dock) and add forward power then ease into reverse to get the boat moving backward. Then turn away from the dock and leave. This is all based on no current and no wind. Those 2 things change and you will need to adapt to the situation.
Nice looking boat, good choice.

Perfect advice! I learned alot about docking last week at Powell. The only thing to add to this is to do your prep work before you come in. Get your ropes, fenders and deck shoes (it's awful hot on your feet over here) ready BEFORE you head in. I could not have explained the 45 degree angle of attack any better. I actually give it a jolt into reverse for a short 2 second burst when I get close. I try to come in no faster than 5 mph as I approach the dock. Works beautifully every time now!!!

[GeauxTigers]

Nice looking boat!!!! We have a Brittany Blue LS and we love it!!! One word of advice, when you get over 10 hours on the engine the oil and filter will need to be changed soon. It is extremely difficult to get to the oil filter on the LS, take it to the dealer and let them do it. We haven't been skiing for 3 weeks due to this problem and the method the tech used to get the filter off. He had never changed one on the LS before and well lets say he got overzealess and he doesn't work there anymore!

Oh no! Is everything OK with the baby?????

BTW, Z.... I got my two older kids up on wakeboards last week. I will post some pictures when i get a chance. They are sooooo hooked on it now! My daughter actually went out of the wake every time after the second time she got up.

[Membrain]

That's funny! The first chip we got in our '04Mobius was from coming in too hot loading at Eagle Moutnian Lake! We had the boat two weeks! We've learned a lot since then!!!!!!!!

[Buttafewcoe]

Nice cat, too!

[Kidder]

Things have gotten so much better with practice. I have gotten much better at parking in a slip. Thanks to everyone for their advice and words of encouragement.

[SC07LS]

Inboards are nice when your moving but man do they suck at slow speeds. I still get sweaty palms and I'm the one watching my wife put it on the trailer. Our dealer was great when we picked our boat up. He took us out on the lake and went over everything. Give us tips on wakeboarding. Probably the best thing was he had my wife dock over and over again. I bet we spent an hour on docking and trailering. Great service.

[zegm]

GT,

After watching my son do faceplant after faceplant I broke down and bought him a LF Nemesis board!!!! I also got my wife boots for her Shane LF board. Wow, from the cheap Hydroslide boards to these nice LF boards is amazing!!!! They both are switching, jumping and having a ton of fun!!!!! Sometime money is worth it!!!!

[Buttafewcoe]

Z, we've been using LF's going on 4 years now. Good stuff!
.
138 Evloution w/ Element Bindings and a 138 Substance w/ Sphinx Bindings
B

[BensonWdby]

I agree - maxpower put it well. Come in slow, 45 degrees, it's OK to coast - remember you are on the water and do not always need to be under power (but you have 0 control when not under power do beware). Apply reverse in short bursts. In fact I have found that I can overcome some ot the significant backing up to the right by applying reverse in short bursts - I mean just enough to engage reverse and then right back to neutral. You will never go left but maybe not so strong to the right. I envision it as being similar to firing retro-rockets on a spaceship - rememvbering that you have mementum after you remove the thrust...

Also - don't be afraid to bail out and retry.

Remember, you don't have to drive up to the dock, you can drift in to a dock while in neutral. Align the boat parrallel to the dock, but 5-10 feet away and then tweek forward/reverse to keep parallel as you drift in. If you need to fit into a postage stamp space that might be a little trickier.

You will get the hang of it quicker than you may think...
Dave

[zegm]

Butta,

The dealer in Atlanta gave us the LF Shane when we put a deposit down for a spray date. They are great people!!!! I just wish they weren't 5 to 6 hours away!!!! I ordered some ski gloves for my wife at this "other" dealer almost a month ago and have still not seen them. I guess they had to send the measurements to China to have them custom made. I guess you can see why Atlanta Marine is doing so well, they take care of the customer and because of this the customer WILL come back!

:D