Boat not turning unless in gear

[clark]

Someone help me with this. I just bought a new Mobius LSV. Since there is a rudder in the water, why won't the boat turn when the boat is in neutral and the boat is moving forward at a slow pace. Also, I know because of the prop rotation, the boat backs to the right. Once you start in reverse, is there a way to turn left or keep straight by using the steering wheel. I have only have it out once and have not had a lot of time to figure these things out.

What's the scoop??

Clark

[Will Watters]

I have been told to get the rudder authority required to steer accurately, you need to have the prop rotating. This does two things, it propels the boat through the water and also drive the water flow across the rudder. With no prop the rudder does not have enough surface to counter the momentum of the boat as it continues to drift forward. I hope to get my first in board next month (Mobi LSV). Can't wait. Have fun with the new boat!!

[Jon]

Yep, prop must be moving to turn the boat. In your case, with the boat moving slightly forward with the prop not moving, your boat is turning a little but not much to tell. About running it in reverse, you won't be able to back to the left. I have found to back up as straight as possible, don't put it in reverse and keep it there. Kick it into reverse a couple of times but don't hold it in that position for too long and try to have your rudder straight . Hope that makes sense.

[james yarosz]

Clark,I have found with an inboard if you want to turn while drifting forward just turn the wheel and slip the shifter in and out of gear.This will turn the boat without propelling it too much forward.

[smokedog2]

I/O will not turn much without power either. In boating Life (boatinglife.com) July/August 2004 page 22-23 is a good article and pix on turning inboards by Dean Travis Clarke. I have it scaned in Adobe for my own reference but am not sure how free I am to just post their content. Search for it, if you cannot find it I'll see what I can do, but it is worth looking for.

SD2

[Shoemaker Mobius]

Clark,
The boat will not steer without the prop moving. As one person suggested, just push it in and out of forward gear while idling to make course corrections. Also, in reverse, the steering wheel has no effect. In one post last year, it was suggested that in order to back pretty much straight back, you should put it in reverse, then turn your steering wheel all the way to the right and gently give it throttle forward occasionally cycling between mostly reverse and less forward - this is supposed to correct the attitude of the boat for continuing backwards in a more or less straight line. The guy that wrote it had a narrow channel on his dock that he had to back out of and this worked fine for him.

[clark]

Thanks for the info. I will try some of these different suggestions to see what works best for me. Thanks again for the info.

Clark

[carsondoc]

Smokedog, Can't find that article. Do you have the name of it or could you post the link? Thanks.

[Catdog1]

You'll get used to it. Don't worry.

Be sure to train your crew as drivers, too. We try to get everybody to drive everyday. Start by throwing out a life jacket in the middle of the lake and having the driver work his way back to it for pick-up.

Dock approach can be done at about 30 degrees to the right side of the boat, real slow, clicking in and out of forward to maintain a tiny bit of momentum and some steering control. At a certain distance from the dock, click into reverse for a few seconds and the stern will walk to the dock while the nose stays close to the dock.

Can be practiced when nobody is around.

Gotta be sure there is enough water under you. Some docks get shallow.