Pulling Port

[Mad Man Across the Water]

I have a 1985 Grady White Seafarer 226 with a Yamaha 200HP two stroke motor. When trying to get up on the plane the boat pulls fairly hard to the port. After getting up on the plane and trimming the motor the boat pulls very slightly to port. Any ideas?

Additional information: 2 people on board, equal weight distribution, and full to empty gas tank, no difference.

 

[DennisG01]

Has it always done this? Or is this is a new thing after replacing the anode under the anti-ventilation plate? If the later, loosen the anode "trim tab" and move it to the other side.

Is there ANY growth, however slight, on the hull or motor/prop?

Do you have trim tabs? Check for proper operation.

 

[Fishtales]

I like the anode and trim tab checks. Both can contribute.

 

[glacierbaze]

If the boat pulls to port, move the trailing edge of the anode to port. Seems counter intuitive, if you think of the tab as having a rudder effect, but its effect is to steer the engine, and the engine is the rudder for the boat.

 

[DennisG01]

Is the boat listing to port or is it harder to steer one way or the other? To add some info to what I mentioned above, the tab "steering" effect can be countered by extra wheel input, though. I would assume you'd be able to do that. Adjusting the tab simply helps to adjust how hard it is to move the engine - it tries to equalize the steering effort. So I wonder if this isn't more of a listing thing that you're actually talking about?

 

[seasick]

If this boat has NFB mechanical steering, something doesn't sound right. If it has hydraulic steering, check the motor for side to side play when not running. There may be slop in the steering due probably to air in the system.

A mis adjusted anode ( make sure you still have one with the wing intact, they can fall off! ) usually causes the boat to be harder to turn in one direction as opposed to the other and does not usually cause the boat to steer in one direction.
Another cause can be a bent skeg. That is easy to check.

 

[Mad Man Across the Water]

Has it always done this? Or is this is a new thing after replacing the anode under the anti-ventilation plate? If the later, loosen the anode "trim tab" and move it to the other side.

Is there ANY growth, however slight, on the hull or motor/prop?

Do you have trim tabs? Check for proper operation.

Bought the boat in September 2020 and it has always done this.
Trim tabs work and are equal in setting and movement. Trimming the motor forward has the best effect other than cranking down one trim tab.
I have played with the trim anode a bit, I should try some more.
Bottom of the boat is clan of growth.

 

[Mad Man Across the Water]

If the boat pulls to port, move the trailing edge of the anode to port. Seems counter intuitive, if you think of the tab as having a rudder effect, but its effect is to steer the engine, and the engine is the rudder for the boat.

I will try playing with that this next week

 

[JRyan]

Hi, if the prop turns clockwise a right handed engine, I would set the anode under the cavitation plate to the 1 o'clock position. My engine also pulls port and that solved most of the problem. I think before I get on plane even with the skeg set to 1 o'clock it still pulls a bit.

 

[seasick]

For that hull and a clockwise rotation prop, start with the tab set about 1 1/2 tick marks clockwise from center when looing up from under the cav plate. The underside of the cav plate may have those tick marks on it. If not, try about 15 degrees clockwise.
Note that whatever setting you select, it is only optimal at a certain speed.
Back to my questions, what type of steering do you have, mechanical or hydraulic and if mechanical, is it NFB ( No Feed Back) type?
Have you inspected the skeg for a bend or damage?
Again, I will repeat that in general with NFB steering, a mis adjusted anode will not make the boat pull but rather make it harder to turn in one direction. If the system is mechanical and not NFB, you can get that pulling to one side condition but you will feel and see the wheel turn.
While you are at it, check how far the wheel has to be turned before you see the motor move. Do both directions. If excessive ( 1/2 turn or more maybe) then you have a problem in the steering box, a bad steering cable, or perhaps a bad or loose steering tube at the motor

 

[Mad Man Across the Water]

For that hull and a clockwise rotation prop, start with the tab set about 1 1/2 tick marks clockwise from center when looing up from under the cav plate. The underside of the cav plate may have those tick marks on it. If not, try about 15 degrees clockwise.
Note that whatever setting you select, it is only optimal at a certain speed.
Back to my questions, what type of steering do you have, mechanical or hydraulic and if mechanical, is it NFB ( No Feed Back) type?
Have you inspected the skeg for a bend or damage?
Again, I will repeat that in general with NFB steering, a mis adjusted anode will not make the boat pull but rather make it harder to turn in one direction. If the system is mechanical and not NFB, you can get that pulling to one side condition but you will feel and see the wheel turn.
While you are at it, check how far the wheel has to be turned before you see the motor move. Do both directions. If excessive ( 1/2 turn or more maybe) then you have a problem in the steering box, a bad steering cable, or perhaps a bad or loose steering tube at the motor

Thank you for all the good information. I will try and get down to the boat this week and try fixing the anode. The steering is mechanical but I do not know about the NFB or not. Not familiar with that system so I will Google it and get back to you. Thanks Russ

 

[seasick]

Thank you for all the good information. I will try and get down to the boat this week and try fixing the anode. The steering is mechanical but I do not know about the NFB or not. Not familiar with that system so I will Google it and get back to you. Thanks Russ

NFB or no feedback has in effect a kind of clutch that locks the steering in position until it senses a turning force on the steering wheel. There are two easy ways to determine if you have a NFB steering box:
While at sea under power, let go (carefully) of the wheel and see if it turns on its own. If so you do not have NFB.
If the boat is out of the water, with the engine mostly tilted down, try turning the motor at the motor with no-one at the helm. If the steering only moves a little and then seems to lock, you have NFB. If on the other hand, you can make the wheel move a lot side to side ( 1 or more turns) you do not have NFB.

 

[Fishtales]

They take off the anode when they drop the lower unit for preventative maintenance. I lost one and the other was loose one year (dealer failed to torque down) so as seasick states, they can and do fall off. If mechanical steering, inspect the cables and roller/connection points. Maybe something is worn and it wants to find the path of mechanical least resistance when there is a load on the steering (harder pull out of the hole and then less once speed is attained). Just thinking out loud...