I am looking for help from H260 owners who have leveled out their boats. When sitting at the dock my boat had a sag to starboard stern. This was caused by the combination of factory placement of the ice chest, battery & outboard motor all on the starboard side. Because of poor original access and the fact that the battery is the only one of the three heavy objects I could actually do anything about, I moved the battery. The new battery location (with a second added) is on the port side in front of the head. This change straightened up the boat perfectly port to starboard. But now I am bow heavy. The only movable weight in the bow is the anchor, a spinnaker bag and half a tank of fresh water. With the current trim the boat wants to round up badly so I can not ignore it. And will not attempt to fly the spinnaker until I solve the problem. What have others of you done?
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I installed
a air conditioner in back of the false bulkhead, the true charger, on the port side. I haven't noticed any list. The water is just about even all the way around the hull. I have 3 type 27 Gell onboard, one in the "normal" place,one just forward of the head, and one just forward of the ice chest, that I have replaced with a a freezer/refrigurator. I fly a spinnaker all the time and don't have any problems. I run a 4 cycle 9.8 O/B I did worry about the extra weight comparted to my orginial 2 cycle but have had no problems. John USNret
a air conditioner in back of the false bulkhead, the true charger, on the port side. I haven't noticed any list. The water is just about even all the way around the hull. I have 3 type 27 Gell onboard, one in the "normal" place,one just forward of the head, and one just forward of the ice chest, that I have replaced with a a freezer/refrigurator. I fly a spinnaker all the time and don't have any problems. I run a 4 cycle 9.8 O/B I did worry about the extra weight comparted to my orginial 2 cycle but have had no problems. John USNret
I moved my batteries
to the same place as you did (2 group 31 AGM's) I also installed an 11 gallon fuel tank under the cockpit seat. Seems to trim out nicely. We do alot of longer cruises vs. day cruising, so we have more weight that we can move around to trim accordingly.
to the same place as you did (2 group 31 AGM's) I also installed an 11 gallon fuel tank under the cockpit seat. Seems to trim out nicely. We do alot of longer cruises vs. day cruising, so we have more weight that we can move around to trim accordingly.
Kitty litter
My H23.5 has the outboard, gas tank, battery and porta-potti all on the starboard side. The only thing on the port side is the fresh water tank and the small Igloo cooler, neither of which I ever fill. To level the boat, I put 150 pounds of kitty litter bags on the starboard side up against the hull in the aft berth and under the salon seats. On average, I guess this weight is centered below the most forward end of the port cockpit seat. It sits level port-starboard now. I wouldn't know what to look for to say if the boat is level fore and aft. Is that a big issue? I don't notice a difference when I single hand or if I have 6 people in the cockpit. I suppose I can say that I've never been bow heavy since there is nothing stored up there. ...RickM...
My H23.5 has the outboard, gas tank, battery and porta-potti all on the starboard side. The only thing on the port side is the fresh water tank and the small Igloo cooler, neither of which I ever fill. To level the boat, I put 150 pounds of kitty litter bags on the starboard side up against the hull in the aft berth and under the salon seats. On average, I guess this weight is centered below the most forward end of the port cockpit seat. It sits level port-starboard now. I wouldn't know what to look for to say if the boat is level fore and aft. Is that a big issue? I don't notice a difference when I single hand or if I have 6 people in the cockpit. I suppose I can say that I've never been bow heavy since there is nothing stored up there. ...RickM...
Check with people on board
I moved the battery to the port side of the space aft of the rear berth in order to minimize the length of 12V lines between the motor, charger, and eventually the inverter (voltage drop along 12V DC wires can be substantial, and can really drain your system). We still list to starboard a bit, but when we add a second battery I think it will be fine. I commented to my wife last weekend that while sitting in the slip, the boat looked bow heavy. She disagreed. The difference: My fat butt in the cockpit, which trims the boat perfectly, but not while I am on the dock. I can be available to trim the boat of your choice, provided its location is somewhere tropical.
I moved the battery to the port side of the space aft of the rear berth in order to minimize the length of 12V lines between the motor, charger, and eventually the inverter (voltage drop along 12V DC wires can be substantial, and can really drain your system). We still list to starboard a bit, but when we add a second battery I think it will be fine. I commented to my wife last weekend that while sitting in the slip, the boat looked bow heavy. She disagreed. The difference: My fat butt in the cockpit, which trims the boat perfectly, but not while I am on the dock. I can be available to trim the boat of your choice, provided its location is somewhere tropical.
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