boarding behind fishing boat

[mhb22]

the only boat i can get pulled behind is a 2006 boston whaler montauk 175 center console. has a 90hp Mercury outboard.

we usually have to jerry-rig a rope and carabiner to pull from. any ideas on somehting better? BW are difficult b/c i dont think a normal pylon will work b/c they are foam filled. not sure i want to go for the tower route right now either.

if i load up the bow and trim the motor up.......will that make my wake more consistent?

are fat sacs worth it......for this boat?

[mhb22]

i already have a great non-stretch rope and handle. my WB and wakeskate are not the issue.

to pull from our boat now: we have a rope that connects to each hoist eyelet on the stern of the boat.....just to each side of motor. we then hook a carabiner to that rope and attach the wakeboard rope to the carabiner so it will slide around the motor.

it works pretty well going heelside. toeside is a little harder to edge away.

since this is not my boat (father's) i don think that a tower is an option. possibly a removable pylon.

what kind of ballast system?

[ridininmd]

mhb22, I think this is what you're looking for http://www.overtons.com/modperl/overtons/detail/pdetail2.cgi?r=detail_view&item_num=10420&fcat=1U

It clips into the eyelets on each side and has a roller inside the red part that will keep your rope movement smooth. Until you can talk your dad into throwing a tower on his fishing boat that is

[fish6942]

I'd recommend getting rid of the sliding mechanism and simply hook to one side of the transom. I'd have to think that the "moving connection point" will end up putting slack in the line.

Also, look into a pylon instead of a full-blown tower. Swivel-eze makes a few nice ones for around $200. They come off easlily and the mounts that are left behind are non-obtrusive. It won't get the rope as high as with a tower but it's still considerably higher than where you're connecting now. The one I had on our old I/O was about 5' high from the floor.

[mhb22]

i def want to try some type of a removable pylon. we just need to find a way to secure the base. BW are foam filled and i'm not sure the base would hold.

here are some stock pics of our boat. i might try to get some real photos this weekend and post them......i need some help with this.

i wonder how wll that "slider" from Overton's would work?

[ridininmd]

try and grab some more pics of the boat specificly looking from the helm towards the stern. From those pics I'm not seeing anywhere to mount a pylon or a tower. But that rear looking view will show more

[mhb22]

i think picture could work. any thoughts now? i actually just emailed a guy from Boston Whaler parts. he said that a fly high pylon or something similar may not work.

i downloaded a PDF file of the wood reinforced areas of the Boston Whaler Montauk. i think a Swivel-Eze deckmater pylon may be a better option.

here is a good shot of the back of the Whaler.

[mhb22]

anyone think this could work well enough?

[ridininmd]

What I'm trying to see if is if there is anywhere to attach it. With those things you need to drill through somewhere for the supports and then attach bolts from behind. Same thing with the base plate, you'll need a removable floor panel to attach the base so you can bolt it on there.

The other thing to keep in mind judging from that last picture is that you'll need a tow point at least 4 1/2 to 5 feet off the floor of the boat to clear the outboard. I'm guessing that the guy in the picture is about 6 foot

[mhb22]

i'm going to try and get some real photos this weekend. we have also tried another sweet "ghetto" method.

we took a rope and fastened it to the 2 dock ties on each side. looped that around back of motor and then did the whole carabiner thing to attach my wakeboard rope.

it worked better than using the eyelets on the transom.....it pulls about 2 or 3 feet higher.

still a pain in the A$$ and pretty lame. but that has been our best option.

[Hollywood]

I hate to break your heart kid, but forget it and go find some friends with a better suited boat for what you're trying to do. You don't see many fisherman in X-stars do you?

[mhb22]

[Hollywood]

I gave some advice too, don't be mad cause it's not the same as other's. You're spinning your wheels trying to make this work when it would take less effort, energy and money to wakeboard with other wakeboarders.

[mhb22]

[Jeff]

dont listen to these guys I rode behind the same boat for a couple years, added a pylon and it work ok. I did upgrade to a 205 but the whaler was my parents boat and i bought the 205 myself. You need to have speacial bolts machined to attach the pylong to the transom, the foam hull is very thick. I still have the pylon and special bolts if your interested. Start saving thats my only advice, and ride as much as you can behind your whaler, learn the basics then if you do up grade you'll progressing fast. I had 2 seasons with this set up and wasnt easy on it eather. held up perfectly no damage to the boat. Pm me if you got questions.

[blaydeman]

[AndyAndy]

yea dude, i learned behind an old 17 montauk, without a cneer console, a short rope, pylon, and 500-800 lbs in the baot and you have a usable wake. good luck. check out monster tower too. they have some pics on their web site of boston whalers with towers. towers are sick

[HHI Dave]