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I have a Kenner that drafts a foot. What is the lowest water level that I could get in or out of Ecofina. Sunday's low is .9' about the time I want to come in. Is it safe or a bad idea? With my skiff I only worried if it was negative. But I dont want to skin up the new one.

Hammer down!! Let up when you see the first no wake zone. Seriously, I come in on positive tides lower than that all the time. Be safe and run at a navigable speed in the river and you should be fine. Just remember, Your boat runs in 12 inches of water and you will have that much water to run in , however , there are many rocks out there that stick up 8-10 inches off the bottom!!! Id come in thirty minutes to an hour earlier if possible!! Im lieing, Id probably stay out and fish til the next high tide cause I cant resist a rising tide, but if you do that you better take some extra munchies and some sunscreen!!!(Maybe even a spotlight!!)

The lowest i've run the mouth now at a +1.0 on my GPS planed out with the jack plate up to 4. It still freaks me out to be running on plane and watch the depth finder go down to 1.7' then to ---. That river is probably going to cost me some $ one of these days but I sure do like fishing out of there. I have hit twice but both were due to having to come off plane b/c of other boats. I do my best now to make sure I have clear run before I commit. Having to come off plane 1/2 way between the tripod and the red marker on a low to mid tide is an ugly thing. Good Luck!!

If a one foot tide makes yall nervous at Ecofina, don't come to Aucilla. You'll have nightmares for months

.6 or greater = hammer down and jackplate up and try to ignore
those assorted bumping and grating sounds!

Good luck!

[quote="Hit-n-Miss"] I have a Kenner that drafts a foot.

Dang, yours drafts a foot. It must be the added weight of gold Bruce thinks the boats he sells has in them.

As long as there's not a north wind, you should be able to get into the river on a 0.9 tide. Once you make it in to where the river narrrows, you're home free. And, there's some stakes that will help you follow the natural channel at the mouth of the river. Just beware that there are some major rocks that you could hit on a low tide as you get further into the river. High tide or low tide, I just idle in and enjoy the scenery. I would recommend that you do the same.

Good luck

rocket wrote:If a one foot tide makes yall nervous at Ecofina, don't come to Aucilla. You'll have nightmares for months

If you don't have a rock guard just go ahead and take a hammer and knock the skeg off and get it over with.

creech wrote:

Hit-n-Miss wrote: I have a Kenner that drafts a foot.

Dang, yours drafts a foot. It must be the added weight of gold Bruce thinks the boats he sells has in them.

I'd rather overstate it than understate it's draft.

RD wrote:

rocket wrote:If a one foot tide makes yall nervous at Ecofina, don't come to Aucilla. You'll have nightmares for months

If you don't have a rock guard just go ahead and take a hammer and knock the skeg off and get it over with.

That makes me wonder. Has anyone ever actually done any testing with a motor that has NO skeg? Seems it would do fine except the steering would be mushy at idle. But at speed, The prop would do the turning..

Sure would give you a few more inches of draft befor dragging....but would need a little beefier gearbox guard....

Dubble

rocket wrote: That makes me wonder. Has anyone ever actually done any testing with a motor that has NO skeg?

Dubble

Every damn time I floats the boat...I honestly cannot tell any
difference without one!

Dubble Trubble wrote:

RD wrote:

rocket wrote:If a one foot tide makes yall nervous at Ecofina, don't come to Aucilla. You'll have nightmares for months

If you don't have a rock guard just go ahead and take a hammer and knock the skeg off and get it over with.

That makes me wonder. Has anyone ever actually done any testing with a motor that has NO skeg? Seems it would do fine except the steering would be mushy at idle. But at speed, The prop would do the turning..

Sure would give you a few more inches of draft befor dragging....but would need a little beefier gearbox guard....

Dubble

I have run many of them without one,I don't recomend it because then your wheel is the first thing to hit,that causes bent or broke prop shafts or worse.