To be clear

Chine walking is pretty easy to explain.. You balance the boat up on the pad, which gets both rear “corners” (chines) of the boat out of the water. You have some rotating force that is applied by the motor through the prop which tends to “unsettle” the hull. Usually the boat falls off to the left, which drops the left corner of the rear of the hull, which then drags in the water, which pulls the nose left. But once you start that slight left turn, centrifugal force causes the boat to roll toward the right, and then that corner drops and drags. And that pulls the bow right. And that causes a turn in the opposite direction which causes the left corner to drop, then the right, and it can be an ever-accelerating process until it reaches a violent end when you completely lose control. All high-perf boats get to feeling “loose” around 55-65 or so when they come up completely on the pad. They dont like violent steering inputs because there is little of the hull in the water to bite and help you turn. So it does feel like you are riding on ice, and the boat will tend to slip sideways in a slight turn since there is no giant skeg under water to keep the sideways slip from happening. Feeling loose is normal. violent rocking back and forth is also normal, but is to be avoided. Driving skills will solve the chine walking issue if you just tackle it slowly and surely. As you see the bow want to “tick” to the left, slightly steer to the right. As it then starts to “tock” back to the right, slightly steer to the left. This becomes second-nature and you wont even realize you are doing it. And, in fact, it is hard to explain. Just like explaining to someone how to ride a bike and when it starts to lean to the left, you steer to the left to get the bike back under your center of gravity. It is easy to do, hard to explain, and takes time to learn the first time. Then, one day, you will notice that when you drive, no boat chine walks and you will wonder what they improved in overall boat design to get rid of the problem. edit: BTW, the “loose feeling” is really noticable in fast-moving water. I fish mainly on Lay Lake, and after spring rains get the river up, you can look at the surface and see the turbulence caused by underwater rocks, stumps, humps, and such. And as you are running thru that mess, it interacts with the bottom of the motor and seems to make you “dance” around as the boat zigs and zags slightly. It isnt dangerous, just normal, and lets you know you are not running a boat that likes to displace a lot of water, but rather runs up on top of it where it is more susceptible to these small side-forces. You will eventually learn to ignore that as well when it becomes natural.Last edited by oldtimer57 on May 14th, 2009, 10:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200

If your engine is too low, the propeller will have a poitn where the prop will slip a little, and the hull will feel as if it slipped right a couple of feet. It happens in one swift stroke, and then hooks up and runs fine. It will do this around 65 mph and every time you get in that position on slick water. If so, then you are too low. If it is oscillation of the propeller and what is termed chine walk, it will get progressively worse as you try to drive it, till you get the hang of it.

Glad we could help figure it out. If that doesnt get it, then come let us know what you find. BCB