New boater with a couple questions

[Skyrydr]

Hey guys, I recently bought a 2006 Rinker 226 Captiva with the 5.7 Volvo Penta GXi.  I took it out yesterday and have a couple questions about the boat.  This is my first boat, in fact yesterday was the first time I'd ever driven a boat.
We had 6 adults onboard, 3 women and 3 men plus a full load of gear.  I'm a big guy too.

First, while cruising at speed, even at WOT, the steering wheel had to be held one half turn to the right at all times to maintain a straight ahead course.  I know the rotating prop causes the boat to turn in the opposite direction due to P-factor, but is it normal to have to hold the wheel a complete half turn to the right?

Second, are boat speedometers really inaccurate?  At WOT and 5000 RPM the speedo said only 32 mph.  It seemed like we were going quite a bit faster than that though.  Coming back to the dock at the end of the day, there was a jetski we were kind of racing back and we out ran it.  I don't know for sure if the jetski was going full speed, but it looked like it, so I suspect we were going faster than 32 mph.

Third, trimming the sterndrive.  Are the trim indicator gauges inaccurate?  I had to trim the drive all the way to the bottom line and give it full throttle otherwise the bow would not come down, even at WOT.  It seemed like there was a lot of bow rise and took a while to level off.

I'm trying to figure out if this is normal or if my engine and stern drive need some adjustments.  I know very little about boats.  Thanks in advance.

[Oldntired]

That is quite a load for the boat.   32 might  not be so far off.  Having said that the speedometer on a boat is not too accurate.

You really need to take the boat out alone and see what it does to get a better feel of what it is doing.

[alswagg]

The 226 is a fast boat with the 5.7 GXi.  You are probably running around 45 to 50 mph at 5k.  The 226 does have a tendancy to bow raise upon take off, especially the early models.  As for the steering, do you have alot of steering torque? Or, do you just have to slightly turn the wheel to keep it going straight?  You have a great boat.  Good luck  Al

[hrolson3]

Did the steering wheel need to be held to the right because it "pulled" to the left or did it need to be held to the right just to go straight?  If you let go of the wheel it still goes straight with the wheel cocked you just need to adjust your cable under the wheel.  4 bolts pretty easy. 

And yes speedo's are not accruate.  If you can get ahold of a TomTom or a Garmin they will both work to get an accurate read on your speed. 

On your 3rd question.  I have always been told to trim all the way down when taking off until your on plane.  Then trim up until you start to porpoise then trim back down a touch.  Make a mental note on your gauge.  It will change a bit depending on the load in your boat.

Good luck and welcome.  This is a great site.  I've been around boats for years and still learn a ton on here. 

[pepmyster]

Welcome to the site!!!!!!!!

[Skyrydr]

Thanx for the replies, guys.  After talking to a friend who's an experienced boater, I think the boat is handling just fine.  I don't think it pulled to the left while cruising, I just had to keep the wheel to the right and it would stay there.  If I held the wheel straight it would turn to the left while cruising.
Also, I had a gps with me, but it's old and or of date, so it wouldn't lock on to satellites.  I'll bring a better one and check my top speed next time.  Maybe some smart tabs or trim tabs would help with the bow rise.  Thanks again.