Ballast In Saltare

[saltare inverts]

I am in the process of rebuilding my interior and have a ballast question. Has anyone plumbed a ballast puppy into an older boat? Were did you get the incoming water from. New pick-up or tie into fresh water system?

[87SunSportMikeyD]

I went with the fresh water intake. If you don't like how it works, you can always make changes. I am using one Simer for 5 sacs. A little slow, but maybe another pump someday.

There are a few pics in my gallery https://forum.supraboats.com/album.php?albumid=16

[saltare inverts]

Thanks for the pics that will help alot. 5 bags? What sizes did you use. How much weight do you estimate you use? How long does it take to fill? What bag did you use in nose? Any answers will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help so far.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Yup there are lots of questions around ballast. These guys will tell you a Saltaire should be weighted different than a SunSport.

I use all FlyHigh bags because they are the best for auto ballast systems. Very strong bags you will not puncture them. Great warranty too. Good solid screws on the fill/drain holes. Boardersmall.com has some cheap FlyHigh factory seconds w/ full warranty.

I use a sac in the rear ski locker and one under the rear bench seat. They are both 370lbs locker sacs.

In the front most people use a 1k lbs triangle bow sac. I think that is way too much weight unless you have another 1k in back. It also takes up your whole open bow storage.

I use two v-drive sacs in the front which are 400lbs each. I put them near the outer sides of the boat under the bow. There is some hidden storage space here that is great to tuck the sacs into. It leaves nearly the whole open bow storage open. Sorry I don't have a pic of that I will get one once we start riding again.

The only bag on the floor for me is an extra 680lbs full size fat sac. We use this for surfing. When we are wakeboarding, I fill it up about 1/3 of the way to help balance the wake and add a bit more weight in the back. So another 2-300lbs.

I can't get all the bags totally full, so I estimate it is between 1400-1800lbs for wakeboarding.

When we surf, I fill both rear sacs. then fill only the port (left) bow sac. Then fill the surf sac all the way on the floor port side. The wave is awesome. That is about 1600-1800.


This is about the most basic and simple way to do a semi-auto ballast system. Eventually you will want to add overflow lines. This is safety so you can't overfill a sac.

Right now with only one pump it take about 5 mins per sac. Maybe 10 on the large sac. The problem with only one pump all the sacs are connected. If one sac is slightly higher than another sac, gravity will make the water drain from one sac to another. The gravity puts a LOT of pressure on the lower sac and it gets much too full.

The only solution I have found is to have a hand-valve on every sac. So I open a couple of sacs, let them fill, open the other two, and then close the first two. If I had two pumps it would be a bit simpler I think.

Some people do some rather complex things using a single hose to go from pump till you get near the sac. Then they tee the line into seperate short fill and drain lines to connect to the sac. The use a check valve (one-way flow valve) on each line. The sac still fills and drains using a single reversable pump, but the seperate lines ensure water can't move from one sac to another. I think. I'm not an expert at this part. :) Since there are one way valves on each line, that is why they use two short runs. WHEW!!! That is too hard for me to do in my boat, I think.

Good luck!

[saltare inverts]

Alright, I now feel like a selfish wallyboat rider. I keep getting all this great information from you. Thanks. Next question, how do you get to the point of letting go of the rope when wakesurfing. I never seem to hit that point. Do you wakeboard much? What wakesurf board do you ride. I have only rode behind a sport nautique with a real surfboard, I want to try it more.

[Salty87]

inverts

what's the plan for your ballast...where are the sacs going? how much?

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Inverts thanks for the nice words. I am always glad to help. Even if it's just my opinion or my experiences. Never claimed to be an expert. :)

To hit the sweet spot on the wave where you don't need a rope just takes a couple things. Wave size, foot position, board direction, and body weighting (leaning fwd/backw).

Wave must be at least knee high to give you good push. Should really just need one big sac on the port rear floor to get that wave.

Gotta keep the board pointed straight at the back of the boat. It is easy to point towards shore but then you lose the push.

Gotta keep your toes near the toeside edge. This helps keep the board going straight. Imagine if you're snowboarding on a hill. You need to stay pressed on toes to keep the toeside edge digging into the snow. Same thing here, you gotta keep edging into the wave, and that means adjusting your stance.

Body weighting is like your gas/break. Lean towards the boat to speed up and rave towards the back of the boat. Lean back to brake and fall back when you get too close to the boat.

There is also a good distance behind the boat you have to find. It is anywhere from 2' - 10' behind the boat. The wave is bigger further back but sometimes you need to ride real close. When you are back further, then lean forward and go towards the boat, this is how you get good speed and do tricks.

http://www.howtowakesurf.com/

http://www.waterskis.com/Learn-To-Wake-Surf-s/82.htm

Youtube search for 'how to wakesurf' has some results too. :)

[saltare inverts]

Salty I am not sure were I will put ballast. I just rebuilt the rear seat to put a sac there. I am sure I will put some in nose. Its tuff to decide, I have a family and storage is important also. Thanks 87 Sunsport Mikey D for the imfo on wakesurfing. Do you recommend a brand of wakesurf? I read somewhere you were going to do some work on your interior. I am in the middle of doing mine. So far it has been enjoyable. Hey Salty, how much ballast does your sweet boat have. Any that is not factory?

[Salty87]

no hidden ballast on mine. i haven't loaded it down since replacing the floors last year. i was just curious how you loaded yours. it's not hard to get a big wake with a saltare but it can be hard to get it right.

i use the bow storage for extra life jackets. when there's no one there to wear them, waste of space and storage. a big v-shaped sac up there would be awesome. you might get away with weight in just the rear locker and the bow. i don't think i ever tried that combination. i always had 500 on each side of the engine w/500 up front...that's too much weight in the back if you add anything to the rear locker. 250 in the locker with 500 up front might work as good...while running less weight. just be careful, that locker is kinda flimsy. you could put some 2x4's on the gas tank to help support it if you go that route.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Salty, do you have the extra hidden space that is on passenger side, under the spotters seat storage compartment? It is only accessable from the bow. It is just empty space and is big enough to hold almost a whole v-drive sac. A 2nd v-drive sac on drivers side under the drivers contol helm, but not far enough back so your feet touch it. This leaves the whole open bow open while still giving up to 800 lbs bow weight.

Saltaires have two angled rear bench seats right? What are the dimensions under the seat? Would that be big enough for a smaller sac? Just curious

[saltare inverts]

Yea they have two angled bench seats. My does not. I just ripped them out and built frame to make it hold a ski locker sac and some extra storage. I will put two sacs in the nose. One under the wasted space as was mentioned earlier. I am also putting 4 40 lb tractor weights under new back seat that can be moved side to side to balance boat when people sit at different places. I also made a concrete weight that forms to the nose of the boat so I can store stuff on top of it. That equals about eighty lbs. I am trying to decide what sacs to buy for the nose and maybe side sacs. I used two 260lbs sacs on either side of motor and about 600 rear and about 400 lb in front last year. Wake was so big I could hardly ride it. I did a backroll and did 1 and 1/2 rolls because of extra air time. Fun but my old body didnt like it.