Relatively new to using my Livescope to target indiividual fish. With spot lock engaged, my boat is still rotating quite a bit.
Wondering if there is a way to use the heading hold feature at 0 or 0.1mph cruise control to keep the boat pointing in the same direction while maintaining relatively still.
This might not be possible but looking for advice!
Point the noise of your boat into the wind/current and you will be able to stay straight!
The wind or the current is what’s causing the back of your boat to spin around!
Thanks for the suggestions. Tried that today out on the lake and even if I spot lock facing the wind the boat will still rotate in the wind sometimes even a full 90 degrees, then sway to the opposite 90 degrees. Wish there would be a way to prioritize the way the boat is pointing.
Tried heading lock at 0mph cruise but it doesn't do anything, boat just drifts away.
The current is opposite the wind or the wind is shifting.
My aluminum boat will go sideways to the wind at times, I use a turret for my AT 2.
My aluminum 19' boat will spin from the stern when the wind changes direction. Seldom is the wind blowing from the same direction for any duration. (Yes, I keep the boat pointed into the wind always.) Spot lock will keep the bow within about 6', but I have never been able to keep stern in the same place for long. 5-8 mph wind speed is usually best when using spot lock function according to my experiences.
So, there are two things that I would look at adjusting that may help if the boat is overcorrecting like that.
#1 - Bow Offset. If the trolling motor is left/right of the bow you can adjust that setting and it can make a big difference.
#2 - Boat Scale. This can make a huge difference and is a setting that I actually changed fairly often when I had a small bass boat depending on the weather. On windy days I would set it to 0 but most days I had it at -1 or -2.
Yeah, my off-set and scale have both been adjusted- same result. more drifting than over-correcting. Aluminum boats just hard to keep positioned in the wind, and I've had many hours of experience with my spot-lock.
Thanks for the replies. I think another issue that compounds the rotation I am experiencing is that my boat will randomly start drifting or driving away from the spot lock. Has nearly caused me to hit docks, very scary. Sometimes I hit spot lock and the whole boat reverses aggressively 15 feet.
I will try adjusting bow offset - but not sure if the Force has boat scale.
So I only have experience with a Terrova for the spot lock features but would think the Garmin would be very similar.
If it's drifting or changing spots that much though something is probably off and I might call Garmin to explain and see if they have suggestions.
One thing could be the heading compass placement - or maybe interference near the main unit or heading unit from batteries/electronics/wires/magnets.
Before my current boat I owned a 1984 basstracker that was a 17ft aluminum with a very light 25hp motor on it (very squirrely). But it would stay right where it was supposed to or within a few feet of it if a gust of wind hit.
Sorry you're having the issues and hopefully you can get it figured out. If you hear back from Garmin with a new trick let us know!
Make sure your boat is moving less than .33 MPH before engaging spot lock. The hard reverse is because you over-shot where you hit the button.Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelAngelo