Hi Doug, welcome and congrads! Great boat, you’re going to love it.
Your (most likely) Sea-Star engine steering hydraulics system is a close-tolerance complex system where a few tiny air bubbles trapped 15 feet down a hose Y-coupling can cause far more aggravation than it’s worth for a typical owner to try to fix. I’m told engine ‘alignment’ is engine-specific, not boat-specific, so it’s better to get your boat to your 5-star local shop who’s used to your dual outboards and let them ‘purge’ and bleed your Sea Star system with their expensive purpose-built pumps. That oil is messy and easily spills into inconvenient spaces under the helm and into the V-berth area. SeaStar says do it annually but no one does, mine was at 5 years last year when my 5-star Yamaha service rep advised it because when he manually turned one engine, the other didn’t. I don’t have a clue but took his word on it. He’s saved me a boatload of cash in not advising EVERYTHING that Yamaha does on my low-hour rig.
You can learn to change the engine/lower unit oil, filters, spark plugs, anodes, trailer bearings, lube, trailer hydraulics, even trailer electric-over-hydraulics systems etc but when it comes to engine diagnostics and Sea Star hydraulics just get out your charge card and smile. Boris is more mechanically inclined and brave than I and my engine comes under his 'don't waste your time' exception.
You will love ‘throttle-only steering’ which allows pivoting your boat on a dime with the wheel neutral. This is what TC owners use at most idle speeds around the marina and most any time under cruise speeds. Avoid all speeds over fast idle until planing, when the boat is throwing a huge wake in between displacement and planing speeds (say, 1500-2800 RPM for most).
To turn (almost to pivot) to port, put the OUTSIDE (starboard) engine in forward idle and the INSIDE (port) engine in reverse. The boat will pivot in almost it’s own length to the left. Add a bit of starboard throttle to make the turn even more pronounced.
To turn right at idle speeds, the port engine is of course the OUTSIDE engine in forward and stdbd engine in reverse.
As with single engines, your idle turns will be much tighter if you turn the wheel hard over WHILE IN NEUTRAL, and not applying power until the wheel is full over.
Using that plus more reverse on the INSIDE engine you can actually pivot in reverse.
Of course, this only works on well designed boats with widely spaced engines. You got one.
Eventually, you will find yourself doing this at waterfront watering holes, where you can come out on on deck to elicit applause.
Don't doubt me on this.
Practice in a low-wind, low-risk area and soon you’ll be very comfortable with throttle-only steering at slow speeds. At cruise you’ll love the response of the wheel and hydraulic steering. There is no substitute for hours of experience behind the wheel of your own boat. However, paying a pro $100 for an hour of his expertise may be a great investment. We have a lot more off-duty Sea Tow cat captains than you do, though.
Best,
John
