cool that you are asking for help or pointers rather than dinging up your boat. just dont panic, leave in in nuetral position and just bump it forward then nuetral,

No one mentioned "no wake zone" wander.   If your boat (mine's 23') walks going slow, when the bow runs right turn left, when it stops going right return the steering wheel to center.
If you wait for the bow to center you over steered.   
Jets are great, we load from a lake.  My wife holds about 10" of winch line and I drive right
up to the stop.  Hook, two or three cranks and we're outta there 
I put 12" keel centering rollers all the way up, that's all it needed.  Yea, wind can make
more interesting 

I also like to hand load mine. This may hurt having been a SeaDoo'er yourself but watch out for the SeaDoo retards. They will run into you. They will crash near or in front of you. They don't use their brains. Your friend who says he knows how to drive your boat but doesn't own one, should remain a passenger. SandBars hurt, keep your legs out from under the deck. If a guy in another boat waves you away from him... it's because you're going to swamp him if you get any closer. You can sink your friends boat by filling it up with your diverter, lol.

also if another guy driving a boat waves to you. WAVE BACK. its guy code for,  hey i see you therefore i will not run into you.

this thread should be turned into a guide book and handed out to all newbies.  it scares the hell outta me how some of the guys i boat were so oblivious there first time out...

Another important thing is to always know where you are and if you don't be very aware and "Read the Land" it will tell you a lot about the water and it's bottom, Jets of course have less to worry about with water depth but you still need to worry/watch.

When river running you can get an idea about the bottom by looking "reading" the land, As a rule the steeper the slope leading to the waters edge continues for a bit after entering the water, and don't be fooled into thinking the middle is the deepest a lot of times it is not. If one side of the river bank goes up a steep hill/cliff and the other side is a gentle grade up or swampy and flat, I be hugging the cliff side but not to close to hit big boulders rocks that might be stacked/piled along the side.

Watch Islands on rivers also, Most have "Tails" that trail off the bottom tip of the island that can be a slight sand/gravel bar mixed with any other debree that came down river and got caught in that back swirl current that islands some times make.

Waters change, Here is Pennsylvania the river bottoms change more then people think, Ice jams that make temporary dams and floods will change the river by actually moving sand/gravel bars, eroding the banks and adding tree's stumps and boulders. So keep in mind things change.

If thats not enough you must never forget that everything I said could be wrong and mother nature just decided to throw a curve and you will crash by doing everything right, A 55 gallon drum that was invisible about 1 foot under water in a 25 foot deep pool on a bright blue beautiful day that took my buddies outdrive off and scared the buzz outta everyone onboard comes to mind.

My point, try to be prepared for anything at any time and pay F@cking attention at all times...   Roy.

Another important thing is to always know where you are and if you don't be very aware and "Read the Land" it will tell you a lot about the water and it's bottom, Jets of course have less to worry about with water depth but you still need to worry/watch.

When river running you can get an idea about the bottom by looking "reading" the land, As a rule the steeper the slope leading to the waters edge continues for a bit after entering the water, and don't be fooled into thinking the middle is the deepest a lot of times it is not. If one side of the river bank goes up a steep hill/cliff and the other side is a gentle grade up or swampy and flat, I be hugging the cliff side but not to close to hit big boulders rocks that might be stacked/piled along the side.

Watch Islands on rivers also, Most have "Tails" that trail off the bottom tip of the island that can be a slight sand/gravel bar mixed with any other debree that came down river and got caught in that back swirl current that islands some times make.

Waters change, Here is Pennsylvania the river bottoms change more then people think, Ice jams that make temporary dams and floods will change the river by actually moving sand/gravel bars, eroding the banks and adding tree's stumps and boulders. So keep in mind things change.

If thats not enough you must never forget that everything I said could be wrong and mother nature just decided to throw a curve and you will crash by doing everything right, A 55 gallon drum that was invisible about 1 foot under water in a 25 foot deep pool on a bright blue beautiful day that took my buddies outdrive off and scared the buzz outta everyone onboard comes to mind.

My point, try to be prepared for anything at any time and pay F@cking attention at all times...   Roy.

here on the river, the easy thing to do to read the bottom, especially at big river where it can get very shallow is wear polarized sunglasses. i have found that oakley or maui jims work the best. it allows you to see the bottom when its shallow. stay away from the light spots and head towards the dark ones.

I've spent many an hour digging rocks out of Moo's impeller. Brad helped me one time with a 30" prybar. not fun. depends on how clear the water is. Most rivers, if you can see the bottom, it's too close. At Mead, in March, I could see the bottom and it was 12 feet or so down. It's all relative I guess. I don't know that even 24" of clearance from your intake is all that safe. Kinda one of those figure it out as you go kinda deals. I haven't had a rock since Big River last year. I attribute that to better following skills and using my head when it comes to beaching. But they'll STILL get through there from time to time. I've just been lucky.

Kinda why I'm going with Nick's race loaders. damn lake loaders and rock grates didn't do anything for me, might as well have some performance if I'm gonna be diggin rocks out of there anyway........

Ray

I think Tom (JBP) told me not to hammer it from a start in less than 5 feet of water because it can suck stuff from that deep.   I admit I don't always follow that advice.  "If you can see the bottom ..."
is good advice, but frequently if you can see the bottom, it is happening at speed and generally everyone says DON"T slow down, if fact speed up.   So I dunno.  At some time or another, you will suck some stuff.  don't sweat it too much.

If you look close you will see a nice basketball sized dent in the rear door of the Burb. That was from my boat attacking my truck during a trailer drive on. 


I had been a drive on style guy for several years before that. And to be fair to myself I wasn't a total retard that day because I had just installed a diverter and was having trouble with reverser adjustments but...

Been walking it on ever since!

dents and me dont mix.. walking the boat on is winning this debate so i think ill just walk it on.. sounds smarter, easier, and u need less skillzzz to do it...

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when driving a jet boat that I learned:

I found that idle RPM and full forward on the control arm, do not produce a speed SLOW enough for docking encounters. For slow speed maneuvering near the dock, use the forward / reverse control lever between neutral and 3/4 forward, to control forward speed enabling the boat to just inch forward, occasionally into reverse, so the boat goes slower then idle full forward.

Steering in close proximity to other boats and the dock require some understanding of jet dynamics, in that the jet pushes the rear of the boat around to steer. Much like a forklift with the steering wheels in the back. Very unlike a car which steers with the front wheels. The difference is dramatic when you consider that when turning a car the rear wheels follow a track circle TIGHTER then the front wheels, while the Jet boat, has the track circle LARGER in the rear when turning.

When snuggling up to the dock in parallel you should practice how your boat reacts when you want the rear or the front to snuggle in.
When in full reverse and with the wheel turned all the way to the left, you suck the back in left, but the nose goes way right, but if you then push the direction control lever full forward, the nose goes left, but the rear goes way right. Can be very weird the first time doing it, and I found that practice without a river current helps; like on Lake Mohave at the floating potty. It makes a good practice site to figure this dynamic before pulling up to the fuel pump at AVI, or the loading dock at the end of the day. Then add current like at the dock just outside of the launch area at AVI, and the thrills really begin!.  I was amazed at how hard I grip the forward / reverse control arm, just to get the boat to do what I want, because of all the tension you feel in trying NOT to damage the boat when approaching.

When pulling anybody with a rope in the water, be super mindful of what the rope is doing especially during slow speeds. Generally, it's a bad idea to leave the helm with the engine idling even for a few seconds to help someone at the back of the boat, because it is so easy to suck the rope. Keep a serrated knife on board, because a razor blade takes forever, and may NOT cut the rope wound around the shaft, but the knife will. The area in the pump you have to maneuver around in, to cut the rope is tight at best near impossible at worse, an I found that the broken handle steak knife works pretty good. I got one from the 99c store in Laughlin, so nothing fancy. I broke the handle to make it shorter and give more "sawing" room.  (Been there) 

If you suck the rope, know that although there is an inspection hole, if you take that cover off while floating, in an effort to cut the rope, you won't be floating for very long.    Water pours through there REALLY fast, so even beached, you would want the pump side inland.

Hard throttle in shallow water to get the boat going from a stand still, is a No, No, because the boat is forced down in the back, putting the intake close to the bottom, allowing foreign objects to damage the pump as they are sucked up from the bottom. Rocks and sand do damage, Reeds act like ROPE, and floating plant stuff clogs the intake grate. If the boat seems fine, but you give it full throttle and it seems to do nothing for your forward motion, try stopping the engine and dropping your self into the water at the back. Take a deep breath and drop below the water pulling yourself toward the intake grate of the pump. You will probably find a huge pile of plant debris that you can clear away from the grate. This has happened to me several times, and this does the trick.

Although the Jet is a simple mechanical pump, it sure seems like it is easily damage by ingesting anything but water. Forget rocks, even sandy water can be a huge problem, and although I thought I was being careful, I have had to rebuild the pump 3 times in 5 years because of fun on the river. Now, I am on Mojave for fun.

Anyway, boating is a lot of fun and a great family adventure that creates good memories.
As long as you are mindful of these things, good times are bound to happen in a Jet Boat.

One other thing on the depth of water you run in.   When your boat is loaded it digs deeper when you take off.   Mine pulling 4 skiers seemed like it blew a hole about 6' deep behind us when we started out WFO.

So, don't be in 5 feet of water with a full boat and nail it.  My boat is 23' and I would bet it digs deeper than a 16 footer but I do think it's something to be aware of.

Welcome to the club 

you guys sure do give out alot of info.. haha all good stuff.. i like reading everything... it gives me insight and know how... also it tells me how not to piss you guys off on the water... i will hopefully have my boat in the water in a month or so... gotta pull the carb, do a rebuild, fix some wiring, and replace my ignition switch... then she(hopefully) will be all done and ready to go