SoCal Jet Boats
Discussion => The No Wake Zone => Topic started by: vidio1 on April 15, 2008, 06:55:44 PM
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Yep.......another Noob. I joined some time ago, been lurking and learning when I can. I have a few strikes against me, but here goes....I don't live on the left coast :o, I grew up around PWC's >:D, and I have a Seadoo jetboat :screwy:.
Well if i'm not banned by now I got a ton of noob questions/issues ;D. My Seadoo is a 97' Sportster. 4 passenger, 14 1/2ft hull, 85 hp Rotax, small single jetdrive, ~40 mph. I'm considering an engine (and possibly drive)transplant to get away from the 2 smoke while searching for more top end speed and a harder dig from a stop. Bear in mind this thing has the resale value of a used PWC and there's nothing really wrong with it other than my boredom and lack of fundage for something new. I'm looking for ideas..........
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I don't know of any up dates to get away from the 2 smoke for the SeaDoo boats.
If the SeaDoo is complete and running I would sell it and put the money toward an older "classic" 18' jet boat. You can get into a fixer boat for $2500.00-3500.00 that might only need minor repairs.
If you don't get in a hurry, watch e-bay, The Boat Trader and on-line you can find a lot of good deals out there if your willing to do a little work to get it ready.
Good luck and welcome to the site ;D
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i would have to agree with crewcheif, the money it would take to make the seedoo fast or do some sort of conversion comibined with what you could get selling it the way it is, could but a decent jet boat that has alot more potential and would be "easier/cheaper" to build (remembering, nothing is truly cheap with a jet boat)
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Sorry, but I have to agree on this one too. I dont think that small jet is going to handle much more power than you already have, that might be the reason thay used twin engines / jets on the faster ones :-\
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Thanks for the replies. Honestly i'm in no hurry and will probably use it the way it is this year. I'll keep an eye out for a "real" jetboat though. I never really considered the single jet could be about maxed out like Propless said. :banghead:
One of the things, several things actually, that i'll need to learn more about are; which boats to stay away from, which brands of whatever are easiest to upgrade and get parts for, etc. etc. Honestly that's probably why I haven't made the switch yet. I'm more familiar with PWC type parts.
Well.........Let the learning commence :D
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If you don't want to explore totally unfamiliar territory and just want to cruise and ski/tube/board with two or three families consider one of the Yamaha boats. 30K gets you a completely maintenance free boat that can hold ten people, its made a company with a long marine history, and it has some innovative features that make it an ideal place to entertain people on the water. I don't know what kind of resale market there is but there must be some used ones out there. The only downside to them that I have heard was that they were not super stable at top speed. If you are trying to stay under 10K or more interested in speed over utility than an older conventional jet boat is the only way to go IMO.
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We get calls regulary on these boats for parts and service however the mfg's play all the "stuff" very close to the vest, hard to get (and sell) parts if your not a authorized dealer, not much available in the after mkt and not enough interest to make it something folks like us want to start doing R&D into , That said a few years ago I had a Searay 16 ft sport jet traded in ,we used it for a demo for a while and I have to say It was a HOOT to drive WOT was about 45 mph,turned like a PWC