[Rhodes22-list] Jet Skis (UNCLASSIFIED)

Wed Apr 2 01:40:08 EDT 2008

Rummy --

For sure!  As it happens, I'm right now replacing some exhaust riser and spacer gaskets on a Merc 7.4  because they were leaking internally back down into the exhaust side of the manifold....I picked it up when, even with a new battery, the engine would barely make the first turn, then turn over normally till it started.   I thought at first it was just the starter dragging, but then on the advice of my mechanic, checked the plugs and found a couple wet on one side.  He said he gets several in a year because of this kind of leak which has filled the cylinders enough so that they will bend, or even break a rod when they're being turned over and start before the water has cleared.....I confess to not having heard that before, so felt I was fortunate to have been warned before any significant damage.   I guess it's a much bigger problem on salt water, where the life of risers can be pretty short even with flushing.  I should have seen it coming, as the tell-tale streaks on the external sides of the risers would have indicated that the gasekts were leaking (if you can see it on the outside, it's probably leaking on the inside too, and mine sure were).  That would not have been a good way to start off the boating season!

Take care.

Willard

________________________________

From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org on behalf of R22RumRunner at aol.com
Sent: Tue 4/1/2008 9:48 AM
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Jet Skis (UNCLASSIFIED)

Willard,
Funny thing about water in a  engine cylinder, it doesn't compress.  :)

Rummy

In a message dated 4/1/2008 12:11:26 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
Willard at missouri.edu writes:

Mike  --

Nice to hear from you...good luck with your purchase.  I'll bet  you'll have
fun, and everyone will like the new toy.  One other thing I  forgot to
mention......My neighbor at the lake has 3 kids between 18-25, with  assorted friends
of all ages, and I have watched them beat up a Sea Doo GTX he  bought that is
newer than either of ours.....it has suffered from some dock  rash and
various water wrecks that have knocked out most all of the electronic 
instrumentation, but the biggest problems have been when it was capsized  numerous times
(which is inevitable if they're ridden aggresively in rough  water or wake
jumping), and then not properly righted.  They have to be  rolled back a certain
direction to avoid water getting into the engine.   Then, if they have taken on
a lot of water during the capsize, they have to  brought back up on to plane
for awhile for the self-bailer to remove the water  in the engine
compartment....might have to drop one or two riders while the  driver does this i
f they're being ridden two or three aboard.  

Finally, if the engine has filled with water because of improper  righting,
it's important to know what the proper procedures are (or else get  it to the
shop pretty quickly).  The neighbor's boy didn't want Dad to  find out what had
happened, so after one particularly impressive crash, they  towed it into the
dock, put it on the lift, then went home.  The next  week-end Dad got a big
and expensive surprise when he discovered it had been  sitting there all week
with the cylinders full of water.  It's usually  pretty straightforward, remove
the plugs, cycle as much water out as possible,  maybe add a little top oil
depending on the engine, put in new plugs and keep  cranking (usually more
juice than will be in the on-board battery, so have a  charger or power-pack
handy) hoping it will fire on that first set of  plugs....once it's running I've
watched him run it for a while back and forth  in the cove till it seems to be
running reasonably smoothly again, and then  finally putting in a sec
ond set of plugs....I don't know if you could get  by with only one set of
plugs.....but that's his system, and it works for him  a couple of times a year!
 We've never had ours capsized (at least that I  know of...), but they
haven't been ridden by our kids as much.

You  proabably already know or have heard all this anyway, so I apologize if 
feeding you leftovers.....

Take care, and have  fun!

Willard

________________________________

From:  rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org on behalf of Corley, Michael J COL
MIL USA  TRADOC
Sent: Mon 3/31/2008 8:45 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 mail  list
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Jet Skis  (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats:  NONE

Thanks for all the info, particularly about safety and learning to  ride.
Matches what I heard in a boating safety course about the first  hour
being the most dangerous.  And you are right about they have no  neutral
gear so they are always moving when the engine is running.  As  Arthur
mentioned in his post I am looking for ways to keep the  "kids"
interested in the water.  I am thinking I am going to buy new  for the
reasons you mentioned.

Mike
S/V Ranger
Hampton,  VA  

-----Original Message-----
From:  rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org]  On Behalf Of Downs, Willard
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 5:00 PM
To:  The Rhodes 22 mail list
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Jet Skis  (UNCLASSIFIED)

Mike --

We have two SeaDoos, a 2001 GTS, and a  2002 GTI (SeaDoo low end models
in 01 and 02, each with 85 HP), and we have  enjoyed them very much.   We
bought the first one for exactly the  reasons you mention, my wife and I
thinking we'd not use it very much but  they would be good for adult kids
and guests.  My wife went out the  first time on it and didn't come back
for an hour......we quickly realized  they were lots of fun....and we
didn't want to ride together, so the second  one came along the next
year.

We chose to buy new because most of  the used ones we looked at were very
beat up.  We are on Lake of the  Ozarks in MIssouri, which is a pretty
rough lake on week-ends, and it's the  unusual one that will not have
been riden hard and put away wet, and they  don't tolerate being run into
things very well.   Anyway, some  quick comments:

1.  You don't need lots of HP to have fun....even  if the kids want the
225+ HP models.....ours at 85HP are plenty fast,  though if I was buying
another new one, I'd probably get 100 or so.   It does make a difference
if you put 3 people on one...we usually ride with  only one, or at the
most two aboard.

2.  With reasonable  maintenance and care, they are pretty
reliable....have had virtually no  problems with ours.

3.  Gas consumption will be higher than you  expect....you can burn 20
gallons or so a day if there is lots of  use.

4.  Easy to ride once you have some time on one, but a steep  learning
curve the first couple of hours, particularly with  docking........most
of the dings and dents will happen than......and when  being maneuvered
close to other boats or waverunners...  Even for  experience boaters the
first hour or so is a little trying if you have to  maneuver much.  For
the unexperienced, my observation is that it can  take 5 hours or so at
least for them to be good enough so that you don't  have to worry much
about them running into something. With jets,  when  the engine is
running, the thing is going somewhere.....once you're good  with reverse
you can almost hold it stationary and maneuver it a slow  speed.  Of
course, when the motor is off, there is no steering (some  have a sort
steering with the motor off, but it doesn't offer that much  control at
best..), and I've seen a lot of dock bangers happen when someone  is
coming in, cuts the motor, and then realizes they can't steer the  thing
shortly
before it crashes into something.

5.   Safety is important.....especially if ridden aggressively, or for
wake  jumping....etc...etc....which of course is what the kids  always
do...

6.  Hull design is important.....the high  performance models will go
faster and carve tighter turns, but tend to be  more unstable a slow
speed, and can be tipped or rolled more easily.   We chose the former,
and that has proven to be a good choice for us.   I think they newer hull
designs are probably all reasonably stable now,  compared to some of the
earlier performance models.

7.  Ours  are on a lift when not in the water,  which eliminates a lot of
the  hassle of what to do with them when you're not using them.....we are
2  minutes from being on the water on one whenever we want, and when you
come  in, not much to put away.  I don't know how much additional  hassle
trailering them would be if you did it every time you wanted to  use
one......probably not that much....people do it all the  time.

8.  We have fun with ours whether it's absolutely flat and  calm (then
it's speed and turns), or like a washing machine on Saturday aft  from
all the power-boat wakes (then it's fun finding a line,  riding
reasonably smooth, and negotiating all the chop).

Hope that  helps some, let me know if I can help with  anything.

WDowns

________________________________

From:  rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org on behalf of Corley, Michael J
COL MIL  USA TRADOC
Sent: Fri 3/28/2008 5:28 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 mail  list
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Jet Skis  (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats:  NONE

This might be blasphemy, but I am going to ask anyway because  between
political comments you really do get good advice from da  list.
Does anyone out there have experience with jet skis?  Thinking  of buying
a low end Yamaha Wave Runner, preferably used.  Don't worry,  I am
keeping my Rhodes, this would be a 2nd "fun boat" for use by myself  and
adult children age 20-25.

Mike Corley
S/V Ranger
Hampton  VA
Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats:  NONE

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Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats:  NONE

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