Click for Cross Click for Walker Click for Nordhavn Click for Burger Click for Northern Lights

I pretty much hate jetskis.

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Pascal, Feb 6, 2019.

Page 1 of 2
  1. Pascal, Feb 6, 2019
    #1
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
    Messages:
    8,610
    Location:
    Miami, FL
    The only time i like riding one is in the Bahamas when exploring. Nice water, nice scenery... but as a captain my blood pressure seems to to rise whenever a guest takes it out

    I hate jetskis

    Well yesterday aftwrnoon , the **** thing ( a 2 year old Seadoo spark) came back half sunk towed behind the tender. Pulled it on the hydraulic platform to drain it and then clipped it to the davit to bring it back on the top deck. I thought the thing was toast... engine was fully submerged. Couldn’t get the story straight as to what had happened... two guests turtled it, no idea if it had water in first or if they took too long to get it righted up

    So this morning I get to work. Getting to anything on a spark means the whole top part has to be unscrewed, steering disconnected etc. pull the coils and plugs and sure enough when cranked water and crap shoots out. Lube the cylinders, eject the stuff, plugs back in, crank and the **** thing hydrolocks again.

    I hate jetskis.

    Turns out the airbox and the intake manifold were full of water... another hour pulling it all, draining and resinstalling

    I hate jetskis

    After 6 or 7 hours, I had the thing all back together and running on the hose. Launch it, let it idle alongside still hooked up to the davit and took it for a test drive. (It s a **** Jetski, can’t use the words sea trial)

    I hate jetskis

    30 minutes a various speed, crunching my spine, getting sprayed. I hate jet skis

    Hopefully that’s all it will take (plus all the rinsing and spraying). In the plus side all the connectors on the little Rotax engines have good seals and should be ok

    For those of you who have to deal with Sparks, they are not sealed like other jetskis and of flipped over they will fill with water. It s critical to right then up immediately which is now going to be part of the safety breefing

    Did I say that I hate jetskis?

    E94CCAAA-FF17-4A8B-A801-CBFB4A39185B.jpeg

    CA8AD19A-DC96-4FBA-840B-AE4B2AFC00F6.jpeg
  2. Oscarvan, Feb 6, 2019
    #2
    Oscarvan

    Oscarvan Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2015
    Messages:
    969
    Location:
    Chesapeake Bay
    Where in the world is Joe Merchant?
  3. olderboater, Feb 6, 2019
    #3
    olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2013
    Messages:
    7,126
    Location:
    Fort Lauderdale
    Abuse any boat and that's what you end up with.
  4. Fishtigua, Feb 6, 2019
    #4
    Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2007
    Messages:
    2,935
    Location:
    Guernsey/Antigua
    The Spark is the cheapest, nastiest Jetski on the market. One dealer told me they were designed to last only one season and to then get the owner to upgrade to a newer one.

    Get a Yamaha. (I hate Jetskis too).
  5. Capt J, Feb 6, 2019
    #5
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2005
    Messages:
    14,593
    Location:
    Fort Lauderdale
    Unfortunately the spark is the ONLY newish jet ski that will fit in the garage on Lazzara's.

    When a 2 stroke has water in the motor, after you turn it over without spark plugs and get as much out as possible. loosen all of the spark plugs and then thread them 2 whole turns in by hand, then connect the coils to them and get the motor running. Enough air will bypass the plug threads to allow the water out, while allowing the engine to run well enough to suck all of the water out of it.
  6. Pascal, Feb 7, 2019
    #6
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
    Messages:
    8,610
    Location:
    Miami, FL
    We had a yamaha waverunner on the previous boat i ran, it was worst. There was no access and a lot of rusting clamps and bolts. It s a bit of a pain to pull the top of the spark but once open you have excellent access. All clamps and bolts are SS and all connectors are well sealed I am honestly suprised it survived... at least for now

    The molded shell of the spark holds up much better too. I once had a transom Tie down rip out a chunk of fiberglass out of the waverunner in rough water...
  7. ychtcptn, Feb 7, 2019
    #7
    ychtcptn

    ychtcptn Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    Messages:
    517
    Location:
    Lighthouse Point, FL
    Trade it in now for a new one!
    K1W1 likes this.
  8. K1W1, Feb 7, 2019
    #8
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2005
    Messages:
    7,433
    Location:
    My Office
    Even the more well known brands should be traded in every 12 to 18 mo when used on a charter boat.
  9. olderboater, Feb 7, 2019
    #9
    olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2013
    Messages:
    7,126
    Location:
    Fort Lauderdale
    We prefer the adult version of jet skis, Jet Ribs.
  10. Ken Bracewell, Feb 7, 2019
    #10
    Ken Bracewell

    Ken Bracewell Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2006
    Messages:
    1,759
    Location:
    Somewhere Sunny
    We don't have any jet skis on Berilda. One of the selling points when I accepted the job!
  11. YachtForums, Feb 7, 2019
    #11
    YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2002
    Messages:
    20,642
    Location:
    South Florida
    I hate JetSkis too, but loved SeaDoos! This is a collage that hangs on my office wall reminding me of good times. :)

    Attached Files:

  12. Capt J, Feb 7, 2019
    #12
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2005
    Messages:
    14,593
    Location:
    Fort Lauderdale
    I used to do the same thing with a Pro VXR Yamaha with a bunch of work done, back in the day. I bet you went through lots of motor mounts, I know I did!

    But yeah, in a charter environment I'd replace them every 2 years or sooner and call it the cost of doing business
  13. bayoubud, Feb 7, 2019
    #13
    bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2017
    Messages:
    1,149
    Location:
    Florida
    A Spark came with our current boat, sold it immediately to my neighbor, his boy destroyed in 2 months. I hate jet skis too. They rent them here and come thru our bayou in covey's up to maybe 15 at high speeds thru no wake zones. Did I say "I hate jet skis"? Probably would have give an arm or leg for one when I was a teenager. ( had they made them) lol
  14. Kevin, Feb 7, 2019
    #14
    Kevin

    Kevin YF Moderator

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2004
    Messages:
    3,090
    Location:
    Montreal, Qc, Canada
    Reading through this thread I'm seeing a lot of people with misplaced "hate".

    The jetskis aren't the problem... it looks to me like you all hate jetski riders and the dumb things they do. ;)
  15. Capt J, Feb 7, 2019
    #15
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2005
    Messages:
    14,593
    Location:
    Fort Lauderdale
    The constant maintenance of the jet ski's is the problem. If you're not using them enough to go through an entire tank of fuel with them, at least every 6 weeks or less, you are going to have issues (and nobody ever does). Even then you are going to have a lot more more issues than a 4 stroke outboard as a whole.
  16. YachtForums, Feb 7, 2019
    #16
    YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2002
    Messages:
    20,642
    Location:
    South Florida
    Motor mounts were consumables! :D
  17. Pascal, Feb 7, 2019
    #17
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
    Messages:
    8,610
    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Honestly that little spark hasn’t required any maintenance in 2 1/2 years. I had to replace the wear ring because a guest ran over a line and that was it. I d like to get 3 to 4 years out of it.
  18. amzoun9595, Mar 6, 2019
    #18
    amzoun9595

    amzoun9595 New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2019
    Messages:
    3
    Location:
    Alger
    i dont typically get bothered too much but jetskis/waverunners when i am on the water. if they want to jump my wake as i cruise about it does no harm to me so i let them have their fun. hell when i ride my dads new yamaha vxr i like to jump boat wakes too. i dont typically feel endangered by them following, never have one get close enough that i felt there was a chance of a collision.
  19. Pascal, Mar 6, 2019
    #19
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
    Messages:
    8,610
    Location:
    Miami, FL
    There has been many accidents while wake jumping whether jet ski hitting the boat or each other.

    It is also illegal, at least in Florida.

    If you don’t understand that jumping a wake in close quarter can was to a collision with an oncoming vessel hidden behind the boat you re behind, you don’t belong on the water
  20. bayoubud, Mar 6, 2019
    #20
    bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2017
    Messages:
    1,149
    Location:
    Florida
    A wave runner jumped our wake then past us on our port side...the girl fell off the back of the wave runner maybe 75 ft. directly in front of our boat...the only thing that saved her was we were on plane had the synchronizer on and pulled stb throttle back... the port slave lagged and steered the boat to stb...I watched her go by within2 ft. of the port side...the guy picked her up and took off. Scared the crap out us...she will never know how lucky she is to be alive...had I "not" been using the synchronizer it would have been impossible to react quick enough to steer around her...too many incompetent people operating jet ski's.
Page 1 of 2