boating in Raritan bay Lavalette, NJ

[kkleen77]

Hi folks, I am new here but have been reading for a while. great forum. I have a jet ski and an older Glastron Gs160 16 foot bowrider. I really love the ski but hate the boat. I ride the ski (2008 Kawi STX15F) all over the bay in NJ between Lavalette, to the mainland side, south of the rt 37 bridge and to the Mantoloking bridge. I have figured out where its rougher and where its flat. I am confident on the ski even in rough and windy conditions with weekend boats crossing the channel in the middle kicking up big wakes to go along with the rest of it. I have gotten use to taking the ski where i want and not caring about depth or channels. However...….the wife hates the ski and will not ride on it. So the Glastron was purchased early in the season as the one she will ride in. Its bigger than the ski so I figured no big deal. It will be a better ride and more fun. How WRONG I was! Luckily I have a depth finder and I still have gotten in trouble and I still managed to take a chunk out of the prop. Its plenty fast once on plane in smooth water. but on rough water its very hard to control. I generally run north to south as taking this thing east to west when the current is either north to south or the wind is blowing from north or south makes this thing a handful. She doesn't mind, and she gets to ride. But I would rather be on the ski in the same conditions

So I know I bought the wrong boat. And I only want to stay in the bay. I do not want to go through the Manasquan inlet or through the Raritan inlet by the lighthouse by LBI. I am happy to stay in the bay at all times. Even venturing through the PP canal was not fun in this boat. SO its got to go. I briefly looked at a Robalo R160 and an Edgewater, even a BW. All with CC. But I do not want a fishing boat as again, I have no plans to fish. The wife wants to hang out, sight see and use the sand bar as a beach. having another outboard is just another stressful boat and to keep looking at water depths and staying in every channel and playing follow the leader is not my cup of tea. So it has to be a jet boat. I have researched and figured that 19 feet is what I want and am comfortable with price and size wise. It has to be an SX190 or maybe a 195. Not sure of new or used yet. But 19 feet is fine for me. I know all the advantages and dis advantages. I will go with Cobra jet steering

I really want to make sure that any NJ people that ride the Raritan in this area are happy with the way these boast handle a little rough water, and can be taken almost anywhere on the bay. I know there still should be about 3 feet at any time under you for total safety of the jet. But too many times I have been in 2 feet with the Glastron which only weighs 1400 pounds (with motor but empty) and the prop skims the bottom. And combined with light weight, no freeboard to speak of, huge bow rise, poor rough water handling, that is out and a jet it in. It seems like a 190 can handle a little chop better than a skinny and lightweight 16 foot glastron. But I want to be more certain that a 19 is up to the small task on the bay. It does weigh 1,000 pounds more than my boat. I know people have said an SX190 is a light weight. But compared to what I have now, 3 feet longer in length, a foot wider, and 1,000 pounds heavier has to make a difference

Everything else I am totally sold on. She will love it. But it has to make me decide to take this out over the ski when I go out alone. Thanks in advance

 

[Jeel]

The bay you are referring to is the Barnegat Bay ...ive been boating on it for the last 12 years out of Toms River...i had a 21 foot Yamaha and now i have a 24 ft AR240 ...you can go pretty much anywhere you want with these jet boats...since superstorm sandy the bay has changed a little as where it is shallower on the east side of the bay near the Ortley Beach area then it was before sandy...i dont follow any of the channel markers and can ride the shallow water all the way from the rt37 bridge to Tices...ive been thru the point pleasant canal a few times and no matter what you are in it is a hairy ride due to the current ..my 24 footer handles the rough weekend chop better than my 21 footer did but it still is not a deep V bottom boat ..you cant have both worlds , either a smoother riding deep V and you are limited to the channels or the jet boat where you can go anywhere ...i even zip thru the little drag strip by the island house near Chadwick...for me id own nothing but a jet boat for that area but thats my preference

 

[kkleen77]

Hi Jeel, thank you! I have a house in Ortley and I currently dock my glastron at Docksider. I dock the ski over at Pier 1 on the mainland side. The water is always rough on the mainland side until about halfway across the bridge where everyone comes through the channel. I do not like the mainland side on the ski, and I will not even take the 16 footer over there. If you are coming off the toms river (mainland) side with the 240, I am sure you know how choppy that is. I have been out in the 16 footer a few times on the west side of Sedge Island where the house on that island is. The glastron does not take that area very well. Its really choppy there until you get closer to the Mantoloking bridge. The ski handles that better than the glastron does. I did take the glastron on the east side where you are speaking of, between there and chadwick island and I almost got stuck last week. Not a good idea. Another reason for a jet. And as well over by the lavalette yacht club, where one wrong move, it seems you go from 6 feet to next to nothing and a sand bar. I agree that the jet is the only way to go especially on the east side of the bay. I know the 190 cant give the ride of the 210, the 240, or a deep V. But I assume it has to be better than this glastron. I do not mind a little bounce and banging. The wife doesn't even mind the horrible ride of the glastron. So to gain just a little better ride with a 190 and to be able to take it almost anywhere in the bay, it really is a no brain-er.

Also, do you have a jet dock or a lift to keep it out of the water? Another reason for me in the 190 is a little cheaper and a jet dock is $10K. I need to keep it out of the water when I am not down during the week. I have priced out all the jet docks and they all seem to be between 10-12K.

 

[Jeel]

I have a lift at my house , pictured in my profile on left..i paid $5500 for the lift in 2007...ive never bottomed out anywhere unless i was trying to beach it somewhere along the coast along island beach state park just south of seaside park ..im sure the 190 would be fine...look around during the winter for someone to install a lift in their off season , you might even find a good condition used one...my neighbors son has a bulkhead and lift company and has done a bunch of bulkheads and lifts in our neighborhood ...ill pm you his info this weekend when im back at the house

 

[Farmdog267]

I have a 2018 190 and have had it out in barnegat bay and down in shark river and out in the ocean for some in shore fishing. The 190 rides well but will get moved around by the larger boats driving faster to impress the people on shore. I came from a four winns horizon 170 and there is definitely an improvement due to the size differences.

 

[kkleen77]

Thanks so much farmdog267. I try to stay away from big boys due to the size of my boat now and riding a ski. I know the 190 is smaller or "small-ish" compared to a 210 or 240. But still bigger than a 16 or 17 foot bowrider. Your four wins was only a little bigger than my glastron. So knowing its a big improvement is a big help. thanks