Buying a Boat This Week...What Do I need?

[ripler]

Try Overtons.com

 

[mike220022]

What else am I missing?

Lube for the purchase! lol

 

[tdonoughue]

Flares? Fire extinguisher (in fact, my boat came with 2 dry chemical, but I bought a CO2 in case of engine fire)?

Eventually you will want 25' dock lines so you can do springing lines. Might not need them immediately. You got the double braided ones, so that is good.

I have a full toolbox on mine. Spent too much time hauling tools to the boat, plus it comes in handy on the water. Hex keys, screw drivers, pliers, cheap socket set, cheap set of combo wrenches, duct tape, WD40. Extra band clamps, fuses and electrical connectors; screws, bolts and nuts.

 

[msavold]

Definitely wait on the SeaDek - Will/JetboatPilot often has a group buy/sale in the off season.
I boat in brackish and salt water so I'm obsessive about it but you may also still want to consider some more specialized lubricant spray - I use Boeshield T-9, there's another one (by CRC, I think?) that some others here use. Adds a protective coating to things.
For the life jackets - especially the 'spare' ones - have you looked at places like Wal-Mart locally? Other places are defender.com, iboats.com, and even West Marine. The latter will supposedly price match and they often have decent end of season sales...
Yeah, we ARE good at spending your money!

 

[djtech2k]

I have a managed to find/order most things on my list. For life jackets, I could not get them before Sept 1st, so I went ahead and ordered them from Walmart. I just got a few since I have a few for kayaking already. I will supplement as I move forward.

I definitely want SeaDek but I guess I can wait for the better price.

I am great with technology but not with mechanics. I really need to get a grasp on exactly what I need to keep an eye on or do for the boat. I do not have a marina or yamaha mechanic close, so I will need to plan maintenance around those trips unless it is super easy to do at home. I mention this because you mentioned lubricant and such. I have no plan to be in salty water, but I want to make sure things are take care of, so it would be good to have a checklist of things I need to do to this boat, how to do it, and when to do it.

 

[tkeru408]

I definitely want SeaDek but I guess I can wait for the better price.

I think I saw on here that the JetBoatPilot group buy for SeaDek is going to be next month so you don't have to wait long!

 

[djtech2k]

That's great. I can definitely wait until next month.

On the dual battery setup topic, has anyone seen dual batteries setup with 2 switches?

 

[tdonoughue]

I have seen 1, 2, and 3 switches. Two would be the least useful...

One switch is usually an ACR (my present setup) or an A, B, A+B switch.

Three switch is usually a DSVR (one for each battery, and a combine switch).

Two switch is just an on/off for 2 batteries (house and start) and has no ability to combine them.

 

[djtech2k]

That's kind of what I figured. Like I said, the switches are labeled port engine and starboard engine. I could not figure out how that would make sense. When I pickup the boat and have time to dig into it more, I will look at the wiring to see how it is hooked up.

 

[djtech2k]

Ok, so I have been searching and reading all sorts of posts about maintenance for my boat, 2012 SX210. I have seen a few different thing so I want to simplify and consolidate the things I need to know about. Here are a few questions:

- Change oil/plugs every XX amount of hours?
- About how much does a typical marina/dealer charge for this service?
- About how much do the needed parts cost if you do it yourself? I know you need oil, filters, and a pump. Anything else?
- I know you need to winterize the boat before it gets too cold. About how much would you expect to pay for that?
- How hard is it to winterize yourself?
- What needs to be done in the Spring, or "de-winterizing" the boat?

I have seen a few posts about lubricating different parts but I do not have that consolidated and/or I do not know if it applies to my boat. The owner of my boat has put about 30hrs on it in 2 years. I do not think it has been in the water this year yet. I think he "de-winterized" it but need to confirm. I do not think it has had the oil changed as far as I know.

 

[djtech2k]

Out of curiosity, I just called the Yamaha shop at a Lake that I will use the boat on. For oil change, plug change, and general lube/inspection, they said it would be $380. They also said that that same service with a winterization added on would be $460.

That seems pretty steep to me, but then again I would not have a clue as to what it costs. Unfortunately, I do not think there is a yamaha shop for boats in under 2 hours from me, so my options are limited. There are other shops in a similar distance, but of course its further.

 

[msavold]

Thank you for posting that! One of the "arguments" I used with my wife to justify a jet boat is the ease of maintenance and relatively low costs. Except for the first one after (used) purchase where I wanted a dealer who knew the boats to go over it I've done ALL the maintenance so far and am always stunned at how easy it is to do.

First of all, have a look at this from the FAQ pages if you haven't done so already: https://jetboaters.net/faq/#faq-28

As far as parts, you need oil and filter (Watercraft Oil Change Kit) per engine for a whopping $24, four spark plugs (per engine) for around $5 each (I change per the owner's manual - once a season but last year I really felt stupid taking out plugs that looked brand new and this year will probably be even more so thanks to COVID so I might let this set go two years). You'll need a pump to extract the oil but that's a one-time purchase.
That's it for the annual maintenance. Do the math and you'll see why most of us do it ourselves!
"Winterizing" is even more of a non-issue with these boats - it boils down to buying some engine fogging spray.
BTW, it's overkill where we live but I sleep better by spending the $ I save on indoor winter storage! Not as much worry about frost or snow damage - and no shrink wrap cost.

 

[Jeel]

Bring a knife for when you run over the tow rope ,,

 

[djtech2k]

So I watched the winterization from the FAQ. The first video was pretty simple at just blowing out the water and fogging the engines. The 2nd video was more complex with adding the anti-freeze and stuff like that. So my obvious question is which is the appropriate one to follow?

Where I live does get cold in the winter, but I am not in the arctic circle by any means. I would love to store the boat indoors, but right now I just don't think that's possible. Of course I have the cover for it and will keep it on.

What is the interval at which you do the oil change or plugs? I have not found a consistent number of hours to use as a guide.

So I assume that you are saying that if the engine sucks up the rope, you have to cut it and pull it out. There definitely seems to be a lot of horror stories about sucking up the tow rope. Is there a way to avoid it? I saw a tow rope that had a float of some sort on it. Does anything like that help?

 

[tdonoughue]

On the oil change interval: unless you are running your boat like crazy, probably once a year. I never hit the 50 hours or whatever it is supposed to be in a year...

To avoid sucking up a rope: don't run over it. Also, designate a person to watch it that it doesn't go under the boat.

 

[djtech2k]

Thanks.

I have a simple question about rope like the dock lines. I bought some 1/2inch dock lines for the boat but after I have gotten them, I am a little concerned that they are too thick to wrap around the cleats on the boat. What size rope do you guys use and is the 1/2inch too thick?

 

[tdonoughue]

3/8" should be good for up to a 27' boat. Supposed to be 1/8" for each 9' of boat. Half inch is really big...

 

[Julian]

That is a strange battery set up. Never seen one set up that way.

 

[djtech2k]

3/8" should be good for up to a 27' boat. Supposed to be 1/8" for each 9' of boat. Half inch is really big...

Ok, I did not know that measurement. I guess I will look for some 3/8" for dock lines then. Like I said, the 3/8 that I got almost look too thick to wrap around the cleat. I am going off memory though because the boat is not close enough for me to go look at right now.

 

[djtech2k]

Do you guys use anything specific for an onboard rope for towing (hopefully never need it)? I ordered/received a 25' 1/2" rope but now that I know 1/2 is probably too thick to use on my cleats, I ordered a new 3/8" 25'. I was wondering if the 25' 1/2" rope would be good for towing or it its not a good idea to use that one.

I was going to ask more about winterization, but I see from the many posts on the forums that that is a highly-debated topic. The whole anti-freeze and purging the engine of water is my main concern.

In my earlier post I posted the prices quoted by a Yamaha dealer for oil change, plugs, and winterization. Do you guys find those prices to be normal or high/low? Just curious as to what people actually pay to get this kind of work done, if they do not do it themselves.