Jet Boats in Salt Water are a Mistake

[ZippyBoater]

ZippyBoater

This comes as news to me, I had no idea you needed a special permit for the 275

With a 9 foot beam on the 275 it needs permits.

Yamaha 275SD Review - boats.com

The 2019 Yamaha 275SD sportboats offer dayboat luxury with wide beams that are roomy, powerful and packed with clever innovation.

www.boats.com

 

[Rod5]

No one has brought up floating sea weed is a huge problem / pain in the ass plugging up the intakes. There are a few tricks to prolonging time between stops and tricks to clear them out like the reverse maneuvers. But a prop boat has big advantages over jet boat if you will be in an area prone to that brown floating crap.

 

[RACCAP]

With a 9 foot beam on the 275 it needs permits.

Yamaha 275SD Review - boats.com

The 2019 Yamaha 275SD sportboats offer dayboat luxury with wide beams that are roomy, powerful and packed with clever innovation.

www.boats.com

Is it difficult to tow the 275?

I had plans to tow it to Ft Lauderdale for the Bimini run

To the Keys

and to Destin

 

[RACCAP]

No one has brought up floating sea weed is a huge problem / pain in the ass plugging up the intakes. There are a few tricks to prolonging time between stops and tricks to clear them out like the reverse maneuvers. But a prop boat has big advantages over jet boat if you will be in an area prone to that brown floating crap.

I am new to the area

What are you talking about?

 

[Drift Away]

NO, I can not leave it where I live

That's another challenge, there is very limited high and dry storage locally

Check out Stamas here in tarpon. They have big ass boats here and they have a ramp so you really never need to hit the street.

 

[ZippyBoater]

Is it difficult to tow the 275?

I had plans to tow it to Ft Lauderdale for the Bimini run

To the Keys

and to Destin

If you have a heavy duty truck and the $ for the permit, it shouldn't be too hard to pull. It is a heavy boat that will task a light duty truck's transmission and its towing capacity. I don't know how the hard top will fair towing at highway speeds.

 

[OperationROL]

ZippyBoater

This comes as news to me, I had no idea you needed a special permit for the 275

The permit thing is not a big deal. From state to state it ranges from $125/yr. to $450/yr. One time permits are obviously cheaper. Most states you can get it online in a few minutes. This shouldn't deter you. Besides, who's checking the difference between 8.5 and 9.0 feet. I doubt you're getting pulled over for 6 in difference that most can't tell without prior knowledge.

 

[Dean P]

Sorry, not trying to be nosy, but, What's your experience with boating? Have you ever trailered before?

Weeds are a problem for all jet boats. They get sucked up and sometimes get stuck in our props. Our area encounters weeds at different times of the year.

 

[Rod5]

Sargassum or something like that is a light brown floating sea grass that gets pretty bad all around the keys at least the time I was there. When you’re partially plugged up it kills your mileage and your fuel burn rate goes through the roof making you find a place refuel when you other wise should have made it on long runs.

 

[d_coyne1984]

If you have a heavy duty truck and the $ for the permit, it shouldn't be too hard to pull. It is a heavy boat that will task a light duty truck's transmission and its towing capacity. I don't know how the hard top will fair towing at highway speeds.

I just checked the weight on the 275 and it's only 5,304 lb (+trailer weight). Any half ton with a max tow package should be able to handle that as long as the tongue weight isn't too bad. I've never towed anything that long before so I have no idea what that length does to tongue weight, but my guess is that it doesn't help. A 3/4 ton would definitely be the way to go given the option though. 4x4 would be a must for me in that situation, but I think it would be nuts to buy a truck without 4x4 capability. My boat trailer combo is about 5,700 lb. My half ton Ram handles it just fine and I don't even have the low range towing gear sets.

I believe you are correct on the permits. In my area I believe anything with more than a 8'6" beam requires permits. I definitely wouldn't want to be towing that beast around very often though. Any idea what those permits cost?

 

[d_coyne1984]

Personally, I would not want something that big unless I could keep it on lift with access to a hose for wash downs because pulling that beast out regularly would be a total pain in the ass! I think if you are getting up into that too-big-to-tow boat class that you might as well go north of 30' to make it worth it and just pay somebody else to perform the maintenance, otherwise get something like the 24'ers that you can easily move around on your own to take care of it. My $.02.

Since it doesn't sound like you have property you can keep it at on the water, have you ever considered a boat club (I am assuming you guys have them down there)? If I didn't have a family lake property to keep my boat at, I think that is the way I would go. The one's by me cost about the same as my boat payments, but you don't have any maintenance or storage issues to deal with.

 

[Jon Burns]

Is there a better boat for $125,000

If you have a heavy duty truck and the $ for the permit, it shouldn't be too hard to pull. It is a heavy boat that will task a light duty truck's transmission and its towing capacity. I don't know how the hard top will fair towing at highway speeds.

The permit thing is not a big deal. From state to state it ranges from $125/yr. to $450/yr. One time permits are obviously cheaper. Most states you can get it online in a few minutes. This shouldn't deter you. Besides, who's checking the difference between 8.5 and 9.0 feet. I doubt you're getting pulled over for 6 in difference that most can't tell without prior knowledge.

In my opinion there are much better boats for 125K. Look at Cobalt. A 2019 R7 goes for around that price.

Most newer half ton trucks have decent tow capacities. Good 'ol Capt. Steve from boattest.com did a review, and had a test weight of 6507#. If you add weight to fill the tank and add a trailer, you're probably looking at 8300ish#. Obviously, a F250/2500 would tow it better but it can be done with a half ton.

Over width permits in Florida are a non-issue. As some have said, no one is really checking the 6 inch difference. But if you want to be legal, up to 10ft wide annual permit is 20 bucks.

Schedule of fees

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Docking a boat IN salt water here in Pinellas county where the water gets in the high 80s in the summer is NOT a good idea unless you have it removed and cleaned every 3 or 4 weeks. Especially a jet boat as the barnacles love to start growing in the intake tunnels and the pump recess areas. When my children were young and still in school in their late 30's and early 40's now so it's been a while. We camped on shell key for 2 weeks every June when school got out for the summer. After only 2 weeks I had barnacle growing in all the recess areas. Jet boats in salt water are just fine but leaving them in salt water is not a good idea in my opinion unless you have regular maintenance and you learn to flush the engines with shutoff valves installed. Next issue is the galvanic corrosion problem so lots of ZINC anodes would be necessary. Weeds are no big deal, number one is to avoid them most float along the channel edges, and the reverse move works fine if you do get them in the pump they usually collect on the intake grate and come off easily when you perform the reverse move. No real difference than having to stop a prop boat to do the same thing. probably just a bit more often if you don't avoid those weed islands gathering in the channels. they collect and are usually very visible.

 

[RACCAP]

Sorry, not trying to be nosy, but, What's your experience with boating? Have you ever trailered before?

Weeds are a problem for all jet boats. They get sucked up and sometimes get stuck in our props. Our area encounters weeds at different times of the year.

Never trailered a boat before

Never had a boat in salt water before

20 years ago bought my first and only boat kept it for 4 years
325 Carver twin screw

 

[RACCAP]

Docking a boat IN salt water here in Pinellas county where the water gets in the high 80s in the summer is NOT a good idea unless you have it removed and cleaned every 3 or 4 weeks. Especially a jet boat as the barnacles love to start growing in the intake tunnels and the pump recess areas. When my children were young and still in school in their late 30's and early 40's now so it's been a while. We camped on shell key for 2 weeks every June when school got out for the summer. After only 2 weeks I had barnacle growing in all the recess areas. Jet boats in salt water are just fine but leaving them in salt water is not a good idea in my opinion unless you have regular maintenance and you learn to flush the engines with shutoff valves installed. Next issue is the galvanic corrosion problem so lots of ZINC anodes would be necessary. Weeds are no big deal, number one is to avoid them most float along the channel edges, and the reverse move works fine if you do get them in the pump they usually collect on the intake grate and come off easily when you perform the reverse move. No real difference than having to stop a prop boat to do the same thing. probably just a bit more often if you don't avoid those weed islands gathering in the channels. they collect and are usually very visible.

The yamaha 275 has clean outs from inside the boat

 

[RACCAP]

If you have a heavy duty truck and the $ for the permit, it shouldn't be too hard to pull. It is a heavy boat that will task a light duty truck's transmission and its towing capacity. I don't know how the hard top will fair towing at highway speeds.

I don't want to buy a truck

Was hoping to get by with a Mercedes Benz GLS 450, 7700 tow capable

 

[RACCAP]

I just checked the weight on the 275 and it's only 5,304 lb (+trailer weight). Any half ton with a max tow package should be able to handle that as long as the tongue weight isn't too bad. I've never towed anything that long before so I have no idea what that length does to tongue weight, but my guess is that it doesn't help. A 3/4 ton would definitely be the way to go given the option though. 4x4 would be a must for me in that situation, but I think it would be nuts to buy a truck without 4x4 capability. My boat trailer combo is about 5,700 lb. My half ton Ram handles it just fine and I don't even have the low range towing gear sets.

I believe you are correct on the permits. In my area I believe anything with more than a 8'6" beam requires permits. I definitely wouldn't want to be towing that beast around very often though. Any idea what those permits cost?

I don't want to buy a truck

Was hoping to get by with a Mercedes Benz GLS 450,

7700 lb tow capable

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Yes they have clean out plugs, all Yamaha jet boats do but once you have to deal with those a few times just for weeds you will learn to appreciate the reverse move. Good luck with your decision, based on your lack of experience with jet boats as well as salt water boating towing etc I would respectfully suggest going with a 24 foot boat and dry docking it.

 

[Beachbummer]

The place with a lift sounds perfect. You can build/borrow a floating platform to clean outside on the "away" side to clean, or use a long brush.

Being able to take the boat out of the water when not in use is huge for hull cleanliness and to prevent rust in the driveline.

 

[djetok]

The permit thing is not a big deal. From state to state it ranges from $125/yr. to $450/yr. One time permits are obviously cheaper. Most states you can get it online in a few minutes. This shouldn't deter you. Besides, who's checking the difference between 8.5 and 9.0 feet. I doubt you're getting pulled over for 6 in difference that most can't tell without prior knowledge.

The permit company is who I always use on my big trucks. They navigate the state websites way better than I do .