Leaving the jets behind

[MidnightRider]

There was things I really loved about my 212X and some things not so much.... so yea just like any boat. But ultimately we decided to go back to a prop. Definitely things I'm going to miss about the jet boat but been toying with the idea of moving back to a prop ever since we moved to the lake in spring of 2020.
Sold the 212X last Friday and pulled the trigger on a 2013 Malibu VTX. Went with the VTX for the Diamond hull as its really the gold standard of crossover hulls and although our family does love all the wake sports, we still do quite a bit of skiing. Anyway, this forum has really enhanced my jet boat ownership experience over the last 4 years and I will probably stick around here as its a fun place to hang out. Really is the best forum I've ever been apart of by a mile.

Some pics of the new boat

 

[octavio3311]

Congrats on the BU.

 

[AZMark]

That doesn’t look like an 8 year old boat at all

 

[MidnightRider]

That doesn’t look like an 8 year old boat at all

Yeah its in near perfect condition - was on Lake Tahoe and taken really well care of. Also, only 210 hrs.

 

[Neutron]

Nice boat, congrats!

 

[InmyElement]

Congrats! Beautiful boat!

 

[swatski]

That is a gorgeous boat! Congratulations!

We were so, so close to a similar decision last year, but decided to stay put with the Yammie. For me it was probably one of those emotional decisions, lol, too much sweat, blood, and money invested in that little boat. And the fact I'm already familiar with the good and the bad.

It's interesting what you are saying about skiing, it seems to have all but disappeared, except some still love it. One of my daughters got hooked a couple of years ago, after she managed to get up (and stay up) on one (competition) ski that's all she wants to do. Hard to find good conditions on our lake, impossible on summer weekends, but I wonder if water skiing will make a big come back at some point.

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[OrangeTJ]

Congrats on the VTX! Very nice boat and will be so awesome for watersports and just all around boating.

 

[MidnightRider]

That is a gorgeous boat! Congratulations!

We were so, so close to a similar decision last year, but decided to stay put with the Yammie. For me it was probably one of those emotional decisions, lol, too much sweat, blood, and money invested in that little boat. And the fact I'm already familiar with the good and the bad.

It's interesting what you are saying about skiing, it seems to have all but disappeared, except some still love it. One of my daughters got hooked a couple of years ago, after she managed to get up (and stay up) on one (competition) ski that's all she wants to do. Hard to find good conditions on our lake, impossible on summer weekends, but I wonder if water skiing will make a big come back at some point.

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Yeah we’ve gotten into surfing the last couple years, everyone loves it and skis kinda got dusty but I would still do my slalom run at the end of the evening. Then this year my daughter and I joined the local ski show club. All of a sudden everyone was digging the skis out of the shed and it’s all my daughter and her friends want to do. She just got her first Ballet ski and had been practicing routines every chance she gets. Surfing is still the only thing my wife wants to do though. Been so fun doing the ski shows with my daughter, good quality time - we even have a daughter dad routine where she is up on my shoulders doing different moves.

 

[Scuba_ref]

Yeah we’ve gotten into surfing the last couple years, everyone loves it and skis kinda got dusty but I would still do my slalom run at the end of the evening. Then this year my daughter and I joined the local ski show club. All of a sudden everyone was digging the skis out of the shed and it’s all my daughter and her friends want to do. She just got her first Ballet ski and had been practicing routines every chance she gets. Surfing is still the only thing my wife wants to do though. Been so fun doing the ski shows with my daughter, good quality time - we even have a daughter dad routine where she is up on my shoulders doing different moves.

WHAT!!!!

 

[MidnightRider]

Here is a news story video on our last show of the season.
At 0:17 seconds in the vid you can see me go by with my daughter on my shoulders doing a "layback" (not a great shot but you can just make us out)

A unique Labor Day show

The Rochester Water Ski Shows began in the middle of the 1950s and have members of all ages and abilities.

www.kaaltv.com

 

[Cleveland Steamer]

I've been looking at wake boats but what keeps me from pulling the trigger is:

- Just about every wake boat I've seen has the wrap around passenger seat. My wife sits next to me and her always facing backwards just wouldn't work.
- Having the jets and NEVER having to worry about water depth is super nice.
- Rear seating.. We spend 1/2 of our time sitting at the back of the boat and a small swim platform just wouldn't cut it.

I think we've decided to add a jetski to our boating activities. This we we can still tube and stuff but can also float and enjoy the rear of the boat while the kids jetski.

 

[haknslash]

I've been looking at wake boats but what keeps me from pulling the trigger is:

- Just about every wake boat I've seen has the wrap around passenger seat. My wife sits next to me and her always facing backwards just wouldn't work.
- Having the jets and NEVER having to worry about water depth is super nice.
- Rear seating.. We spend 1/2 of our time sitting at the back of the boat and a small swim platform just wouldn't cut it.

I think we've decided to add a jetski to our boating activities. This we we can still tube and stuff but can also float and enjoy the rear of the boat while the kids jetski.

Have you looked into the Cobalt R series surf edition boats? While they aren’t technically surf specific boats nor will have the same level of wave as the surf specific wake boats but it would check the boxes for your concerns.

The have a more traditional bow rider interior layout than the J seating of a wake boat. It’s more inline with say a Yamaha’s layout in regards to passengers being able to face forward.

Im not sure the draft on them compared to a wake boat or even a Yamaha jet boat. They have a forward facing outdrive that may hang lower in the water than a wake boat but you’ll need to check on that.Yamaha recommends a minimum of 3’ and while technically you can take them much shorter, you do risk bottoming out the rudder, hull and other hard parts of beaching. Yoalso I also wouldn’t want to be running the jet boat engines in less than 3’ either because it’s not good for the impeller and pump to suck up stuff. Most wake boats are 3’ draft or near the same as a jet boat.

The rear transom area on the Cobalt is more lounge friendly that most wake boats unless you get the ones that have flip up seating like a few do offer. We still lounge on the back but sit on the sun pad. It’s honestly not much different than the Yamaha in terms of usability but I get some people want that low tiered transom. The Cobalt has that and also has a sweet wife integrated flip down step in the swim platform.

 

[suke]

Have you looked into the Cobalt R series surf edition boats? While they aren’t technically surf specific boats nor will have the same level of wave as the surf specific wake boats but it would check the boxes for your concerns.

The have a more traditional bow rider interior layout than the J seating of a wake boat. It’s more inline with say a Yamaha’s layout in regards to passengers being able to face forward.

Im not sure the draft on them compared to a wake boat or even a Yamaha jet boat. They have a forward facing outdrive that may hang lower in the water than a wake boat but you’ll need to check on that.Yamaha recommends a minimum of 3’ and while technically you can take them much shorter, you do risk bottoming out the rudder, hull and other hard parts of beaching. Yoalso I also wouldn’t want to be running the jet boat engines in less than 3’ either because it’s not good for the impeller and pump to suck up stuff. Most wake boats are 3’ draft or near the same as a jet boat.

The rear transom area on the Cobalt is more lounge friendly that most wake boats unless you get the ones that have flip up seating like a few do offer. We still lounge on the back but sit on the sun pad. It’s honestly not much different than the Yamaha in terms of usability but I get some people want that low tiered transom. The Cobalt has that and also has a sweet wife integrated flip down step in the swim platform.

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The draft is horrendous. I looked into them as being a means to get a better surf wave, but give me better salt-ability. The draft with the drive up or down was 37". If you're in a super deep lake and never go near a beach then you're probably good. Also stupid expensive for what you get. Newer Malibu's have similar pop up seating in the back, so do Nautique's. If money isn't an option then there are definitely options that have an equivalent or better swim platform type area than the yammi's do.

 

[haknslash]

I hear ya and agree I’d rather recommend an actual v drive wake boat versus a bow rider with a surf system and forward drive. After looking at the specs it does show their draft with the drive down is 37” and with the drive up is 21” for the R5. Yamaha 252 draft is 19” but still requires 36” recommended depth to operate the engines. Just giving him some other options he might not be aware of outside of pure wake boats. Speaking of Nautique, I dig their new S21 and S23 To replace the SAN210 amd 230 series. Sharp boats if not going for a G.

 

[2kwik4u]

We were in a similar conundrum. We RARELY need the shallow water capability of a jet. Most of our lakes are 3ft+ deep within 6ft of shore, and we RARELY get near shore anyway. Most often we're out in the middle of a cove swimming if we aren't driving around. We like the idea of surfing, or otherwise having some water sports that are less intense when crashing. I hate tubing, and the boys aren't a big fan either, but the wife likes it. I think the whole crew would enjoy surfing, but it's hard to tell without doing it, and making the jump to a dedicated wake boat without knowing is rough.

THEN.......We went out in the gulf this summer, and everything changed. I'm not sure I would want a dedicated wake boat for somewhere like that. Not sure what the flush procedure is for all that ballast and the engines and heat exchangers, but I can't imagine it's easy. Combined with the relative simplicity of the jet driveline, I suspect we'll be jet boaters for the foreseeable future, and if we decide we want to surf, we'll just gear up and give it a whirl.

In another thought.....I've often wondered if you could put a standup ski on the back of an AR240 with some kind of mount or something. Seems like a stand up ski would be a ton of fun, but keeping track of two vehicles on the water at the same time feels like a lot of work. Anyone that has multiple water toys out at the same time have any comments?

 

[AZMark]

We were in a similar conundrum. We RARELY need the shallow water capability of a jet. Most of our lakes are 3ft+ deep within 6ft of shore, and we RARELY get near shore anyway. Most often we're out in the middle of a cove swimming if we aren't driving around. We like the idea of surfing, or otherwise having some water sports that are less intense when crashing. I hate tubing, and the boys aren't a big fan either, but the wife likes it. I think the whole crew would enjoy surfing, but it's hard to tell without doing it, and making the jump to a dedicated wake boat without knowing is rough.

THEN.......We went out in the gulf this summer, and everything changed. I'm not sure I would want a dedicated wake boat for somewhere like that. Not sure what the flush procedure is for all that ballast and the engines and heat exchangers, but I can't imagine it's easy. Combined with the relative simplicity of the jet driveline, I suspect we'll be jet boaters for the foreseeable future, and if we decide we want to surf, we'll just gear up and give it a whirl.

In another thought.....I've often wondered if you could put a standup ski on the back of an AR240 with some kind of mount or something. Seems like a stand up ski would be a ton of fun, but keeping track of two vehicles on the water at the same time feels like a lot of work. Anyone that has multiple water toys out at the same time have any comments?

I’ve wondered the same about the stand up on the back. I have the old 90s ones and they’re only 250-300lbs so weight capacity shouldn’t be a problem if you spread it out. It probably wouldn’t be something you’d want to cruise around with all day but just to get to a destination seems doable. My bigger issue is I don’t/won’t have a pickup and I’ve been reluctant to buy a custom trailer that can hold both.