Martin County Florida users

[pontz71]

We are new to this site but everything I have seen and read tells me this is an amazing community of people. We live in Martin County, Florida on the intercoastal. We would primarily be boating on the St. Lucie River and the intercoastal. The water around is is pretty shallow in many cases thus we feel Yamaha offers a great choice since the draft is minimal. We are looking at a new purchase of a Yamaha center console. I am just curious if there are any Martin County boaters here or if there are Florida or other area boaters that boat in similar conditions? Our one concern is about sucking up sea grass or debris due to boating in shallow water. The waterways here are primarily soft sandy bottoms. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mesa50]

Sucking up sand is a major problem for Yamaha jet boats. Idling in less than 3 feet of water can clog cooling passages, and create an overheating problem. They have a very shallow draft, but driving in 2 feet of water is waaaay different than just floating without the engines on. Most of us shut our boats off in 4 feet of water or so, and coast up to the shoreline when beaching, and then push back out into deeper water before starting the engines. Sea grass and sea weed can slow you down, and rob power, but rarely will actually stop you, and the clean out ports are excellent for remedying this. I’ve put 50 hours on my Yamaha since February, and it has been trouble free. I’ve sucked up a small piece of wood that was the size of an average piece of yard mulch. I had to shut down, and dig it out of the impeller, but it was fine after that. I also sucked up a tube tow rope and it was completely my fault. I always coil it up on the swim platform and watch the rope while switching riders, but I left it up to the riders once, and into the impeller it went. I had to limp in on one engine, but was able to cut the rope out easily once it was on the trailer. That being said, we absolutely love our Yamaha. I like it better than my previous Sea Ray. Have a conversation with your local boat dealership, and tell them how you plan on using your boat. Hopefully they will guide you in the right direction. A flat bottom boat may work better for your area, but most of us who have Yamaha jet boats, love them.

 

[fatboyroy]

Invest in a good chart plotter, ICW signs are very easy to miss and you can Hit bottom In one wrong turn. I’m north of you Indian river county but I’m assuming it’s about the same waterways, center (ICW) deep and everywhere else is shallow.

edit: my only concern on seaweed is when I’m at the inlet heading out or coming in...when off shore or in the bay when I see lots of seaweed floating towards me (sometimes it’s too much to avoid) I will just shut motors and wait for the current to push it pass me. I’ve encountered seaweed at the inlet and have to push through it few times a bit nerve wrecking but so far so good. Just pay attention and try to spot it early.

 

[pontz71]

Sucking up sand is a major problem for Yamaha jet boats. Idling in less than 3 feet of water can clog cooling passages, and create an overheating problem. They have a very shallow draft, but driving in 2 feet of water is waaaay different than just floating without the engines on. Most of us shut our boats off in 4 feet of water or so, and coast up to the shoreline when beaching, and then push back out into deeper water before starting the engines. Sea grass and sea weed can slow you down, and rob power, but rarely will actually stop you, and the clean out ports are excellent for remedying this. I’ve put 50 hours on my Yamaha since February, and it has been trouble free. I’ve sucked up a small piece of wood that was the size of an average piece of yard mulch. I had to shut down, and dig it out of the impeller, but it was fine after that. I also sucked up a tube tow rope and it was completely my fault. I always coil it up on the swim platform and watch the rope while switching riders, but I left it up to the riders once, and into the impeller it went. I had to limp in on one engine, but was able to cut the rope out easily once it was on the trailer. That being said, we absolutely love our Yamaha. I like it better than my previous Sea Ray. Have a conversation with your local boat dealership, and tell them how you plan on using your boat. Hopefully they will guide you in the right direction. A flat bottom boat may work better for your area, but most of us who have Yamaha jet boats, love them.

Thank you for your response. I appreciate all the information.

 

[Julian]

We have members in your area....well...pretty much in most areas in the US! Check out the member map to see who is near you (keep in mind, the Member map updates a lot and doesn't show EVERY member as it can't handle our capacity - but it does show recently active members - it shows your location based on your IP address - so if you use a VPN - it won't show you in the right place). Also, if you use the Dark Style, the text in the member map pop up for a marker is hard to read--point at it and you will see the text (or just switch styles while using the map and switch back when done).

 

[pontz71]

Invest in a good chart plotter, ICW signs are very easy to miss and you can Hit bottom In one wrong turn. I’m north of you Indian river county but I’m assuming it’s about the same waterways, center (ICW) deep and everywhere else is shallow.

Thank you. I am starting to wonder if it is not the right purchase. I guess my research will continue.

Sucking up sand is a major problem for Yamaha jet boats. Idling in less than 3 feet of water can clog cooling passages, and create an overheating problem. They have a very shallow draft, but driving in 2 feet of water is waaaay different than just floating without the engines on. Most of us shut our boats off in 4 feet of water or so, and coast up to the shoreline when beaching, and then push back out into deeper water before starting the engines. Sea grass and sea weed can slow you down, and rob power, but rarely will actually stop you, and the clean out ports are excellent for remedying this. I’ve put 50 hours on my Yamaha since February, and it has been trouble free. I’ve sucked up a small piece of wood that was the size of an average piece of yard mulch. I had to shut down, and dig it out of the impeller, but it was fine after that. I also sucked up a tube tow rope and it was completely my fault. I always coil it up on the swim platform and watch the rope while switching riders, but I left it up to the riders once, and into the impeller it went. I had to limp in on one engine, but was able to cut the rope out easily once it was on the trailer. That being said, we absolutely love our Yamaha. I like it better than my previous Sea Ray. Have a conversation with your local boat dealership, and tell them how you plan on using your boat. Hopefully they will guide you in the right direction. A flat bottom boat may work better for your area, but most of us who have Yamaha jet boats, love them.

Thank you for the information I appreciate it.

 

[pontz71]

We have members in your area....well...pretty much in most areas in the US! Check out the member map to see who is near you (keep in mind, the Member map updates a lot and doesn't show EVERY member as it can't handle our capacity - but it does show recently active members - it shows your location based on your IP address - so if you use a VPN - it won't show you in the right place). Also, if you use the Dark Style, the text in the member map pop up for a marker is hard to read--point at it and you will see the text (or just switch styles while using the map and switch back when done).

View attachment 156280

Thank you!

 

[WREKS]

We also frequent the St Lucie River and the Intercoastal. @Mesa50 and @fatboyroy are spot on. We found out the depth alarm was not working when we went aground at Sewalls Point. It was the same day that the 'Evergiven' did. Even that was a very pleasant afternoon as we waited for the tide to rise.

 

[pontz71]

We also frequent the St Lucie River and the Intercoastal. @Mesa50 and @fatboyroy are spot on. We found out the depth alarm was not working when we went aground at Sewalls Point. It was the same day that the 'Evergiven' did. Even that was a very pleasant afternoon as we waited for the tide to rise.

Hi there. So even though waters around here are shallow and sandy, would you still recommend a jet boat?

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Welcome.

You may find this recent thread useful.

Jim

 

[fatboyroy]

@pontz71 jetboat or not if you run in shallow water it will take sand in the intake or you can damage prop in an outboard motor. When you have good chartplotter, you can have 50 ft boat with 4 ft draft and still navigate ICW. Jetboat and outboard works for me in the ICW, its a matter of preference, I love the yamaha swim platform, price and ease of maintenance.

 

[dbfl]

N. Indian River here for the most part and 100% agree, use a chartplotter and keep it updated. Mine's the Navionics app on the smart phone.
I watch it, and particularly closely when the ICW channel gets narrow. So far, that plus depth alarm at 3 ft. has completely kept me out of trouble. Shading for 6 ft+ depth in Navionics helps see when there's a larger area of deep-enough water to explore. When going somewhere in a new area, I also use auto-routing.

 

[pontz71]

@pontz71 jetboat or not if you run in shallow water it will take sand in the intake or you can damage prop in an outboard motor. When you have good chartplotter, you can have 50 ft boat with 4 ft draft and still navigate ICW. Jetboat and outboard works for me in the ICW, its a matter of preference, I love the yamaha swim platform, price and ease of maintenance.

Thank you for your insight.

 

[pontz71]

N. Indian River here for the most part and 100% agree, use a chartplotter and keep it updated. Mine's the Navionics app on the smart phone.
I watch it, and particularly closely when the ICW channel gets narrow. So far, that plus depth alarm at 3 ft. has completely kept me out of trouble. Shading for 6 ft+ depth in Navionics helps see when there's a larger area of deep-enough water to explore. When going somewhere in a new area, I also use auto-routing.

Thank you for your insight.

 

[Stang7tl]

I boat in Martin I have no issues