Melbourne Florida ICW

[d1mbu1b]

Hello all and thank you for letting me participate on your forum.

I am entering the jet boat arena as a frustrated sterndrive owner forced to become a sterndrive mechanic.

Since I am brand new to jet drives I hope to read up and learn as much as I can here.

Any advice for operating in the inter-coastal is welcome.

 

[Julian]

What kind of Jet boat did you purchase?

The primary thing you'll want to do (just like with your stern drive) is flush it after each use.

 

[Julian]

Oh yeah....and WELCOME to the forum!!!!

 

[d1mbu1b]

Thank you. I am still up in the air. That is why I am here. I have been looking at the new BRP Rotax powered models vs the Yamaha.
I have looked at the scarab 19, the yamaha 19 and the glastron 20. My major criteria is to get out of repairing my I/O sterndrive and get back into boating. The kids are turning 7 and 8 this year so I need to get serious about a reliable boat. I will be checking out the Chaparral also. I loved the Glastron but I am beating myself up about the Yamaha engine vs the Rotax. The first being raw water cooled with a good reputation and the latter close-cooled with a bad rep.
I am over having salt water in my block even with flushing it has eaten my last two boats up.
After searching this site I hope to find evidence that the new Rotax has addressed their apparent issues. If so I'll probably go with the Glastron.
If I find evidence the Yamaha can stand up to the ICW salt after years of operation with flushing then I'll consider it.
Also, I was unable to find an engine specific thread on the forum.

 

[Bruce]

I am sure that some of our Florida members will chime in but I have never heard of a Yamaha engine problem from running in salt water. Just look at the rental jet skis with the same engines that spend every day in the salt water and last for thousands of hours with what is probably minimal maintenance. I would not want to leave any jet boat in the water year round. But if you are storing on a trailer or a lift then you should be fine. I hear about trailers rusting away but not the engines.

We had our SX230 in the Gulf at the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor for more than 10 days in 2013 and in Fort Lauderdale and Bimini for 6 days in 2014. I have not had any problems at all.

@Murf'n'surf, can you provide some info on salt water use?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Welcome aboard @d1mbu1b !!

I'm in salt 100%. I take care of outboards,inboards, seadoo jet skis and of course my yamaha jetboat. There's one common issue....corrosion. You, your hose and a salt dilution product like Salt-a-way are the only thing that will help ward off the effects. Every outing must be followed by thorough flushing and hosing off. You can't put it off for a week or even a few days. Whe you are boating remember to keep the salt water in the Gulf! Don't let swimmers run amuck splashing salt all over your boat.

If you religiously flush your yamaha I see no problems internally. I've seen 2 brand new (2012) seadoos have their intercoolers rust out and pump salt water into the oil. Big mess! Just because it's 'closed cooled' doesn't mean no problems. Closed cooled systems still run the raw water through inter coolers and the rideplate which can corrode out also.

So, bottom line no matter what you get, you HAVE TO maintain it regularly. It's not hard it just takes 30 minutes after you had your fun.

Feel free to ask anything on the forum. We are here to help regardless of what manufacture you choose. (Choose yamaha! Wink wink nudge nudge)

 

[GTBRMC]

@d1mbu1b -- welcome aboard!

 

[Big Shasta]

My 2005 Yamaha AR230 has been trouble free and lived it's whole life on the gulf of mexico 90% of it in a slip hanging over the salt water. I have it in a lifted slip and the previous owner had it lifted behind his house. The only issue I've had are a couple steering/shift cables got stiff easy fixes and I lost an impeller bearing last year. I didn't realize it was something I was supposed to be checking annually. Fixed it myself. Always flushed after every outing. I alternate between Dawn dish soap and salt away.

When people use the line "the happiest day of a boat owners life is the day he bought it and the day he sells it" I tell them if that's the case, they bought the wrong brand boat.

Welcome aboard!

 

[d1mbu1b]

Thank you all.

 

[tdonoughue]

Welcome!

My boat stays in fresh water only, so I don't have much to contribute to the salt discussion. But I can attest to being very happy with the Yamaha. Lots of nice features about the Chaparral, but I think that the experience Yamaha has invested in years of making and improving these boats has its benefits.

Also a nice feature: the jet platform is really inherently very simple. If you are sick of taking care of an IO, this will be a cinch. Motor goes to shaft goes to impeller. No transmission, no gears, no u-joints... Just direct power and something at the back to point it where you want it.

Again, welcome!

 

[txav8r]

Welcome aboard! We have a member here that has a ton of salt experience, on jet skis and has designed and built steering for skis and boats alike for over a decade. He can give you some life expectancy numbers on these engines and the challenges with each, @Cobra Jet Steering LLC . Care and protection is the issue in a salt environment for sure. Many of us here do all of our own maintenance, because we learned how easy it was due to this forum and a previous we migrated from. It is the ease of maintenance that helped to make the decision of a Yamaha, as well as the help of the forum. Again, glad to have you on board!