New Member Learning Everything I can Before Purchase!

[wanna-be-jetter]

Greetings everyone! I've started checking out this and other forums as I slowly begin my search for my first boat. A little about me and my boating needs/wants. I live in MN (where the boating season is limited and therefore coveted!) with my wife and two young kids. We have rented boats in the past and are now looking into ownership in the next year. I landed on jet boats for their propless design. Also, our main lake is relatively shallow with channels between three larger bodies of water and our secondary lake has a nice little sandbar to utilize the large swim platform on the Yamaha's specifically. This will be my first foray into boat ownership as well as jet boats in general so any advice I can get on my search and subsequent maintenance/modifications would be greatly appreciated! Hopefully when the season starts up again for us next year I'll be able to show off pics of my new toy!

 

[Scottintexas]

Glad you found us
Be sure to look at the faq tab at top of the page for lots of great tips

 

[Gym]

Welcome aboard @wanna-be-jetter. The jet boats are a good choice for two reasons. 1) They are safer than props for the kids. 2 ) They are much easier and cheaper to maintain than any prop boat. You will find many answers to your questions here. If not just ask.

 

[wanna-be-jetter]

I can't believe it's been this long, but the day has finally come! Putting my signature down on a 2020 195S today! Sadly, being Minnesota the boat will only be mine in theory as delivery will wait until April. Come on spring, let's get on the water! Guess it's time to change my user name too!

 

[anmut]

Fellow mid-west guy here (WI) - just went through everything myself and purchased a 2020 212S in January. I spoke to all the dealers I could in the surrounding four states so if you want to bounce any questions off me feel free to send me a PM.

 

[Hoyt]

I can't believe it's been this long, but the day has finally come! Putting my signature down on a 2020 195S today! Sadly, being Minnesota the boat will only be mine in theory as delivery will wait until April. Come on spring, let's get on the water! Guess it's time to change my user name too!

Congrats. I own the same boat. I do have a build thread on it if you wanna see potential upgrades. It's a great boat we love it dearly. I'll be bringing mine home soon to start prepping for the season

 

[Stalt]

Congrats. I own the same boat. I do have a build thread on it if you wanna see potential upgrades. It's a great boat we love it dearly. I'll be bringing mine home soon to start prepping for the season

Just for thought. I always keep a knife on the boat. Just in case the ski rope gets sucked up int the propellers and heaven forbid someone is entangled. You will be able to cut them free. Stalt.

 

[Hoyt]

Just for thought. I always keep a knife on the boat. Just in case the ski rope gets sucked up int the propellers and heaven forbid someone is entangled. You will be able to cut them free. Stalt.

That's a Damn good thing to have for sure

 

[gwrace1]

I can't believe it's been this long, but the day has finally come! Putting my signature down on a 2020 195S today! Sadly, being Minnesota the boat will only be mine in theory as delivery will wait until April. Come on spring, let's get on the water! Guess it's time to change my user name too!

Nice choice. We will be signing for our 195S in a couple of weeks. It will be a long wait.

 

[wanna-be-jetter]

Just for thought. I always keep a knife on the boat. Just in case the ski rope gets sucked up int the propellers and heaven forbid someone is entangled. You will be able to cut them free. Stalt.

This is good! As a new boater in general, I can see this as something I would have never thought about... until I needed it! Thanks!

 

[Fish]

Congrats on the purchase! I grew up in MN myself (now live in southern CA). This is a fantastic site and you'll learn a lot about care and maintenance, trailering, docking, performance tips, modifications, etc. Basically everything to help you have more time and fun on the water with the family. Everyone is super helpful!

Post a few pics of the new boat!

 

[J-RAD]

Congratulations @wanna-be-jetter, life goal achieved! I spent a couple years hoping and dreaming. Waiting thru the winter's is terrible... I'm sure you've got a long list of boating essentials to outfit yourself with in the meantime.

Hit me up if you're after any watersports gear and I can throw you some discounts. There's more inventory on its way in over the next few weeks.

Transom Watersports | Wakeboard | Wakesurf | Vest | SUP

Best gear behind any boat for wakeboarding, wakesurfing, wakefoil, wakesurffoil and SUP. Life is better behind a boat with Transom Watersports.

www.transomwatersports.com

 

[ZGhost]

Welcome to the forum from a fellow Minnesotan and the land of 10,000 lakes.
plenty of lakes to roam. Which one do you boat on?

 

[wanna-be-jetter]

Welcome to the forum from a fellow Minnesotan and the land of 10,000 lakes.
plenty of lakes to roam. Which one do you boat on?

We live in Forest Lake and are real close to the main launch there, and not too far from Big Marine State Park or any of the Chisago area lakes. We also have a seasonal camper set up in Wisconsin near a chain of six lakes that we'll boat regularly too. Too many options to be tied to just one, which is why I had to go with a trailerable set-up that *should* fit in my garage!

 

[B Frank]

I can't believe it's been this long, but the day has finally come! Putting my signature down on a 2020 195S today! Sadly, being Minnesota the boat will only be mine in theory as delivery will wait until April. Come on spring, let's get on the water! Guess it's time to change my user name too!

Congrats!! You won’t regret it!! Now for buying all the additional toys and accessories! I loved the challenge of finding stuff as cheap as possible!

 

[PJ73]

 

[ZGhost]

We live in Forest Lake and are real close to the main launch there, and not too far from Big Marine State Park or any of the Chisago area lakes. We also have a seasonal camper set up in Wisconsin near a chain of six lakes that we'll boat regularly too. Too many options to be tied to just one, which is why I had to go with a trailerable set-up that *should* fit in my garage!

In the same boat here , I trailer as well but I spend 90% of my time on lake Minnetonka. Big body of water, lots of bays, and thus various water conditions to do various things from cruising to chilling to surfing to tubing to skiing, you name it.....

 

[wanna-be-jetter]

Brought the boat home this weekend, but since MN decided we needed more winter, we were left with only garage boating for our maiden voyage! Although the weather will give me time to get my trailer guides on (thanks to @Hoyt for the assist!) before our first launch!

 

[J-RAD]

Brought the boat home this weekend, but since MN decided we needed more winter, we were left with only garage boating for our maiden voyage! Although the weather will give me time to get my trailer guides on (thanks to @Hoyt for the assist!) before our first launch!

View attachment 115859

I love the kids have their vests on! Safety first! Lol!

 

[marcham]

Congrats on the purchase. Ours was about 2 years in the making as well.