New Yamaha Boater in GA

[AlphaKap]

Finally took possession of a 2017 242 E Series.

We are a family of 4 in Alpharetta, GA, just north of Atlanta. I'm originally from California (Central Valley then Bay Area) and wife is from Fort Worth area Texas. The boys are 16 and 13 years old. We relocated to GA about 15 years go for work (UPS). I am a recovered forum junkie and hopefully will not have a relapse.

Our boat prior to this one is a 1999 Larson that we picked up about 7 years ago and use every weekend that is warm. We have a friend that used to have a Yamaha and really liked the rear seating area and have been thinking to get one for several years. Went to the boat show this year and they had some deals on 2017 factory demo models and decided to go for it. Kids can use the Georgia Hope Scholarship for college, right?

Our main spot is Lake Lanier and have a few boat friends there. We trailer the boat and will likely be looking for a new tow vehicle this year...our Nissan Pathfinder is rated for 6000# which should be okay for the 1/2 mile from storage to ramp. We go down to Sarasota, FL a few times a year and would love to take the boat down there but sure about the Pathfinder.

We will probably keep it mostly stock for this season but some small things I do want to take care of:
1. Install a USB port in the captains area and maybe in the rear areas
2. Rewire the tow vehicle for 5 pin from the current 4 pin
4. Fancify the head with some better storage
5. Maybe a ballast for the ski locker...we won't go full automation though
6. Some underwater LED lights
7. And of course, boat name

But I do like to tinker some and will probably find some other things to do once we start using the boat.

While researching the boat, came across lots of videos on the Bimini trips. I want to gear up for that and hopefully make it next year.

I joined the Lanier Jet Boaters Facebook group. Hope to catch some of you out on the lake.

20180311_142707

• AlphaKap
• Mar 15, 2018

 

[Julian]

Congrats and welcome to the forum! We'll try not to spend all your money! LOL But be warned...being a member here causes "MODitis"

 

[Johmas50]

Great looking boat, congrats! We are just down the road in Atlanta but we just moved here in January. I may look you up sometime for Lanier info as that is most likely where we will be boating this summer. @AlphaKap

 

[giroux68]

Congrats and Welcome. This forum is great at spending your money. But all well worth it. Ill keep my eye out for you on Lanier. I keep mine at Bald Ridge Marina.

 

[AlphaKap]

Congrats and welcome to the forum! We'll try not to spend all your money! LOL But be warned...being a member here causes "MODitis"

Thanks! You have a great forum. Thanks (you and the other founders) for setting up a great community. Fortunately, the boat is so awesome as is that I don't need to do much but when I do there is a ton of great info here to start with. Hopefully I will have something to contribute.

Congrats and Welcome. This forum is great at spending your money. But all well worth it. Ill keep my eye out for you on Lanier. I keep mine at Bald Ridge Marina.

I will keep an eye out for you...my son wants to see that wake foil in action. I want to buy that DIY kit and see if we can get a low budget version working. We had our boat at Bald Ridge for a quarter last year and wife wants to do that again.

 

[jason08603]

Congrats and Welcome... We are about 25 min away from Lanier in Jefferson, usually use the Balus Creek Park ramp.

 

[Johmas50]

Since I have a few GA folks on this thread, anyone have any thoughts on Gainesville Marina? I am thinking of trying to get a slip there for the summer, haven't checked on availability. My thinking is that it is further up the lake and might be a little less congested. Our lake in KY we have been on for 5 summers was so uncrowded and we were spoiled to that, hoping to get away from the hustle and bustle a bit but still be able to stay on Lanier.

 

[giroux68]

That end of the lake is definitely less crowded on the weekends. Weekdays doesnt really matter. Down side is the drive. that is a LOT farther in traffic.

 

[Johmas50]

Yeah that makes sense. I’ve been looking at it on google maps at different times of the week/day and it’s a bit of a drive. We are accustomed to driving about an hour and a half to our old lake in KY, so this looks to be comparable or a little less depending on time of day. It’s showing an hour and a half right now on a Friday so I would assume with Friday traffic that’s close to worse case scenario.

 

[F.M.]

Welcome. Good looking boat!

 

[AlphaKap]

Yeah that makes sense. I’ve been looking at it on google maps at different times of the week/day and it’s a bit of a drive. We are accustomed to driving about an hour and a half to our old lake in KY, so this looks to be comparable or a little less depending on time of day. It’s showing an hour and a half right now on a Friday so I would assume with Friday traffic that’s close to worse case scenario.

Port Royale might be better...just go past Brown's Bridge and it's pretty quiet. It's a lot closer. And if you go due east from Port Royale, there is some other quiet areas. We rent a house over there and it's great for watersports because not so many people.

 

[swatski]

Finally took possession of a 2017 242 E Series.

We are a family of 4 in Alpharetta, GA, just north of Atlanta. I'm originally from California (Central Valley then Bay Area) and wife is from Fort Worth area Texas. The boys are 16 and 13 years old. We relocated to GA about 15 years go for work (UPS). I am a recovered forum junkie and hopefully will not have a relapse.

Our boat prior to this one is a 1999 Larson that we picked up about 7 years ago and use every weekend that is warm. We have a friend that used to have a Yamaha and really liked the rear seating area and have been thinking to get one for several years. Went to the boat show this year and they had some deals on 2017 factory demo models and decided to go for it. Kids can use the Georgia Hope Scholarship for college, right?

Our main spot is Lake Lanier and have a few boat friends there. We trailer the boat and will likely be looking for a new tow vehicle this year...our Nissan Pathfinder is rated for 6000# which should be okay for the 1/2 mile from storage to ramp. We go down to Sarasota, FL a few times a year and would love to take the boat down there but sure about the Pathfinder.

We will probably keep it mostly stock for this season but some small things I do want to take care of:
1. Install a USB port in the captains area and maybe in the rear areas
2. Rewire the tow vehicle for 5 pin from the current 4 pin
4. Fancify the head with some better storage
5. Maybe a ballast for the ski locker...we won't go full automation though
6. Some underwater LED lights
7. And of course, boat name

But I do like to tinker some and will probably find some other things to do once we start using the boat.

While researching the boat, came across lots of videos on the Bimini trips. I want to gear up for that and hopefully make it next year.

I joined the Lanier Jet Boaters Facebook group. Hope to catch some of you out on the lake.

20180311_142707

• AlphaKap
• Mar 15, 2018

Beautiful boat!

--

 

[giroux68]

It also depends on whether you're going up GA400 or I85. Royal has dry stack too.

 

[Wisefam22]

Congrats and Welcome... We are about 25 min away from Lanier in Jefferson, usually use the Balus Creek Park ramp.

We are in Jefferson as well and use balus creek

 

[Wisefam22]

Since I have a few GA folks on this thread, anyone have any thoughts on Gainesville Marina? I am thinking of trying to get a slip there for the summer, haven't checked on availability. My thinking is that it is further up the lake and might be a little less congested. Our lake in KY we have been on for 5 summers was so uncrowded and we were spoiled to that, hoping to get away from the hustle and bustle a bit but still be able to stay on Lanier.

Port royal or bust.

 

[Wisefam22]

Ke

Since I have a few GA folks on this thread, anyone have any thoughts on Gainesville Marina? I am thinking of trying to get a slip there for the summer, haven't checked on availability. My thinking is that it is further up the lake and might be a little less congested. Our lake in KY we have been on for 5 summers was so uncrowded and we were spoiled to that, hoping to get away from the hustle and bustle a bit but still be able to stay on Lanier.

Keep at port royal or north and you are fine. If you haven' been on lake much get a map. I 0ut in at balus creek which once outlet of the cove is basically straight across from port royal.

Plenty of space from there up to enjoy family time and avoid a "younger crowd" who likes the south end and sunset cove.

 

[Johmas50]

We toured Port Royal and Gainesville. You guys were definitely correct, Port Royal is infinitely nicer and I think that’s the way we will go. The only question now is wet slip with a lift or dry stack. We’ve done dry stack before back home and liked it, but I’m intrigued by the lift as I think we could use the boat more with a lift. Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread and thank you all for the advice! Hope to see you all out on the lake this summer.

 

[Wisefam22]

Dry stack, call them and tell them you are headed over boat will be in water waiting. When done drive boat to dock tie up take personal stuff off and put boat number/name on board they pull it out and stack for you.

 

[AlphaKap]

Since the weekend was in the 70s, decided to go out for our maiden voyage last Sunday.

I can tell that it is going to be a lot of fun but definitely going to take some getting used to. Definitely louder than our I/O. And it's going to take some getting used to for the low speed steering. I originally thought I would go the season without mods for steering but think I will have to do it for my wife so she can put the boat on the trailer. I regret not going after the set that was recently on classifieds.

Man was the water cold. Lost feeling in my lower legs retrieving the boat for a while.

For those familiar with Lanier and Sunset Cove...looks like they took the stage out. They have the new deal with Margaritaville and heard they will be putting more docks in. We typically avoid Sunset but do go on occasion to checkout the crowds. Looks like some changes coming this year.

IMG_2578

• AlphaKap
• Mar 20, 2018

 

[Johmas50]

Awesome looking boat @AlphaKap. Glad you all enjoyed your first trip out.