Random musings of a new SX240 owner...

[msavold]

1. Damn, these boats are fast!

2. Acceleration is incredible

3. As a follow up to 2, if someone is pissing me off I think I’ll just tell him to step onto the swim platform and as he steps over the engines, gun it! I swear I’ll be 200’ away before he hits the water!

4. On second thought, can probably achieve same end with P.I.T.A. standing anywhere from helm back!

5. Bring on the 2’ chop! This boat cuts it like butter even at WOT.

6. Differential throttle/thrust is your friend. SO much fun to spin in tight quarters – even for a newb! Oh, you want me to turn around right here? No problem! Even more fun when your neighbor is watching you – the one with the 25’ pontoon – and after he asks you how the hell you did that!

7. Keep telling yourself it’s NOT a prop boat – and you might not find yourself sawing back and forth on the wheel when in neutral, hoping for some – any – outcome.

8. Checklists are your friend – especially as a newb. @txav8r has a good one here. Like that you’ll remember to turn on the bilge pump before putting the boat in the water. And then, when you hear the pump running and see a large steady stream of water going out the port side, you’ll know immediately what’s going on and why someone is going swimming right NOW!!!! (Yeah, you can guess how I know this.)

9. Shallow draft is great. Seeing the look on the face of driver of the 150hp Ev outboard deck boat that cut you off to pass you and then proceeds to get bogged down, stalling the motor in muck, looking back expecting you to do the same, but watching you simply cruising through because the gauge on your boat says 2.4’ deep? Priceless!

10. Speaking of gauges, the digital gauges on the pre-2015 models really are a pain to use. They seem like a great idea and are useful but be prepared for push, push, push, push, squint, push, push, squint. and the depth gauge? Really handy - except when it reads 70' depth in water you know is 3' deep!

11. 50 gallons of gas is a LOT of ga$, especially at “special” marina pricing! Good thing these things are so fuel efficient compared to any other 360hp boat!

12. Whoever spec’d the yellow roller at Shoreland’r should be beaten with one.

13. All trailers should come stock with guides! Especially ones to be used on relatively steep ramps – or the ones where the ramp ends about 3’ short and then have an “amusing” drop-off at the end.

14. Need to remove grill covers from stock 240 speakers to see if there really is a sock stuffed in each of them!

15. I never thought I’d want to drill into something I just paid tens of thousands for! (No qualms about doing stuff in a brand new house I paid hundreds of thousands for, mind you.) Still, it feels weird to be drilling anywhere in a boat. (Think cartoon boat sinking image, water spout rising from the middle)

16. The last snap on the 2-piece cover is always a pain in the ass!

17. The ski locker is big enough to put an unruly kid into! Not that I would, mind you...!

17. I never knew I had so many friends that want to go for a boat ride!

18. Speaking of friends, jetboaters.net is your friend. Not your wallet’s (or probably your wife’s) friend, mind you.

19. When your neighbor says he heard that you’d bought “a big-ass boat” and that he now has boat envy… And to think at one point – ever so briefly – we were considering the mini-van of the seas: a pontoon!

20. Did I mention how much fun these boats are?

(And that's after three weeks of ownership! And 4 months+ of jetboaters.net)

 

[itsdgm]

That's quite a list you've got there. Especially after only 3 weeks.

Everybody that I bring to the lake drops their jaw in shock when I pull out our six chairs, e-z up, blow up toys, 5 pairs of water shoes, bucket and shovel for the kids, tool box, towels, snorkel and fins all out of one under seat storage compartment that also has my two batteries, amp and boat cleaning kit. These boats have A TON OF STORAGE !!!

Glad to read that you're loving your boat too.

 

[Britboater]

@msavold I like it .

 

[msavold]

That's what happens when you're on a train that is running one hour late for a three hour trip, wishing you were on the boat instead!

 

[Julian]

Was having a beer with one of the neighbors who boats with us frequently (since we moved to NC), and this is what he said on Friday night when we were talking with another family looking for a boat:

"When Julian first told me he had a jet boat, my thought was....'what kind of nut is he to have one of those' (thinking he had a big block V-8 2 seater river jet style boat....with a family....and why was he inviting us along on it as well. But we took a leap and went out with them. When we got to the boat I was like - WTF is this? This isn't a jet boat is it? What an amazing layout! Then when we took off I felt the acceleration and was like....COOL...this is awesome!!! Now if I were in the market for a boat, I wouldn't consider anything BUT a jet boat....and I've been on a bunch of different boats, but the layout, performance and function of these boats is perfect for families"
​

He could make a TV commercial for a jet boat manufacturer.

Of course he also says he doesn't need a boat as his best bud Julian has one!! LOL

Nice write up @msavold I think you hit the nail on the head! When I'm working on our boat and someone calls for me, my wife says "Let me see if he's available....he's our drilling holes in the boat!" LOL

 

[McMark]

Good write up. And I agree, the boats are great. I was able to put about 30 hours on mine over the past two weeks and was able to really shake out the boat.

 

[txav8r]

@msavold , you know how you use "Off" to keep the mesquitos away from you? You may find you have a hard time with all those people that you didn't know were close friends! Trouble is, you can't find a can of spray that works on them! The best thing I have found so far, is to just pass them a card with JETBOATERS.NET on it, and give them the name of my dealer! As Julian says, they sell themselves on them after just being around them. They are not a "perfect" boat, but they are the perfect compromise in a boat for most families. Keep in mind that some of that 2' chop can be very annoying, but the boat can handle it. And once you get those socks out of the speaker grills, just yank the damn Seaworthy speakers out and replace them with some Polk DB651's if you want a little better quality speaker. If you want an overall improvement in stereo quality that can be heard at cruise, you need to amplify it and get an even better speaker. That is a very rewarding transformation! Glad to see you enjoying the boat and benefits of having it. Four words...Stolz Ultimate Bow Roller. And here is a speed chart to help you with finding that speed to cut the fuel usage when the crossing distance can empty half a tank! As you can see, most of your watersports will fall in the 4500 to 5000 rpm range. That will burn a little gas with all the starts and stops as well as WOT (wide open throttle). So when going for a cruise, you can really stretch a gallon, if your not showing off that is, just by throttling back to 6000rpm and cruising at about 37mph but only burning about 11.5 gph instead of 23.2 gallons per hour at WOT.

Have a great summer, were waiting for the pictures!

 

[Glassman]

He likes it, he really likes it!



Have a great boating season, and stay safe!