The official "What did you do to your jet boat today" thread.

[Dean P]

Here's my attempt at DIY Anchor Stick Pins. Heard about the stick pin from this forum which gave me the motivation to do something. The conduit I had lying around the house and thought that might work.

Took 2-1/2" plastic conduit, cut 16" long (from the bell end), heated the inside all around about 5" up and stood on a brick to flatten it out until cool. Cut a 1/2 wide slot x 2-1/2" long in the flat end and drilled 1" hole thru bell end (keyhole saw). Placed onto U-bolts (upside down to create tension) and wedged PVC to hold in place. Purchased some (4 for 20$) 8 ft long x 3/4 (actually measure Ø.805") fiberglass garden/tree stakes from Walmart and pushed them thru the 1" hole into the ground below. The tide was high, slowly going out and about 3-1/2 ft deep (at the back end of the boat)

I pulled up closed to the seawall and placed the first stick pin into the port side holder. As the boat swung around I placed the other stick pin in and waited. The boat was perpendicular to the wind which was blowing at 10 mph with gust up to 14. I was very impressed with how well it did. The boat did sway a little but always came back to center. Below are a few pics of what it looked like. The boat stayed in that spot for well over 1-1/2 hours.

This is still a work in progress but so far am please with the results. Need to attach a T handle or a (bicycle type) grip handle. Haven't decided...

Here is a 2 minute video of it in action.

 

[drewkaree]

Here's my attempt at DIY Anchor Stick Pins. Heard about the stick pin from this forum which gave me the motivation to do something. The conduit I had lying around the house and thought that might work.

Took 2-1/2" plastic conduit, cut 16" long (from the bell end), heated the inside all around about 5" up and stood on a brick to flatten it out until cool. Cut a 1/2 wide slot x 2-1/2" long in the flat end and drilled 1" hole thru bell end (keyhole saw). Placed onto U-bolts (upside down to create tension) and wedged PVC to hold in place. Purchased some (4 for 20$) 8 ft long x 3/4 (actually measure Ø.805") fiberglass garden/tree stakes from Walmart and pushed them thru the 1" hole into the ground below. The tide was high, slowly going out and about 3-1/2 ft deep (at the back end of the boat)

I always love the attempt, it's so easy to buy a solution, but the sense of accomplishment (and the cheap streak in me) is worth the effort. ?

 

[F.M.]

Swapped out my factory Shorlandr bearing buddies, for actually Bearing Buddies, (with the blue level indicators). And fixed my grease fittings on the trailer suspension that wouldn't take grease.

 

[Gunghoe9]

Getting ready to winterize so I decided to get my battery tender installed. First holes drilled in the boat! Also did the DVSR mod to keep my Noco “smart”.

 

[JOAN ROJAS]

Added seadek to the main areas, got it from the group buy. This stuff makes the boat look and feel new! Still need to remove anchor locker and swim area old stuff but started with the easy work today. Went thru a lot of Acetone to get the floors well prepped for the install.

 

[Babin Farms]

Pulled the throttles apart after watching the video on throttle drop and installed hose clamps. Had to tap them into place, snugged them up & crimped tight. In all it took maybe 30 minutes to do the job. We’ll see if it helps the next time out.

https://jetboaters.net/posts/483302/

View attachment 133606View attachment 133607

Update:
Was able to test out my throttle drop “fix” and it worked perfect. I also loosened up the tension on the throttles as well and trying to figure out why I didn’t do this sooner. RPM’s stay right where I set it and the levers move nice & smooth now.

 

[AEmedic]

While it wasn't on the boat, it was for the boat. The Trax TX6000 that I ordered was delivered today. Having the electric trailer dolly will make it much easier to put it away in the garage for winter

 

[suke]

Time to polish up my boat after a good season of use. Figured I'll install a ceramic coating while I'm at it. Installed my boat buckles, and patched some dock rash. Color doesn't QUITE match, but at least it's now filled and wetsanded smooth. I'm about halfway done with the polishing. Definitely not looking for perfection like when I do cars. We use the crap out of this thing, so just looking to clean up some washing marks, as well as light oxidation. Surprised just how much oxidation there is on the black, hence the reason I'm going with a ceramic coating. While polishing I've noticed quite a few gel coat bubbles, one has popped. Got some other defects I'll need the dealer to take care of. Not looking forward to dealing with that. Hopefully it'll be a non issue and they'll take care of it without much of a fight.

 

[suke]

Ugh! Getting there. This has turned into a project from hell. I detail cars fairly regularly, and have done so for 20+ years. So I'm not new to this by any means. What I thought would be a quick one stage polish has sent me down a rabbit hole of "what if I did an additional step here, or tried a more aggressive pad/polish combo". Before I knew it I'm doing a multi stage correction. Crap! Stopping for lunch. Need to wrap this up by around 2ish so I can lay down the ceramic coating.

 

[ZGhost]

While it wasn't on the boat, it was for the boat. The Trax TX6000 that I ordered was delivered today. Having the electric trailer dolly will make it much easier to put it away in the garage for winterView attachment 135272

@AEmedic Great idea! How much does this thing weigh? Can it be lifted and thrown in the back of an SUV? Thinking of using one at my trailer storage place due to tight space backing the boat but wouldn’t want to leave it there.

 

[AZMark]

Update:
Was able to test out my throttle drop “fix” and it worked perfect. I also loosened up the tension on the throttles as well and trying to figure out why I didn’t do this sooner. RPM’s stay right where I set it and the levers move nice & smooth now.

Your throttles don’t slip back toward idle with the friction screws loosened? Mine will fall way back if they aren’t cranked pretty tight.

I thought the hose clamp trick just eliminated the little bit of the slop in that mechanism.

 

[Babin Farms]

Your throttles don’t slip back toward idle with the friction screws loosened? Mine will fall way back if they aren’t cranked pretty tight.

I thought the hose clamp trick just eliminated the little bit of the slop in that mechanism.

I believe the PO tightened the tension to try to fix the throttle drop so while I had it apart I wanted to fix the throttle drop & also adjusted the tension for more of a feel of what I had with the pontoon. So far so good with no slipping back of the throttles when I let them go.

 

[suke]

Unfortunately no real good after pics. Started to cool down and dew started to fall. So I had to get it covered and back to storage. Wish I had a garage I could fit this in. Then I could go totally nuts with it. Sadly had to go with what I could fit in to 2 days. First time using shine supply and I have to say their marine coating is one of the most user friendly coatings I've put my hands on. Not sure how they think a 50ml bottle will be used up on a Malibu lsv. I barely used 1/3 of the bottle.

 

[Miitch]

Spent the weekend cleaning lake scum off the hull. Toilet bowl cleaner.. works WONDERS! Left on for ~10 minutes and looked brand new! I recommend for anyone trying to get yellowing off hull. Wash hull, apply toilet bowl cleaner, rinse with pressure washer followed by a cleaning with a strong degreasing (or dish) soap to neutralize any little bit of cleaner left. Will be re applying sealant and waxing rest of the hull this week.

With a degree in chemistry, I am ashamed to admit I half-assed the trailer wrapping... silly me forgot acidic toilet bowl cleaner and a galvanized trailer do NOT mix. Few spots that found their way through the garbage bag.. will have to fix.

 

[AEmedic]

@AEmedic Great idea! How much does this thing weigh? Can it be lifted and thrown in the back of an SUV? Thinking of using one at my trailer storage place due to tight space backing the boat but wouldn’t want to leave it there.

It is pretty heavy, I haven't tried to pick it up since I put the three batteries in it. The handle comes off easily and so does the ball mount mechanism so it would be less cumbersome.

 

[Dean P]

Here's my attempt at DIY Anchor Stick Pins. Heard about the stick pin from this forum which gave me the motivation to do something. The conduit I had lying around the house and thought that might work.

Took 2-1/2" plastic conduit, cut 16" long (from the bell end), heated the inside all around about 5" up and stood on a brick to flatten it out until cool. Cut a 1/2 wide slot x 2-1/2" long in the flat end and drilled 1" hole thru bell end (keyhole saw). Placed onto U-bolts (upside down to create tension) and wedged PVC to hold in place. Purchased some (4 for 20$) 8 ft long x 3/4 (actually measure Ø.805") fiberglass garden/tree stakes from Walmart and pushed them thru the 1" hole into the ground below. The tide was high, slowly going out and about 3-1/2 ft deep (at the back end of the boat)

I pulled up closed to the seawall and placed the first stick pin into the port side holder. As the boat swung around I placed the other stick pin in and waited. The boat was perpendicular to the wind which was blowing at 10 mph with gust up to 14. I was very impressed with how well it did. The boat did sway a little but always came back to center. Below are a few pics of what it looked like. The boat stayed in that spot for well over 1-1/2 hours.

This is still a work in progress but so far am please with the results. Need to attach a T handle or a (bicycle type) grip handle. Haven't decided...

Here is a 2 minute video of it in action.

View attachment 133857View attachment 133858View attachment 133859View attachment 133860

I was impressed with the results but wanted something more permanent and out of the way. I didn't want to have to worry removing/falling off (when not in use)/better looking so I came up with this.
Got 1" Sch.40 PVC pipe, heated up the end and with a glass bottle flared out the end. Once started I pushed the flared end onto a flat and smooth surface to make it square and perpendicular to the pipe. Below is a picture of a practice piece. Careful it burns easy.


Had to purchase a few items from Amazon: 18" 1/4 drill for the keyhole saw (drill thru the top and the bottom of the swim platform), 1-5/16 keyhole saw and 5200 adhesive sealant.


After drill the 1-5/16 thru the top of the platform and from the bottom I tapped the PVC pipe from the bottom up.



On top of the swim platform I wanted something nicer and made from SS 316. I found these.


When these came in, the OD was too big and would not fit into the ID of the PVC. Went back on Amazon and picked up a 1-1/16 keyhole saw.


I couldn't be happier with the end result. The SS fitting cleaned up well and "hid" any flaws in my workmanship.

 

[Sotally Tober]

Unfortunately no real good after pics. Started to cool down and dew started to fall. So I had to get it covered and back to storage. Wish I had a garage I could fit this in. Then I could go totally nuts with it. Sadly had to go with what I could fit in to 2 days. First time using shine supply and I have to say their marine coating is one of the most user friendly coatings I've put my hands on. Not sure how they think a 50ml bottle will be used up on a Malibu lsv. I barely used 1/3 of the bottle.

I've had my boat coated with Ceramic Pro. Do you know if Boat Bling Hot Sauce is still safe to use after the coating?

 

[suke]

I've had my boat coated with Ceramic Pro. Do you know if Boat Bling Hot Sauce is still safe to use after the coating?

You could, but I wouldn't recommend it. Appears it has waxes in it, which will clog your coating. I'd find one specifically made for ceramic coatings. Tons of water spot removers for ceramic coatings out there.

 

[Sotally Tober]

You could, but I wouldn't recommend it. Appears it has waxes in it, which will clog your coating. I'd find one specifically made for ceramic coatings. Tons of water spot removers for ceramic coatings out there.

Thanks. Just ran a search and yes... there are a ton. Any particular one you recommend?

 

[suke]

Thanks. Just ran a search and yes... there are a ton. Any particular one you recommend?

Never personally used this, but I'm a carpro brand fan. I'm fairly brand agnostic, BUT I find I have more carpro products in my arsenal than anything due to the fact they just flat out work. All of the ceramic coating installs I do I use carpro coatings. Just their marine one is for their certified installers only. So, I had to branch out. Thought about going with gyeon, but not the biggest fan of their paint coatings, so went with shine supply as I know a lot of full time pros that rave about the brand.

CARPRO Spotless 2.0 Water Spot Remover 500ml (17oz)

CARPRO Spotless 2.0 (500ml) chemically breaks down the mineral deposits left behind by water droplets (otherwise known as water spots) before they can etch into the finish, thus negating the need for time consuming abrasive correction, and prolonging the life of the paint.

www.carpro-us.com

This is from the brand of coating I just put on my boat. Also to be fair I haven't used this one. Since this is the brand coating I put on my boat if I was to personally buy one it would be this one.

Aftermath - 16oz w/ Black Sprayer

Remove water spots, add shine! You've had fun on the water all day but now it's time to clean up. Aftermath quickly removes water spots from the day and leaves the surface glossy, along with boosting protection. The traditional vinegar and water method to remove water spots will dry out our...

shinesupply.com