Which Jet Boat should I purchase?

[Bob K]

Hello to all of my (now) fellow jet boaters. I live on a brackish canal in Punta Gorda, FL and am worried about unknown depths in Charlotte Harbor. When I moved here last year I did not realize that the huge body of water known as Charlotte Harbor was actually not as deep as I hoped for. I had a Challenger In Michigan and loved it but am worried about having one to maneuver in and out of my canal. (40 minute ride to open water and closest boat launch). I’m looking to purchase a small Scarab to easily take it out of canal at least once a week. Is there a better choice to help in not sucking in debris? I do like the Yamaha and older Sea Doos but feel they are more susceptible to running into this problem. My condo will not allow me a traditional lift and am thinking about a floating drive on lift. Anyone have any thoughts on this and am I just overly concerned? Thanks, Bob K

 

[2kwik4u]

If ingesting debris is a concern at any level, and you are certain a jet drive is what you are wanting.....then a Yamaha is the way to go. They are currently the only ones with clean out ports to access the pump from above the water line. The others will require getting wet and holding your breathe to clean out the pump if it's clogged.

If clogging is a MAJOR concern, then I would be looking very hard at a propped boat. Being in brackish water, probably something with an outboard.

While jets are awesome for shallow water (I've run on plane in under a foot on accident), they do clog from time to time with debris in the water.

 

[Bob K]

Thanks for our quick response. Is it easy to clean out debris with boat on the trailer? I know I’m flirting with disaster but I so much want to explore all there is to see in Charlotte Harbor. When debris does get ingested does it shut down your power all together? Once something does get into your intake is it time to paddle the miles of canals to get to water you can actually get into water with at least “some” visibility? Is there a screen or something that keeps most debris from entering? I guess I’ll go talk to my jet dealer. Thanks again. BK

 

[Weeb]

Non Yamaha’s you would have to climb under the boat and try to clear the debris which could be challenging. If you can’t get it cleared you would have to limp back to the ramp. I agree that it would probably be better to go with a Yamaha or an outboard.

 

[Ancient canoe]

Yamaha is the only jetboat to offer some sort of solution to cleaning out debris with the cleanout ports, but even then it's not something you want to be doing very often.