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Yamaha FSH

Joseph Maggio

Well-Known Member
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
60
Boat Make
SeaDoo
Year
2006
Boat Model
GTS
Boat Length
PWC
Hi all,

Soon to be living in Marco Island permanently and looking for my first boat. Yamaha has always been a favorite of mine and when they came out with the FSH I was ready to buy but not without a few questions for the group first.

As many of you know the water can be quite shallow in area where I live. There's thousands of Wave runners around but I've not seen any Jet Boats. Any idea why?

With the water being so shallow is this a problem for the FSH? Should I be concerned?

I'd like to hear from all in my area with an FSH and what there experience has been so far.

Joe
 
How shallow is the water?
 
Hi Bruce,

Its all over the place, its the Gulf of Mexico :) I don't know 3 to 15' on average. We like to pull into the beaches with our Wave runners today to fish and shell so I'm assuming that the FSH would act about the same as the Wave runners, right?
 
Hi Bruce,

Its all over the place, its the Gulf of Mexico :) I don't know 3 to 15' on average. We like to pull into the beaches with our Wave runners today to fish and shell so I'm assuming that the FSH would act about the same as the Wave runners, right?

We live on a 1/2 mile wide by 1 mile long bay that is mostly 4' deep. We can ski, tube, kneeboard and surf in the 4' and sometimes less of water without any problems. I would not be concerned about 3'. The only issue is that running sand through the Jets will cause wear but that is the same for wave runners.

We have a keel guard on our bow and occasionally will beach our boat. But with the swim deck and lack of props it is much more convenient to have the stern facing the beach for easy access. So we typically drive toward the beach / shore spin the boat around, toss the bow anchor with a stretchy anchor buddy line attached then back into 2' to 18" of water. At that point I step off and either set a stern anchor on shore or tie to a tree. I keep the boat in water just deep enough to avoid the fins touching the bottom while everyone unloads then I loosen the stern rope and allow the anchor buddy to pull the boat out a little so that disturbance from waves is not an issue.

Here are a few examples.


 
@Joseph Maggio glad to have you on board and congratulations on getting to move to Marco Island, the FSH is relatively new so we don't have many members yet, I think the boat would be great for you if you want to fish and have a run about,

Have you owned a boat before? is fishing going to be your primary function with it? how many people will be normally going with you?
 
The boat measures 19.3 long, with the folded tounge about 2 more inches.
About 9 feet wide with trailer.
What you need to take in consideration is the height with the leaning post.
I had to remove it on order to clear out a 7 foot garage entrance.
Here are some pictures I took when I measured the boat at the dealer.20150930_150632.jpg 20150930_150457.jpg
 
Welcome aboard @Joseph Maggio !!

There are tons of jet boats here in SW Florida. You probably don't see many right now because the locals don't come out much at this time of year!

You'll probably want to put a trolling motor on the bow if you are going to fish in the back water flats.

I'm local and willing to lend a hand.
 
I did see that video, that is a great option for the Basic FSH, all you will miss from a deluxe or sport is the dual battery set up and the extra cushion. I wonder how much they are asking for that option.
 
As for being worry for riding in shallow areas, I have ridden in 3-4 feet of water when low tide and crossed in less 2 with no problem.
 
@Joseph Maggio hopefully you got the answers sought in your original post? Jet boats have the added advantage of not having running gear below the bottom of the hull, so they can go shallower without striking anything, but you do have to be careful about not sucking up sand or rocks off the bottom.

I was quite impressed with the FSH when I drove it. It has a great layout and makes a great fishing platform.
 
@Joseph Maggio we bought our FSH back in August and have not seen issues with draft in shallow water. With that said you do have to remember that the new 19 footers all have the articulating keel connected to the ride plate. If you plan on running in the shallows much you're going to want to get a good quality depth finder. We are working on sorting out which one is best for the FSH now. Hopefully we will have a video on that soon. That is one thing that this boat really needs from the factory.

If you have other questions feel free to write or call anytime! Enjoy!
 
Thanks everyone,

You all have been very helpful. Can anyone tell me how many adults fit comfortably on the boat? I cannot imagine having more then 4 adults fishing or even cruising. The closest dealer to me is Sun Sport Yamaha. Does anyone have experience with this dealer? I spoke to them today and they mentioned that Yamaha may be introducing the FSH in a 21' version in 2017 not that I'll be able to wait. I think I'll have to buy one this year and trade it in for the 21'. I would love to rent before I buy. Does anyone here know of a place to rent this boat?
 
If it is cruising, you can easily fit 6 adults, the boat capacity is 8 passengers but I would say 8 adults would be to crowded.
Last weekend I took my family and sister in-law with her small kid 5 +2 (3 adults + 4 small children) to the sand bar and it did no feel overcrowded and was cruising at speeds of 30 mph.

Now as far as fishing goes, I would never go over 4 passengers(less better), no matter the size or age, due to the space you need for fishing equipment, rods, and fishing space.
It gets messy when you are catching fish, and if you are bringing a big one you will not have enough space if you have to many passengers.

This is a picture of the seating space in the FSH:
Screenshots_2016-01-12-22-23-42.png
 
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After being on my boat for some time now I don't think I would have more than 5 adults on the boat at one time, that is to say if I don't want to be crowded. If you have family and you want to run to your favorite spot, drop anchor and hang out, then you can pack on the full 8 if you like. The boat will handle the load no problem.
 
I spoke to them today and they mentioned that Yamaha may be introducing the FSH in a 21' version in 2017 not that I'll be able to wait.

Many of us hoped that fhe FSH would be larger. I expect that Yamaha will release a larger center console if the FSH sells well. The lower hull is same as the 190/192 boats with a new upper hull section. I expect that Yamaha would follow the same path with a 21 or 24 foot varient.

Yamaha is very secretive about new product development. Sometimes a little bit of info leaks out but most is held tightly until the dealer meeting in August.
 
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