2 stroke reliability/Miami to Bahamas

[96spxpos]

so I'm pretty sure if most of you love Seadoo's AND watch youtube, you've more than likely come across the multiple videos of this group from Tampa who take a bunch of 2008 and newer seadoos, along with a SD jetboat, from Miami to the Bahamas (The initial trip over is like 55 miles, then more while riding the coastline).

It seems as if they have no qualms or fears regarding the reliability of their skis.

NOT saying I would ever even attempt it, but I've gone like 3 or 4 miles off shore once, and damn straight I was kinda nervous about getting stuck, (although I had a flare gun, handheld vhf,etc..

So, even if some of you have a FULLY restored 2 stroke from TOP to BOTTOM and already had a maiden voyage after the restore, how far do you guys usually go off shore with your 2 strokes?
For example, I'm between the Gulf and the bay now, so I'm ok with staying sort of close to shore..

How far off do you normally go, and what has been your furthest distance on your 2 stroke?

Btw, here's one of their links.. They've done this for a few years now, but some of the vids are no longer playing. (I watched one trip, I think from a different group, and they were riding 2 up, and while there in the Bahamas, two of them crashed in a mangrove and had to leave one ski behind!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiWZTy0brf0

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I don't have an issue with reliability, only fuel range...

My wife and I also usually ride together, so we could always tow one in.

 

[96spxpos]

I hear ya, but like what was the furthest you've gone out?

 

[Brian J]

So, even if some of you have a FULLY restored 2 stroke from TOP to BOTTOM and already had a maiden voyage after the restore, how far do you guys usually go off shore with your 2 strokes?

If you mean alone the answer is not far. I don't think I'd take any boat anywhere without a back up plan for getting towed in (with another pwc, other boaters I can flag down, sea tow etc...)

 

[Prime Target]

Myself and 6 other guys ran our 2 strokes on the Hudson River from Newburgh NY to Troy NY and back. Just short of 100 miles each way. We did it in one day. Not one machine had a reliability issue. We planned our route out for gas, food and rest stops and further planned emergency points if we had to head to shore. Granted, in a river you're always in eye distance of shore but the point of my reply is that ALL of our machines probably had 7-8 hrs of run time from that trip and all ran perfectly. None of the machines were new. All were well maintained 2 stroke Sea Doo's.

 

[96spxpos]

Nice!
Sounds like a great time..

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

My wife and I go to the bay, most trips are 30 miles one way as the tanks work out to a 60 mile range. We are planning further trips for 2015, with fuel and food stops. not to mention rest... you get kind of beat up over 100 miles!

 

[Spimothy Leary]

since I live within 20 minutes of the Gulf of Mex I get as many opportunities as I wish to go out as far as I want... and I've never really been that far.. Maybe 3 miles offshore is about my max, where I can still see land/buildings as a point of reference. (And never that far off alone, if alone i'm kind of a 500 yard kind of guy.

I love the bimini vid's but have no interest in taking that trip on myself, perhaps if I I upgraded to a big ski like a RXT/FXHO/F15X and only then with a group and a chase boat... i'm just too chicken, and my wife is over protective to boot. Not to mention that it is a VERY expensive trip, hotel and customs charges and fuel make for a $800+ ski trip pretty fast and I'd rather not invest that much money in a weekend trip that doesn't involve strippers and a nightly poker game.

I still prefer protected waters like the bay's and inlets and rivers over the Gulf, but my choice of ski's has a lot to do with that, both of my ski's jump over more than cut through waves so a 10 mile run up the beach and back can be pretty rough on the body, even on a mild day. If I had a newer FXHO I'd probably push my buddies to ride the Gulf more than I do now.

I've been checking into some Tampa area rides lately,, we'd love to do the skyway run sometime soon, but also was looking into

Withlacooche River in the Brooksville area
also the Crystal River and Anclote.

All are within a reasonable drive for me, and I'm tired of the Peace River but we will do it one or two more times before the rains stop and we can't make the long runs after the levels drop, too dam shallow.

 

[96spxpos]

Actually, I drove over the skyway every weekday twice each day for about the last year and a half for school, and I'll tell ya man, Tampa Bay, at certain times/winds, can be just as rough as the Atlantic... Right off the Skyway rest exit in St. Pete, that's where all those guys go kitesurfing, pulling 10-15 feet out of the air bc of the monster swells...
And whenever I go over the Howard Franklin, seeing that water crash upon the rocky shoreline, it looks pretty rough, so I can imagine getting beat up bad out there.

Yes, I'd agree, I wouldn't make even that INITIAL 55 mile trip over with anything short of like one of those FXHO's or one of those newer boat-sized Kawi ski's.

 

[96spxpos]

I dunno, I guess that living in the keys when I finally owned the jetski I was riding, being able to stand up and see nurse sharks, turtles, dolphins and tons of fish, kinda gave me an affinity for riding in the clear water we see in that video...

 

[96spxpos]

I know a lot of people love and prefer riding on "glass", but unless you're racing or trying to get an accurate top speed count, I honestly have no real interest in riding on a lake. I like the waves.

 

[jhjesse]

since I live within 20 minutes of the Gulf of Mex I get as many opportunities as I wish to go out as far as I want... and I've never really been that far.. Maybe 3 miles offshore is about my max, where I can still see land/buildings as a point of reference. (And never that far off alone, if alone i'm kind of a 500 yard kind of guy.

I love the bimini vid's but have no interest in taking that trip on myself, perhaps if I I upgraded to a big ski like a RXT/FXHO/F15X and only then with a group and a chase boat... i'm just too chicken, and my wife is over protective to boot. Not to mention that it is a VERY expensive trip, hotel and customs charges and fuel make for a $800+ ski trip pretty fast and I'd rather not invest that much money in a weekend trip that doesn't involve strippers and a nightly poker game.

I still prefer protected waters like the bay's and inlets and rivers over the Gulf, but my choice of ski's has a lot to do with that, both of my ski's jump over more than cut through waves so a 10 mile run up the beach and back can be pretty rough on the body, even on a mild day. If I had a newer FXHO I'd probably push my buddies to ride the Gulf more than I do now.

I've been checking into some Tampa area rides lately,, we'd love to do the skyway run sometime soon, but also was looking into

Withlacooche River in the Brooksville area
also the Crystal River and Anclote.

All are within a reasonable drive for me, and I'm tired of the Peace River but we will do it one or two more times before the rains stop and we can't make the long runs after the levels drop, too dam shallow.

Ahh...Crystal River. Fond memories of replacing a worn out valve (size of a volkswagon) under the Reactor at the Nuclear Plant. Strick regulations on just about everything there including no food or drink in the reactor building. Made our way down to the valve, after mock up practice, and what did we find? A Kentucky Fried Chicken box with nothing left but the bones. This was just after I got busted by RADCON for chewing gum.
Best part of the trip was the Tikki Bar.

Oh crap sorry to get off subject. 96spxpos go for it but have a tanker ship following you. lol Sounds Fun. I personally would not do it without having some sort of extra fuel provisions.

 

[96spxpos]

Yea Crystal River has the Manatees there bc the water from the Power Plant is like piss warm in the winter.
and yea, they had extra fuel tanks on the back of the Seadoo boat that was following them.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Also, For What It's Worth, my All-State policy only covers PWCs up to 10 miles "offshore." (so in the bay I'm covered, even if it's more than 10 miles to land),

However, my same policy, for my Boat is 100 miles "off shore"

So apparently if I wreck 10.001 miles off the coast, I don't have insurance....

I've thought about taking a broken ski hull and making it a towable 'trailer' used to carry 2 or more 5 gallon gas cans... and a cooler... that could be fun.

I've used my 99 GSX to easily tow my then broken 2000 GTX. It got the tow ski up on plane! remove the engine and other crap, I bet you could make it tow easier... no jet pump would cut drag.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

I dunno, I guess that living in the keys when I finally owned the jetski I was riding, being able to stand up and see nurse sharks, turtles, dolphins and tons of fish, kinda gave me an affinity for riding in the clear water we see in that video...

you have some pretty dam nice water up your way tho... granted, its not the key's...but its nice. Clearwater Beach, Venice, Siesta Key, Boca Grande. I have a bunch of murky crap that I ride in unless I head an hour south to Marco or an hour north to Venice.

The furthest north I generally Ride is up to Boca from Pine Island, but we've been talking (and i'm the one holding it up) about going from Ft Myers to Venice, and return in the same day but that is a LOT of gulf riding for one day and if its rough its too much for my old bones. About 150+ miles round trip. If i'm doing 150 in a day, i'm searching for Glass.

re: the Skyway run, I agree, i'd very much rather NOT do that run on a windy day, I can deal with slow rollers, but washbowl conditions, well, suck. Both of the harbor's and the one bay that I ride all have a bad spot with washbowl almost every time and its only fun for about 3 minutes. I usually just half jam the throttle and muscle through it at about 45ish just to get it over with, if i tried it at wot i'd probably break a few bones.

If you want to do some offshore riding, there are always some guys on the Junkies website that will go, lots of younger guys with big ski's and brass balls.

 

[LouDoo]

I feel my 2-stroke ski's are very reliable, we take them on 70mi. round trip rides all the time and they have never let us down. I did blow out a wear ring once, but still made it back to the dock. That being said this is on an inland lake, I think I would be a little nervous on any ski on the open ocean. But there is strength in numbers.

Lou

 

[69boss]

There is a reason many sea going boats have 2 engines. Sea Doo PWC's do not. I wouldn't go any further than your prepared to be towed back. All it takes is a small piece of crud in a jet and your done.

Recently a friend and myself went on a trip that was going to be about 30 miles each way. Without any warning the XPDI I was on lost a fuel pump. on the way back to the truck the other one had a cooling system failure and overheated. We had a long day but not like being stuck on the ocean.

 

[LouDoo]

Here's a thread from a couple of years ago, a pretty sobering experience. It's kinda what not to do, fortunately everything turned out O.K.

http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?51294-So-i-ran-out-of-gas-today-on-the-bay

Lou

 

[Spimothy Leary]

There is a reason many sea going boats have 2 engines. Sea Doo PWC's do not. I wouldn't go any further than your prepared to be towed back. All it takes is a small piece of crud in a jet and your done.

Recently a friend and myself went on a trip that was going to be about 30 miles each way. Without any warning the XPDI I was on lost a fuel pump. on the way back to the truck the other one had a cooling system failure and overheated. We had a long day but not like being stuck on the ocean.

yip... I was just over 20 miles from the ramp back about 3 years ago on my old Yamaha760, piece of debris clogged up my cooling line, popped the top end coming around a corner at about 40, drifted into the tree's, and one the way back the friggen rain started coming down, it was a LONG, wet, frustrating return trip to the ramp. But again, i'd much rather be getting towed 20 miles down river than 20 miles to Bimini, then have to figure out how to get the broken ski back to miami.

 

[Bonmotwang]

I know a lot of people love and prefer riding on "glass", but unless you're racing or trying to get an accurate top speed count, I honestly have no real interest in riding on a lake. I like the waves.

Hey. My lake has big waves :-D


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[CReynoldsMIZ]

I know a lot of people love and prefer riding on "glass", but unless you're racing or trying to get an accurate top speed count, I honestly have no real interest in riding on a lake. I like the waves.

for my money, nothing beats riding on glass. i love it.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

for my money, nothing beats riding on glass. i love it.

Its my favorite.... especially twisty river runs at 60+,, nothing better IMO.

here's one run (at around 35, it was shallow and cop's on the water so we had to behave) and if your the lead ski its even better because you get the reflection of the tree's on the water.... Labor day ride with a couple of SDF members, not my video, eltoro's. 96 miles in about 3 hours.

[video=youtube;RIz0hyqWmAA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIz0hyqWmAA[/video]

 

[96spxpos]

that thing cranks!!!!

 

[Spimothy Leary]

that thing cranks!!!!

I really really need to record a speed run down the twisty's on the Peace or the Kissimmee where we're hitting 65 in the turns and 72 on the straights, it actually gets a little scary when cornering

 

[Davidgsx]

I have made the trek from my slip in Marina del Rey to Catalina island many times on my honda 4stroke and my old Yamaha 2 stroke, never alone, most of the time my wife was next to me in our 32foot twin screw Tiara. I have done it with just the 2 skis also. It's a little scary to get mid channel and shut the ski's off!! Very quiet


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