Checklist for pre-launch..need your suggestions

[tresvatos1]

Can some of my fellow Sea doo boaters help me come up with a pre-launch, and a pre-tow checklist.

There are a lot of little things to remember, and I know from being a aircraft pilot, it just helps to have a checklist.

The main thing I can think of is the drain plug before launch, but hey I've seen some idiots put in without it…

The prelaunch things I can come up with off the top of my head are.

1. DRAIN PLUG, or plugs.
2. Tow straps off
3. lifejackets
4. Fire ext.
5. Registration on board
6. Blower on before start


Please add as you see necessary, and what order you think..

Thanks for your input.

 

[kustomkarl]

You need to unplug the trailer too so the hot light bulbs don't blow from the cold water. This also keep the electrical charge off the trailer to stop corrosion. I tie off my front cleat and have a helper grab it as it floats off the trailer or grab it myself if I'm by myself and tie it off at the dock.
I have mine down to a science and it takes me less than 5 minutes to launch or remove any of my boats from the water, even my 26' Chris Craft.

Karl

 

[scooper77515]

Gas tanks full, battery charged, and my worst fear is towing the boat for an hour, putting it on the launch, and finding that I left my DESS key at home...:ack:

Luckily, I have never done that, but you never know when it will happen.

Also, I tend to put in new plugs before I put it in the water. Cheap insurance leading to a long day of uninterrupted riding. I buy them by the box for a little over a buck a piece, and consider it part of a day's consumption.

 

[kustomkarl]

Also, I tend to put in new plugs before I put it in the water. Cheap insurance leading to a long day of uninterrupted riding. I buy them by the box for a little over a buck a piece, and consider it part of a day's consumption.

Yecks...Plugs lasted me for about 4 months of running when I had the Challenger. I always kept a set handy but never used them. I always started it up before leaving the house, or dropping it in the water off the lift.

Karl

 

[sporsterjoel]

You should have a tool box..... Im mounting one inside the engine bay of my seadoo.

Here are some ideas

-spark plugs & wrech/socket
-Oil & oil syphon
-rachet & sockets(only the sizes i think or know i'll need)
-spray lube, im going with WD-40
-zip ties
-screwdriver(s)
-water proof tape
-duct tape
-sidecutters
-pliers
-visegrips
-clam to pinch water inlet hose incase of towing.
-extra fuses
-rags
-tow rope

For you check list you should have an
These things are LAW where i boat you should check yours..

anchor with 50ft of rope
saftey kit with flash light, flars, whistle ect ect
paddle

 

[seadoosnipe]

Lights!.....

Oh, and don't forget a couple extra light bulbs for those pretty blue lights on the back of the boat!.........:rofl:

Seriously, it seems that eveyone has covered not just the basics but enough to tear the engine down!......:cheers:

 

[scooper77515]

Yecks...Plugs lasted me for about 4 months of running when I had the Challenger. I always kept a set handy but never used them. I always started it up before leaving the house, or dropping it in the water off the lift.

Karl, I am guessing that my driving habits are different than yours. The wife doesn't like to go full out fast for very long, so we tend to drive at half throttle.

Remember the second day I took this boat out? I called you and said it was running like crap, and apparently only on one cylinder?

Well, I swapped plugs and it ran fine, but it tended to do that every other time out or so, so now, i just put new plugs in at every launch so I don't have to stop at a beach or on the water and swap them out.

I bet that if I drove full throttle more of the time that the plugs would keep clean for much longer.

 

[timmyboy76]

Oh, and don't forget a couple extra light bulbs for those pretty blue lights on the back of the boat!.........:rofl:

Seriously, it seems that eveyone has covered not just the basics but enough to tear the engine down!......:cheers:

Yah really, by all means, no offense, but darn, you can set up shop with all that....Guess better safe than sorry...

 

[tresvatos1]

Things i've seen at the ramp...

I am adding all of this, and going to make a laminated checklist..

You know how you can forget stuff, when your trying to launch and the lady is nagging you about some sunscreen or something alot less important.

getting on another subject, but kinda the same. Some things i've seen at the ramp.

1.Guy put in with no drain plug

2. Man forgot tie ropes and decided to use his body, wound up going in, after doin' the splits.

3. Tow up ramp with prop foot down..we don't have to worry about that tho...

 

[robertm]

I am adding all of this, and going to make a laminated checklist..

You know how you can forget stuff, when your trying to launch and the lady is nagging you about some sunscreen or something alot less important.

getting on another subject, but kinda the same. Some things i've seen at the ramp.

1.Guy put in with no drain plug

2. Man forgot tie ropes and decided to use his body, wound up going in, after doin' the splits.

3. Tow up ramp with prop foot down..we don't have to worry about that tho...

I can attest to a few of those. It never ceases to amaze me that whatever the heck is on the wife's mind at the moment is somehow more important than me properly launching the boat. I have only lost my cool with her a couple times but we had an outing or two in the beginning when it happened. Its better now that I'm more confident and can multitask better.

With regards to the drain plugs, I can tell you for sure that a challenger 180 will not immed. sink with them left open. I had them open for over an hour on one trip and didn't realize it until I was idling waiting to go back up on the trailer. There was a pretty good amount of water in the belly but you never would have realized it cruising around. Took probably a couple years off my life worrying it was going to sink before I got it back up on the trailer though. Def. a good and fortunately cheap lesson!!

A checklist is a great idea for sure before it becomes second nature!

 

[scooper77515]

oops, deleted...

 

[kustomkarl]

Karl, I am guessing that my driving habits are different than yours. The wife doesn't like to go full out fast for very long, so we tend to drive at half throttle.

Remember the second day I took this boat out? I called you and said it was running like crap, and apparently only on one cylinder?

Well, I swapped plugs and it ran fine, but it tended to do that every other time out or so, so now, i just put new plugs in at every launch so I don't have to stop at a beach or on the water and swap them out.

I bet that if I drove full throttle more of the time that the plugs would keep clean for much longer.

Where I keep my seadoo on the lift it takes 20 minutes of no wake zone(dead Idle) to get to the ICW. So it takes the same on the return trip too...I never foul plugs. Be sure your plugs are gaped properly.

Karl

 

[scooper77515]

I will start to check them with feeler gauges, and not the round thingy from Sears....

 

[timeman]

The pre-launch list seems to be getting pretty lengthy and all encompassing...but........where is beer?

 

[scooper77515]

Beer is under ice in the built-in cooler. you shouldn't have to include that in your check list.

That is right up there with "is the boat ON the trailer?"

:reddevil:

 

[seadoo GTS 1993]

Good checklists.... but im curious if its a law to have insurance? One of my skis has it but the other doesnt.

 

[kustomkarl]

If your check list gets any longer there won't be enough time to enjoy the boating experience...:ack: :rofl:

Karl

 

[sporsterjoel]

If your check list gets any longer there won't be enough time to enjoy the boating experience...:ack: :rofl:

Karl

depends where you boat/ride i guess. My tool list my be a little over board but where i boat its good to be prepared. Also a must is a VHF radio dont leave the dock with out one.

I use the standard horizon HX750s

http://www.standardhorizon.com/inde...42B287735CB53D1B21C&DivisionID=3&isArchived=0

 

[scooper77515]

It might be different from state to state, but insurance usually isn't law. Good idea though.

In fact, when we picked up our boat from Karl, I meant to purchase insurance over the phone (Progressive) before we left his driveway, but we made it around the corner and out of the neighborhood, and to the local WalMart before I remembered, and called them up to purchase it.

I made a 20 minute phone call while gassing up and drove off with an insured boat and trailer before our long drive back to Houston.

 

[tresvatos1]

I don't know if the beer under ice part would fly with the Army corp. of engineers patroling our waterways around Mississippi...Usually don't mess with you unless you are acting stupid, but what do you do when they decide to do a safety check at the ramp, and there you are, loaded down with booze....

 

[sporsterjoel]

I don't know if the beer under ice part would fly with the Army corp. of engineers patroling our waterways around Mississippi...Usually don't mess with you unless you are acting stupid, but what do you do when they decide to do a safety check at the ramp, and there you are, loaded down with booze....

I Dont know about your laws but here i can transport to say a friends boat that i can drink on or someone cottage ect ect that you can only get to by boat. Law here is you cant consume booze unless the boat has a fixed stove bathroom and is anchor. If you get caught with it just tell them your meeting some friends with a large boat later one and told them you bring them some beer or some lie like that LOL. But like i said there are no laws againts transporting booze but check your laws to be sure :cheers:

 

[scooper77515]

I drive with a beer in hand most of the time.

I take it easy of course, but TX law is beer in hand is OK as long as you are under the legal limit (and I think the legal limit is a little higher than the driving limit of .08). Of course, act stupid and you are busted no matter what your BAC is.

It is also OK if passengers are puking and/or passed out, as long as they aren't driving.

Despite this, I stop drinking beer or switch to soda or water if I even start to feel any sort of buzz. I don't want to have an accident and even THINK it was because of my drinking.

I couldn't live with myself if I hurt someone.

 

[top_speed]

Hey Trev
Like your blue LED's!
Cops around here don't like us using blue led's as they think that it's "their" color