Help! (Old boats, small budgets)

[LilMikey]

Hello SeaDooers,

My wife and I have been renting boats for about a year and now I want to get something of my own. I have a pretty strict wife-imposed budget though and have been wracking my brain over what to buy for a couple months now. I really love the idea of a jet boat... nice and fast, thrill the friends, pull up to the beach, light and easy to trailer. Perfect. Not real in to fishing or anything; just cruising and maybe pulling some things. I live in Jacksonville so most of the time I would be on the intracoastal or St Johns river. Maybe a quick hop in the Atlantic for some giggles. We've had up to 6 on our rental but usually in the 4-5 range.

So... most of the boats I've been looking at are in the year 2000-area. A couple challenger 1800s and ls2000s come in around 6-7k with some Utopia 185s for just a little bit more.

So, I have a lot of questions...

First, the intracoastal has a little chop, nothing to severe outside the inlet though. The St. Johns has what I would imagine would be normal chop for a really wide river. The ls2000 is longer but only has an 18 degree deadrise compared to the 20 degrees on the Challengers and Utopias. The Utopia also seems to sit real high on the water. I'm wondering if any of those three boats would handle moderate chop better than the other? Our rental was usually a 19' deck boat. Plenty of room for people but slow as piss and I would guess that flat bottom would be far worse in chop than any of the boats I'm considering?

Second, the Challengers have twin Rotaxes, the ls2000 twin Yamahas. I'm guessing those power plants would be roughly similar with respect to noise (real loud), fuel efficiency (real bad), and maintenance (real low) compared to the Mercs in the Utopias of that age. How does the noise of the single carbed 210 compare to the dual rotaxes? For me, I'm more concerned with regular maintenance than worst-case disaster, replace-it-all maintenance risks. From reading it would seem that the carbed version of the three boats would be similar in maintenance (obviously with twice the rebuilds and plugs on the twins)? I think there are enough Mechanics in the Jacksonville area I would have little problem finding someone willing to work on the Mercs or the twins.

Third, both the intracoastal and river and pretty muddy and some of the arteries can be a bit weedy. I've seen a handful of jet boats scooting around but I was wondering if anyone else boats in the area and can comment on the amount or frequency of impeller jam-ups. Yamaha owners like to talk about the clean-out plugs. I'm wondering if that should be a factor or if it's much less of a problem than people make it out to be. The locals say just get an I/O and deal with the maintenance, weight, lack of punch, etc.

As of now, I'm really liking the layout of the Utopia, with the wrap-around windshield and a lot of storage but the Merc and additional cost are turn-offs. The ls2000 would probably be my second choice as it has a good layout and the bow of the Challenger is a little cramped however one of the Challengers is pimped out with wake tower and crazy stereo. Hopefully this will be a starter boat so something that will minimize loss when we inevitably upgrade would be great too.

All feedback for a confused potential Dooer is appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Seadoobuddy]

welcome to the forum.
You are asking the right questions to the right people. I can't answer as I'm a ski only guy for jet pumps. I own a I/O also.
Just wait for some more answers.
Enjoy what ever you buy.

 

[kicker]

Welcome Lilmikey, hope you enjoy the forum. Just a tip, when you want to post a thread, find the most suitable forum on the home page to post to. This makes it easier for the experts and guys that have the same things in common to find your post. So, for this type of post, I would start the thread within the seadoo boat category, cause that's where all the boat owners will spend most of their time.

Sorry, I am a ski guy so I wont be much help, but im sure there is a bunch of boat owners that will chime in and love to debate it with you.

Good Luck

 

[LouDoo]

I have owned watercraft all my life and the short of it is there is no such thing as owning a boat on a budget.

The least expensive to own would be a single engine rotax powered simply because there is only one engine and only one of everything to go wrong, plus you will use less gas. However a twin engine rotax increases the fun factor by more than double and you have an extra engine to get you home, should you have trouble.

Unless you can find a good mechanic to work on your boat or you are capable of doing the work yourself I would stay away from the Merc. powered boats.

I'm a SeaDoo guy, however if you are on a budget a inboard/outboard boat might be the way to go. The most reliable boat I ever owned was a mid eighties Sea Ray with a 305 io.

Lou

 

[LilMikey]

Thanks guys!

kicker- I don't see an option to move a thread so if it gets little traction here I'll post something similar over in one of the boats forums.

LouDoo- I'm interested in your comment that an I/O might be the way to go since you're not the first to have suggested it. I'm not sure I see why an I/O would be more suitable? From what I hear they are maintenance nightmares with both expensive engines and outdrives as well as additional annual maintenance. I had pretty much counted I/Os out due to the horror stories of leaky outdrives and destroyed props in the shallow intracoastal. The I/Os I'm seeing in a similar price range are also older and generally have pretty poor layouts (I hate that split back-seat with the engine compartment in the middle) and pretty much no swim access from the back. Also they seem to be heavier than similar jets, still well under the 5k limit of my vehicle though. Not to mention their lack of speed and punch. The one thing that draws me to the I/Os is that they would seem to be quieter than the jets in general which I think the wife would appreciate.

Which Seadoos have the single rotax? Only ones I've seen in my price range have been their smaller boats. There are a ton of marine mechanics around and many that advertise they work on Merc outboards so I'm sure I could find someone to work on the Merc but the extra expense and PITA kind of scares me.

I'm mechanically inclined to the point I feel I could take a stab at the Rotaxes. Those Mercs look terrifying though.

 

[ocod]

I'll add my .02 cents.

I have the 1800 Sportster.
The seating is not optimal b/c its has the bench seating towards the back. The engines are the smaller but are somewhat easier to work on yourself VS the Challenger with has the larger 787 engine and better layout.
(Engine has some extra moving parts that the 717 doesn't )

While you intended to take more than 4-5 people that puts the smaller single engine boat out of the picture.
Those are the 14 to 16.5 Speedsters.
Certain years changed engine options.

The Islandia and some challenger while nice and bigger have the Merc engine is run away!!!!!
They are $$$ to repair when they good bad and not everyone works on them b/c its a hybrid w/Seadoo.

While having an I/O before I will tell you stick with outboards.
The I/O is a car engine in a boat with the external drive.
More moving parts to go bad.......

The Jet boat will get you to shallow places w/o worrying of running a ground and ruining skeg or prop.
If you do beach boat theres a chance you mess up a $50 wear ring and may be dinged up our prop.
I/O or outboards have to be more carful.

Regards to prop there is non to worry about if you have kids. Another plus.

Downside is weeds will clogged intake grate, then you have to jump in the water and clear opening



Aslo. bigger heavier boats need two engine thus consume more gas but depends on how you drive?
Its the same pro/con one engine or two as always....



edit:
Reference site for engine/boat combo
http://www.seadoosource.com/boatengineref.html

 

[LouDoo]

Re: IO Boats.

I can only speak from personal experience. The motor was a 305 Chevrolet, a very reliable engine and parts a readily available. I only ever had two problems with the outdrive, I replaced the lower impeller a couple of times and the gimbell bearing once.

Lou

 

[ocod]

Re: IO Boats.

I can only speak from personal experience. The motor was a 305 Chevrolet, a very reliable engine and parts a readily available. I only ever had two problems with the outdrive, I replaced the lower impeller a couple of times and the gimbell bearing once.

Lou

That is a bullet proof motor if it comes w/carbs....