Islandia

[dbracela]

Hello Islandia/Merc owners,

I'm thinking of going to look at this boat. I've read the threads on things to look for. So, I'm just wondering what people think of this particular boat

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...eadoo-Islandia-22-Deckboat-W0QQAdIdZ499352285

The next closest one in price is 14 grand.

With the rebuilt engine, are there any specific issues I should be afraid of?

Thanks guys, Dan.

 

[Dr Honda]

Since it has a fresh engine.... you should be good to go.


We love ours. If you have a family, and friends who like to go boating... it's the ideal toy. It's big enough to have 7 or 8 people on board... but still have room. And... it can take the waves of a rough day on the lake... but it's small enough to be easy to trailer. (assuming you have a full sized truck) It has fresh water, a head, and a couple big swim platforms, and enough storage for a day out on the water.


It's big... so it's not going to the fastest boat out there... but it will be into the 40's with a normal load of people.

 

[dbracela]

Thanks,

I'm thinking a boat like that would fit our style. On the seadoo side of things, are parts becoming hard to find?

 

[Dr Honda]

..... On the seadoo side of things, are parts becoming hard to find?

Yes and no.


Seadoo has this nasty habit of discontinuing parts on anything that hasn't been made in a few years. But, its no harder than any of the other 2-stroke boats. I just bought a shift cable last seaon, and a couple trim parts without an issue.


Fortunatly... MOST of the pats on the boat are generic. So... I don't even try to look at a "Dealer" for most of the parts.

For example:

1) I needed a fresh water pump. the "Seadoo" part was almost $400. But, I pulled the pump out of the hull, and there was a flowjet label on it. A flowjet pump from Overton's was $120. (way cheaper) But, I found a new surplus pump for.......... $20 !!!!!!

2) I wanted a new port-a-potty. Seadoo was almost $500, but the name was on the side. Walmart had it for $80.

3) I needed a few switches. Seadoo $30 to $70 !!!!!! A regular Carlton switch was $12 to $19.

4) Steering, cables and throttle handles = Tellefex

5) Plastic Hardware (including lights and latches) = Perko

7) bilge and pond pumps = Rule

8) engine, drive and it's electrical = Mercury

And so on.....



With the boats.... seadoo makes the hull, and seats. (the "hard" parts) But, all the mechnaical, hardware, and whatnot.... is sourced from other people. So.... you can normally get the parts.

 

[dbracela]

Thanks Doc,

I know with the challenger things are pretty easy to find with the exception of some electrical stuff. But what you said is good news.

He's had it for sale for a while and re-listed it twice. So maybe I can talk him down. Needs a bit of work, but I know that going in.

Yep, I have full size truck. '04 dodge ram 4x4 with the 5.7. So I can pull it, I'll just have to hit every gas station on the way.

Thanks.

 

[racerxxx]

Use the seats as one of your bargaining chips, looks like they all need to be covered.

Hey [MENTION=38897]Dr. Honda[/MENTION], Does your Islandia have the trim tabs? I noticed the one Dbracela is looking at had them.

 

[Dr Honda]

Thanks Doc,

I know with the challenger things are pretty easy to find with the exception of some electrical stuff. But what you said is good news.

The Merc boats don't even have an MPEM. So, no super fragile, super expensive computer to burn out with a simple jump start. I'm not saying the Merc computer is cheap... but they are not know to burn out. AND... any of the older outboard EFI computers can be flashed to work. (I've seen them for $100 on ebay, and there are even fully programmable versions for racing that would work)

He's had it for sale for a while and re-listed it twice. So maybe I can talk him down. Needs a bit of work, but I know that going in.

Yep... go beat him up on the price. Summer is coming to an end, and if he's tired of looking at it... then you may get it down a little. BUT... with the new engine.... the price is already good.

 

[Dr Honda]

Use the seats as one of your bargaining chips, looks like they all need to be covered.

Hey [MENTION=38897]Dr. Honda[/MENTION], Does your Islandia have the trim tabs? I noticed the one Dbracela is looking at had them.

Nope. But I'd like a better (closer) picture of them.


I've thought about making a set... it really could use them. It doesn't bounce or anything like that.... but on hot days... everyone wants to sit under the Bimini... and that puts a bunch of weight in the back. It would be nice to be able to push the nose down. at lower speeds. Actually... the last time I was out... I told someone to go sit up front... and that leveled us out. Sure... I could have mashed the throttle... and got us above 35 mph.... but this was a group of older people... and they wanted to tool around at 15 mph.

 

[dbracela]

I'll be contacting him tomorrow. It's 5 hours from here so I'll have him email more pictures. I'll post some better pics of the trim tabs if you'd like.

We were on the challenger on lake eerie today, and came across an Islandia anchored in front of a cottage. The guy had the engine hatch up and was putting on swim goggles. We went over and asked to see the boat, I wanted my wife to get an idea of it. The gentleman asked us who services our boat and I said "me. " He asked if I could listen to his run, as he was having a problem. He had sucked up some weeds, cleared them out, and a short while later started hearing a "rattle" while tubing some kids. He started it up and I told him to kill it. To me it sounded like a broken rod. I offered to tow him to the marina but he said he was just going to leave it till he finds a shop who will work on it. He has called 14 shops. The Merc shops say they don't touch seadoo. The seadoo shops say they don't touch Mercs. Poor guy, he and his wife were very nice. I was pissed though, I still don't get why the Merc shops won't fix an engine, has nothing to do with the jet drive. I should have offered to pull the engine at my house and he could deliver it to Merc so the seadoo part wouldn't get in the way.

I pointed them towards this site and mentioned Dr. Honda as a guy who may be able to lead them in the right direction. They just got this thing a month ago.

 

[Dr Honda]

That has been an issue over the years. BUT... if he has a Merc boat... the Merc dealer should work on it. What he needs to do, is say.... "I have a Merc 240 Sportjet, and it needs serviced." Basically... don't say anything about it being a seadoo. Also... it's an excuse a shop can use if they are busy, and don't want to take in more work.

Regardless... a seadoo shop WON'T work on the Merc boats. (isn't that nice of them) Basically, when they killed the relationship... they stopped all parts support. So... even if they wanted to work on it... they can't get parts.

The Merc engines have a 10'is year life... so all the 2000 to 2004 Merc boats are on borrowed time, if the engine's haven't been rebuilt yet.

 

[Dr Honda]

Any updates??


Just an FYI... the flowjet pump I used is on sale again. It's whopping $15 !!!! (for the fresh water system) Even if it doesn't need it... it's good to have one on the shelf.

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G18959

 

[dbracela]

Not yet, he hasn't returned my call or email. I'll try him again tonight. The ad is still active so there's a chance he still has it.

 

[dbracela]

He got back to me, here is what he said and a pic of his tabs. Let me know what you think, thanks.

Hi Dan, be happy to answer all your questions. I bought this boat with the motor in non running condition in the fall of 2010. Turned out the oil injection pump drive gear had failed, so most of the cylinders had been scored. I rebuilt it myself, except for the cylinder boring. All cylinders were bored oversize, all new pistons and rings, all new crank bearings and wrist pin bearings, and new drive gears for oil injection pump (obviously). This is the third season I've used it and the engine has run perfectly since, and I've put 10-20 hours on it.
The hull is in good shape, it does have surface scratches and some fading, but all gel coat chips have been repaired.
The fresh water pumps work, yes, only issue is that a new shower head is needed on the stern platform. It was leaking.
I haven't checked compression lately, I'm very confident that the numbers are what they should be on a new engine.
Impeller and wear ring are in excellent shape, I've been very happy with the Mercury Jet drive. No cavitation whatsoever on this boat.
Trim tabs are hydraulic with helm controls. They are made by Bennett.
Yes, the previous owner left it out on the water without a cover, that explains the seat condition.
Everything but the shower head I mentioned is all there, the gauges work except the fuel gauge reads full when the engine is running, with ignition turned on and engine off it reads accurately. I haven't looked at why that is yet. The low fuel (20%) alarm works, as do all the lights. Radio/cd player works except for the track "back" button. Speaker grills are cracked from sun as well. Comes with a ski pole.
I have a a few photos on my phone I've attached of the trim tabs from when I installed them. I'm away this weekend till Sun afternoon, but I can take some more then if you like. Hopefully this information helps, I'm very honest about the condition of this boat, and the cosmetics are the reason I'm asking $9400 as opposed to what a "less used" 2000 Islandia is typically priced at, in spite of the "like new" engine in this boat.

 

[Dr Honda]

GEEZZZZ....


Go buy that boat. You can send it to an upholstery shop, and it will only cost $600 to $1k to have it done. OR... better yet... if you want to do it yourself... I know Brett would love to have the old covers to make a pattern from. (He's a member here and owns www.seadooupholstery. com) He will probably give you a break on all of it since you will be helping him expand his product line.


I keep thinking about tabs on my boat.


That guy probably rebuilt his engine with the same kit I did. It's good quality parts.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I don't think I would ever own a boat without tabs.

It literally makes it a different boat.

 

[dbracela]

GEEZZZZ....


Go buy that boat .

Workin' on it. Need to find time to go see it. Plus, I'm being out voted so far. I vote yes, she votes no.... Lol.

She says I always do this. Fix up my junk and then sell it once its running right for a new project. Who knew?

 

[dbracela]

Sold. To someone else.... No fun but my own fault for moving too slow.

 

[Dr Honda]

Oh Well.......


It's hard to spend the $$$ when the other half doesn't want to.

I'm in a similar situation myself. I've been wanting to put my hands on an inexpensive 4-stroke ski. AND... I found a Yamaha local. The guy has had them posted for a while. I've been in contact with the seller, but I haven't found the motivation to go look at it. I guess that's partly because of this crappy summer. (bad weather, and a little cool)

This will be 3 weeks since first contact. So, I guess that's telling myself that I'm not really interested.


But... if you like boating... and you want more room... it's hard to beat the Islandia.

 

[racerxxx]

Hey Dbrac-- Could be worth the drive to Jersey. Not Merc powered either.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sead...ats&hash=item2c71d8efdc&vxp=mtr#ht_651wt_1005

 

[dbracela]

Thanks, I'll take a closer look tonight. It's a 10 hour drive, but I've never been to New Jersey! I quickly scanned his description, he mentions both Merc and rotax? I saw two start buttons, so it must be a twin, and I'm assuming the only twins offered were the twin rotax? I've started looking stateside for boats, and can't believe the price difference, even on fresh water boats.

On a side note, the challenger must know I've been thinking of selling her, because it's been running like a champ. I thinks it's convinced my wife to keep it for now, but I still want something roomier. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Dr Honda]

The 2006 is the first year of the Rotax (non-supercharged) engine in the Islandia. Honestly... that's the power system I would have preferred. BUT... I didn't want to drop $20k on a boat.

My problem with the boat Racerxxx posted is... it's a salt water boat, with sun damage. It was probably left in the water a lot. Also... they hade a nasty hurricane last year, and I would be VERY leery about any boat coming from that region. (Could have been under water for a while)

I just found a 2003 local to me. The guy who is selling it, posts every once in a while on a local board. He will shoot me a PM, and I will respond... then I dont' hear back from him for a week.

Anyway... He said he bought it for $16k. BUT... I told him, it's really only worth $14k. AND... since we are end of the season... he's only going to be able to get $10k to $12k for it.

If you are still interested in an islandia... it's local enough to me, that I coulg give it my blessing before you ever made the drive down.

Here's his CL add. (looks like he finally added a pic)

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/boa/4012200711.html


If you are interested... call him, talk about a price... and I can go look at it for you. But... if he's fixed on trying to get $16k for it... it's not worth it... UNLESS it has a brand new engine. (FYI that should be the engine with the better alternator and electric oil injection)

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I saw one of these in the water a couple weeks ago and it looked pretty decent, seemed like a good amount of room for a group. Looks like a deck boat to me. Of course I didn't get a chance to look inside before they took off......

The twin rotax 4 stroke would be nice, still would burn more fuel than an outboard deck boat but at least there's no wood to rot, which is what I really like about the newer boat hulls.

 

[dbracela]

The 2006 is the first year of the Rotax (non-supercharged) engine in the Islandia. Honestly... that's the power system I would have preferred. BUT... I didn't want to drop $20k on a boat.

My problem with the boat Racerxxx posted is... it's a salt water boat, with sun damage. It was probably left in the water a lot. Also... they hade a nasty hurricane last year, and I would be VERY leery about any boat coming from that region. (Could have been under water for a while)

I just found a 2003 local to me. The guy who is selling it, posts every once in a while on a local board. He will shoot me a PM, and I will respond... then I dont' hear back from him for a week.

Anyway... He said he bought it for $16k. BUT... I told him, it's really only worth $14k. AND... since we are end of the season... he's only going to be able to get $10k to $12k for it.

If you are still interested in an islandia... it's local enough to me, that I coulg give it my blessing before you ever made the drive down.

Here's his CL add. (looks like he finally added a pic)

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/boa/4012200711.html


If you are interested... call him, talk about a price... and I can go look at it for you. But... if he's fixed on trying to get $16k for it... it's not worth it... UNLESS it has a brand new engine. (FYI that should be the engine with the better alternator and electric oil injection)

That's a nice offer Doc, and I appreciate it, but I literally just found out that I may be changing stations at work, and a whole new schedule to boot. So, I'm pulling myself from the boat market till things are settled a bit. I'd hate to have someone go through all that trouble while I'm not in a good spot to buy. On the plus side, the change would give me more free time next summer, so more boat days, if the weather cooperates more than it did this year. Thanks again, very generous of you.

 

[racerxxx]

Sorry, I don't have much of a choice with salt water, it never really bothered me either. I'm gonna go through the entire thing anyway. But you land locked guys seem to run from it, guess I'll never get that. It also doesn't help that I would look for the biggest diamond in the rough at the lowest price. I might be the wrong guy to help looking for a boat, LOL.

 

[Dr Honda]

I don't have problems with salt either. I grew up in SoCal, and my toys would always be out in salt. BUT... when it's neglected... there's going to be problems.

Actually... in the ebay add... there is a HUGE red flag. It says... "Closed loop cooling system, so you don't have to worry about flushing." (or something close to that)

With that statement... I would be worried that the exhaust is ready to fall off. But... if the bids don't go too high, it doesn't mater.