Nate Surveyor
New Member
I am talking about a ski that is 40-100 hp, (so it still has a fun factor), that is cheap to fix, rarely ever breaks, and not expensive to start with.
Honda had a 50 cc mini bike back in the 1970's that you could just run the tires plumb off of it, and it would just keep going, and going and going!
It appears to me that 4 stroke is better on the gas, but more expensive to start with. So, maybe there should be 2 categories.
2 stroke, and 4 stroke.
Also, my wife (wise woman) says she really hates being left behind. Well, we have 6 kids. So, with my wife and I, totals to 8 persons! Now, granted, some are small, but we cannot all ride together on the Sea Doo.
I will admit that I have been thinking about taking a full size air bed, and mounting it on a 2x wide toboggan, and towing it directly behind the Doo! Kids would really love that! But, you could loose a kid, and not miss him till too late, with that many persons on board! This would be limited to a small area for safety.
I can take 3 kids, and myself, because they are all small. For short rides, like it is.
And, another question. What about outboard motors? I have a good old Ouachita Bass boat. 65 HP Merc with bad electronics. Wife would prefer that we fix the boat up.
Then, Arkansas has a law that you have to carry 50k in PL & PD liability insurance, just to put it in the water. (anything bigger than 50 HP) This means that I would have to buy insurance to the tune of 144.00 a yr on the Sea Doo. Probably more for a boat.
Now, we are frugal folks, and it bugs me to have to pay 140 a yr.
BUT if you go back to 50 hp, no insurance. Same for the boat.
So, we are looking at getting some sort of 4 stroke outboard for the boat, that is 50 HP. Now, it is not an ongoing expense to the insurance company.
Same appears to be true for the Sea Doo. 50 HP or less, don't need the insurance. We are quite safety minded, and watch everything all the time.
With Gas Prices like they are, and this Sea Doo has a 15 gallon tank. Takes $60 to fill 'er up from empty. That provides us about a day of riding. We don't do the WOT thing for very long. I plan to keep the Doo for long enough to teach the kids all to drive it, (with me on it) and all the basic water safety stuff. But, for the long run, we want to figure out how to go to go for 30 days a yr to the lake, with a water craft, without spending alot of dough.
Kids love fishing, trot lining, and anything with dad.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Frugal Nate
Honda had a 50 cc mini bike back in the 1970's that you could just run the tires plumb off of it, and it would just keep going, and going and going!
It appears to me that 4 stroke is better on the gas, but more expensive to start with. So, maybe there should be 2 categories.
2 stroke, and 4 stroke.
Also, my wife (wise woman) says she really hates being left behind. Well, we have 6 kids. So, with my wife and I, totals to 8 persons! Now, granted, some are small, but we cannot all ride together on the Sea Doo.
I will admit that I have been thinking about taking a full size air bed, and mounting it on a 2x wide toboggan, and towing it directly behind the Doo! Kids would really love that! But, you could loose a kid, and not miss him till too late, with that many persons on board! This would be limited to a small area for safety.
I can take 3 kids, and myself, because they are all small. For short rides, like it is.
And, another question. What about outboard motors? I have a good old Ouachita Bass boat. 65 HP Merc with bad electronics. Wife would prefer that we fix the boat up.
Then, Arkansas has a law that you have to carry 50k in PL & PD liability insurance, just to put it in the water. (anything bigger than 50 HP) This means that I would have to buy insurance to the tune of 144.00 a yr on the Sea Doo. Probably more for a boat.
Now, we are frugal folks, and it bugs me to have to pay 140 a yr.
BUT if you go back to 50 hp, no insurance. Same for the boat.
So, we are looking at getting some sort of 4 stroke outboard for the boat, that is 50 HP. Now, it is not an ongoing expense to the insurance company.
Same appears to be true for the Sea Doo. 50 HP or less, don't need the insurance. We are quite safety minded, and watch everything all the time.
With Gas Prices like they are, and this Sea Doo has a 15 gallon tank. Takes $60 to fill 'er up from empty. That provides us about a day of riding. We don't do the WOT thing for very long. I plan to keep the Doo for long enough to teach the kids all to drive it, (with me on it) and all the basic water safety stuff. But, for the long run, we want to figure out how to go to go for 30 days a yr to the lake, with a water craft, without spending alot of dough.
Kids love fishing, trot lining, and anything with dad.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Frugal Nate
