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Are any of you boaters?

I think there is such a thing as sufficient power though- which might not be the maximum for which the hull is rated. All depends on what you expect out of your boat. My Tracker was rated for 90 or 95 but got by fine with its 50 for my purposes. It planed quickly and hit around 30 or a little better wide open. Throttle back and cruise at 26 or so. Most of my fishing was done where I didn't need to make long runs.

My 17 foot Bass Tracker only has a 30 hp 4 stroke, down graded from an old 40 hp 2 stroke it used to have. Most of the time I'm going under 10 mph so that works. But wide open it'll do maybe 20 mph - and that is running WOT. But I'm running fairly heavily loaded. I would prefer it could do 20 mph not at 6,000 rpms, but rather around 4500 rpm for the noise and wear factor.

Trackers are interesting because for the identical design other than transom the rating grew from 40 to at least 90 hp, and I've seen larger than that on the same basic hull made for over 3 decades.
 
Got the Speedster. The price was fantastic. It is about 90% as good as was my best hope - so lots of compounding and buffing. Lots of little broke stuff (latches, tabs, this and that.) There is a biggie, however.

After we made the deal, but hadn't brought it too me, he made a video of him starting and revving it up to show it runs good. Seems to run great - and he did about $700 to $1000 in damage doing it - if I have a shop take care of it. Most boat motors much not be run out of the water with water muffs (runs water out of a hose thru the motor. He didn't do that, but it wouldn't matter if he did. The pump itself is what cools the seal for the drive shaft into the pump. With no water, it is rubber running against metal (a metal pressure ring). The seal will fry within seconds. Minimally it will cause the impeller to cavitate badly by sucking in air. Worst case? Boat/PWC takes on so much water it floods the boat.

I'll have a dealer go thru the entire jet drive, and while doing so replace all components that wear, plus will have them go ahead and replace the motor mounts and make sure he aligned the motor exactly when he put it back in. That also will take out that seal. I figure all in all about $1K. But then it's good for at least 150 hours. These are not long life setups due to motors and jet drives meant for maximum horsepower at minimal weight. A 3 cylinder 1.5 3 stroke turning 8600 RPMs - possibly continuous - isn't a 1,000 hour usage set up. Since rarely will we push it hard, should get at least 200 hours out of the pump and 500+ hours out of the motor if he did it correctly.

Anyway, have ordered an OEM new bimini (most opt not to have one), all new OEM seat covers and vinyl, a fitted cover, replacement steering wheel, hatch locks, and some other odds and ends. I'll also probably de-badge it - removing all the decals all over it. All in all - 4 weeks with half of that just sitting in a shop.

Will post a picture after the license numbers are off it.
 
Got the Speedster. The price was fantastic. It is about 90% as good as was my best hope - so lots of compounding and buffing. Lots of little broke stuff (latches, tabs, this and that.) There is a biggie, however.

After we made the deal, but hadn't brought it too me, he made a video of him starting and revving it up to show it runs good. Seems to run great - and he did about $700 to $1000 in damage doing it - if I have a shop take care of it. Most boat motors much not be run out of the water with water muffs (runs water out of a hose thru the motor. He didn't do that, but it wouldn't matter if he did. The pump itself is what cools the seal for the drive shaft into the pump. With no water, it is rubber running against metal (a metal pressure ring). The seal will fry within seconds. Minimally it will cause the impeller to cavitate badly by sucking in air. Worst case? Boat/PWC takes on so much water it floods the boat.

I'll have a dealer go thru the entire jet drive, and while doing so replace all components that wear, plus will have them go ahead and replace the motor mounts and make sure he aligned the motor exactly when he put it back in. That also will take out that seal. I figure all in all about $1K. But then it's good for at least 150 hours. These are not long life setups due to motors and jet drives meant for maximum horsepower at minimal weight. A 3 cylinder 1.5 3 stroke turning 8600 RPMs - possibly continuous - isn't a 1,000 hour usage set up. Since rarely will we push it hard, should get at least 200 hours out of the pump and 500+ hours out of the motor if he did it correctly.

Anyway, have ordered an OEM new bimini (most opt not to have one), all new OEM seat covers and vinyl, a fitted cover, replacement steering wheel, hatch locks, and some other odds and ends. I'll also probably de-badge it - removing all the decals all over it. All in all - 4 weeks with half of that just sitting in a shop.

Will post a picture after the license numbers are off it.

Myself, I would never buy a used jet boat. Like I talked about earlier, the very nature of them tempts their owners to run the crap out of them. Add to that in rough water the intake can such air and the engine over revs every time that happens and you're talking something that often has a short life.
 
We live up an estuary/canal leading to the Gulf of Mexico, with rivers everywhere around here. I have a lot of boats and have had a lot more. I've probably given away at least 10 - all running - for free to get rid of them over the last few years - ranging from 4 personal watercraft (jet bike/boats), two 40+ foot twin diesel cabin cruisers (one a fishing style hull), a 32 foot twin 454 big block Sea Ray speedster, a 32 foot twin 6 cylinder inboards cruiser, a 9 foot little boat with a 5 hp outboard on a trailer with center steering station, and a picklefork trimaran drag boat hull (that I can think of off the top of my head.) All but the 2 big cruisers included the trailer.

I still have a 52 twin turbo cat 1980s diesel Cigarette, my Bass Tracker and am restoring a 1960s 12 foot "Ski Bird" 2 seat little race boat (turning out to be it far worse condition so it is a total strip down to the bare hull, removing half a century of multiple different color paint, and repairing all the hull and floor damage. If any of you are into boating I'll put up pics thru the restoration. I had forgotten I had bought it along the road for a few hundred dollars on the trailer with an old Evinrude and then just parked it in the weeds (becoming invisibly overgrown.) I like how it looks and thought it would be an easy quick clean up - not a total strip down to a completely empty bare hull with virtually nothing reusable.

Surprisingly, the motor runs perfect - though looks like hell. Most people would have considered this a scrape/junk hull. But it is quite unique and rare. When done, it will weigh a total of under 500 pounds running a 2 cylinder 2 stroke 60 hp outboard, which will give it a terrifying top speed of around 60 mph. In a 40 footer on smooth water that isn't that extreme. In a 12 foot 500 pound boat with you inches off the water it is. I figure it a 2 month project - if lucky.

My best boat has been the cheapest. My 17 foot bass tracker. I stripped it totally about 4 years ago. Put in an aluminum floor, a new 30 hp outboard, rewired it all, new seats and buffed out the hull to a mirror finish (that lasted about 3 months). That boat always gets me home - and I've been trapped with a boat full of people many miles offshore out in the Gulf in water so rough there were no other boats out - even the big 30+ footers had headed in. But we were on an island way, way out there and didn't notice the wind really kicking up.

Quite an exciting challenge struggling against the wind and tide with 4 foot white caps coming in at a 45 degree angle - in a boat that has less than 2 feet freeboard in the front - and less than a foot in the rear. No problem. I actually enjoyed the challenge, but I was driving and the others seemed a mix between being miserable and terrified. LOL

Probably going to add a 4th boat for personal boats. Probably have a couple more boats laying around somewhere.

So... are any of you boaters?
im lookin for a ship of at least a hundred feet in length, a couple of diesel engines. if you have any to give away. harrr
 
An update.

Just sold my 26' Islander to a young couple here in Virginia Beach......for a loss again like my last Islander, I got tired of the slip fees every month, and I'm getting too old to be climbing all over the boat in 3-4 foot seas.

Been looking at one of these lately for a retirement present in 11 months:

Passagemaker.jpg
 
Back on the topic of boats...

Bought another one. A person can never have too many broken boats. LOL

I took it straight to a shop to check it all out. It all checked out. What I've learned most of all about boats is the smallest boat you can get by with, the more often you'll use it and less time and money you'll be spending on it - plus easier to keep running.

I've had just about every kind of power boat up to 52 foot - open, cuddy, piscatory, sport, high speed, fully cruiser, diesel, gasoline. Big. Medium, small, wooden, fiberglass and aluminum, inboard, outboard, stern drive... Of all these, I have probably used my 1980s 17 foot aluminum Bass Tracker flat bottom more than all the others combined. I'll have at least 6 or 7 at any time, and generally will give away 1 or 2 a year - literal give them away, trailer and all. Most needing nothing to drop in the water and go. I hate selling stuff and as a complusive spending (not just boats) it just starts to pile up as my interests change.

My latest find is a 15 foot Sea Doo Speedster - a little 4 seater jet drive, basically a PWC/jet bike enlarged to being a small boat. All fast sport jet boats under 18 foot were basically outlaws by the Nanny-State Feds, so no company makes a FAST little jet drive. The smallest is 18.5 foot by Yamaha. Sea Doo, #1 in PWC sales stopped building boats entirely. Thanks Feds for getting people laid off trying to protect us. China now imports cheap little jet boats, legal because they are slow.

The fella before me rebuilt this Sea Doo 150 Speedster, replacing the entire motor-jet pump setup for a new RXT-T supercharged motor and pump set up that he really built up for speed (same physical size as the original 150 hp motor). You name the performance part, and it has it. This little boat is cranking out about 300 horsepower. 15 feet long. 1400 pounds.

For a tiny runabout it is crazy fast, 70+ mph. In any non-racing boat - and especially a little boat - that's hauling ass! Easy to tow, launch and re-trailer. The Bass Tracker is slow but ideal for exploring inland estuaries and the swampy backwaters. Even AT the coastline, but NOT offshore. I've taken it offshore many times, but a couple times - once in the say and once at night - it got quite challenging and with not another boat in any direction.

The Bass Tracker is good up to the start of white capping - 2 to 3 feet - with it getting miserable at 3 feet. If waves are hitting 4 feet when in the Bass Tracker the challenge is not swamping or capsizing. You better know what' you're doing and not be afraid to keep going and definitely not be in a hurry. You MUST watch the wave cycle - with usually the 4th the peak wave (unless just choppy). Wind direction. Current direction (which can be very different from the wind), and tidal direction. Much past 4 feet and it would be deciding whether to accept being swamped or, if not, being capsized - so it would be tie-every-thing-down and toss the anchor time - to "stay with the boat."

The Sea Doo is a deep-V, so will ride smoother all the way around - and will more gently ride over waves, plus will be side to side more stable, being 2 feet wider and not a flat bottom boat. Should be survivable up to about 6 feet seas, maybe 7 because you have a lot of quick acceleration power with a jet drive. Lots of power in a boat gets a lot of people into a lot of trouble, but in really bad seas, a lot of power can save the boat IF you know what you're doing.

I also bought a vintage Corvette (not rare or notable - though exactly the year and features I wanted - CHEAP) - specifically and only to tow the Sea Doo. But the 'Vette (only one I've ever had) is another story of itself.
 
An update.

Just sold my 26' Islander to a young couple here in Virginia Beach......for a loss again like my last Islander, I got tired of the slip fees every month, and I'm getting too old to be climbing all over the boat in 3-4 foot seas.

Been looking at one of these lately for a retirement present in 11 months:

View attachment 67269803

That is a beautiful day cruiser - ideal. Even makes heat and a/c easily had. That style also is very expensive. A wonderful boat.
 
People not experienced in boating, particularly offshore boating, might tend to think 3 to 4 foot waves are no big deal.

Think 3 to 4 foot tall speed bumps, irregular, at different angles - and your car has no suspension or wheels - rather is being slide only on its belly being pushed from the back of the car - though on sand rather than pavement. That is 3 to 4 foot waves. They kill lots and lots of people who do not understand just like in a car, everything could instantly turn to unstoppable tragedy if they are going too fast over even just 1 of those waves.

The owner of a local car dealership took is family out in his new triple 300 outboards 45 foot fly bridge cruiser, heading out the river (main channel) to the Gulf Of Mexico. At points less than 200 yards wide. The speed limit is 25 mph - which exactly everyone ignores entirely. Beautiful warm, calm summer early afternoon. Doing about 45 mph.

Coming the other way are always the returning morning people who went out fishing early morning - the heat finally getting to them. They're running wide open too. Tiny boat, medium size, big, really big, barges, fast, slow, both directions. A 38 foot open bow performance fishing boat with triple outboards was coming it - doing about 50 mph. Just after they had passed, the 45 foot cruiser hit the wake of the 38 footer.

The 45 footer flipped in the air. His head was chopped off by one of the propellers. None wearing life jackets, almost all of 3 generations of family died. How could a 3 foot wake (same as a wave) flip that big and heavy of boat only going 45 mph?

Mostly, though, it is boats in the 21 to 28 foot range that get flipped - or bounce out the driver and passenger(s). If near shore and discovered most times they'll live. If far offshore most times they only find the boat after a Coast Guard air search. Unfortunately, most people still don't wear life jackets and the driver doesn't hook up the motor kill switch line - so if they get tossed out of the boat the boat doesn't just run away on them - or circle around grinding them up with the propeller. A propeller hit wound is a particularly horrific and gruesome wound.

Anyway, I understand what RetiredUSN means about trying to walk around on a boat in 3 to 4 foot seas.
 
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The little boat project is on hold for another little boat project. I've learned that it is best to use the SMALLEST boat you can get by with. Easier to tow and load. For some reason easier to maintain.
It was one of those "too go a deal to pass up." Usually, I should have passed it, but not this time.

It is a 15.5 foot Sea Doo 150 Speedster. '07. It had 150 hp Rotax motor originally. It's gone. The fella replaced it with a 265 hp supercharged Rotax, built it up to about 300 hp, with a matched and built of jet drive and impeller to match. 300 horsepower in a 1400 pound, 15 foot 4 seat runabout is a crazy amount of horsepower. But I didn't want it for top speed, but to be able to run around 30 mph at low RPMs and having the power just in case it is needed.

The HUGE plus is it is a small boat capable of handling big water. They were basically outlawed from manufacture in 2012, with Sea Doo ending all boat production. How they handle big water is in a strange way - that works. I've seen video on it.

The danger of my Bass Tracker is if the waves get TOO tall, it will float the boat over the bow. While the boat would technically float with about 2 inches of free board, the little 30 hp motor would not be able to keep it bow to the waves with 2,000 pounds of water in it and sitting that low. The result will be it would be pushed sideways to the waves and sideways capsized.

The Speedster's design recognizes people drive these little jet drive boats like a PWC (jet bike). However, if you go airborne in a 15 foot boat hitting a wave at an angle it is going to come down at an angle - very possibly causing the boat to wipe out and flip at 50 to 60 mph. To deal with excessive wave jump AND being caught in too high of waves, the front of the bow dips down to deliberately take on water. By digging into the tall wave and increasingly dumping water weight into the boat, it is too heavy to fly. Literally in severe water it is designed to be flooded.

Unlike the Bass Tracker - narrow, flat bottom, only 30 hp and would be so deep in the water, the Sea Doo has a radical amount of foam positive floatation. So even if filled with water, it still has a foot of freeboard. But even more important, even the smaller 150 hp motor is plenty powerful to handle a couple thousand pounds of water. The water weight then holding the boat down. There is something assuring about that. There are few boats that can basically be filled with water and it keep going. A bulkhead limits how fast cockpit water could enter the engine compartment - no faster than the bilge pump can handle.

Why it was such a good deal? I paid about 35% it's used value. He only was concerned with it mechanically and it was stored in the sun, so it's hull is faded/dull. He also put on new seat covers - badly and ugly color choice. That made it harder to sell fast. And he had to sell it F A S T.

Why? Being an idiot. Jet drive boats aren't faster than propeller driven boats, but they do accelerate much faster. At 300 hp with a matched jet pump, it will do 0 to 60 mph in about 3 seconds. Being a fool, when he had put it together he took his wife and 2 young children out in it. Then he punched it. His wife caught one of the little children from flying off the back of the boat, the other being thrown from the front of the boat to the back - the children now terrified of it. At the dock his wife gave him a choice: "Pick one. Us or the boat! You can't have both." He made the smart decision.

Tows very easily, unlike larger boats. I bought wheel locks/chokes (like they put on cars with too many parking tickets) and a GPS tracker for it. So if we go on a weekend trip with it and the weather turns bad, we'll just leave it at a boat ramp somewhere with a ball lock, boat locked to the trailer and both wheels locked and the wheels with locking lug nuts - and a hidden GPS tracker.

I now have 10 hours pulling staples on his bad redo of the seat covers. Had a shop do all the routine maintenance. So it should mechanically be about like new. I figure 10 more hours on the seats, 10 hours buffing it out and another 10 hours on misc stuff.
 
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An update.

Just sold my 26' Islander to a young couple here in Virginia Beach......for a loss again like my last Islander, I got tired of the slip fees every month, and I'm getting too old to be climbing all over the boat in 3-4 foot seas.

Been looking at one of these lately for a retirement present in 11 months:

View attachment 67269803

They are costly but worth it. if you put a soft wall at the back (zippers), you can both heat it and, if you wanted, put in a battery operated air conditioning system. Mostly you can get out of the weather and win. Depending where you are, if you are good weather dependent you quickly won't be using your boat much.

Good luck. I rarely see those style boats selling cheaply. More people want them then come up for sale because they do offer solid shelter from the wind.
 
im lookin for a ship of at least a hundred feet in length, a couple of diesel engines. if you have any to give away. harrr

The largest I gave away was a twin diesel 45 footer. Old GM 2 stroke diesels. Last forever. The fastest was a 32 foot Sea Ray Pachanga with twin 454 inboard/outboards. It'd run about 55 to 60 mph, depending how it was loaded.

The bigger the boat the more fuel they take. LOTS and LOTS of fuel. A boat with twin 300s is lucky if it is getting 2 mpg running WOT. Big boats eat money and time working on them MUCH faster than little boats - a lot.
 
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The largest I gave away was a twin diesel 45 footer. Old GM 2 stroke diesels. Last forever. The fastest was a 32 foot Sea Ray Pachanga with twin 454 inboard/outboards. It'd run about 55 to 60 mph, depending how it was loaded.

The bigger the boat the more fuel they take. LOTS and LOTS of fuel. A boat with twin 300s is lucky if it is getting 2 mpg running WOT. Big boats eat money and time working on them MUCH faster than little boats - a lot.

thanks , im searching for A ship to live on ,. and a small crew.
 
I still get out on my 13' Ocean Kayak Prowler when the Puppy Drum are in the grass beds at the inlet. Late summer I'll use it to go after salt water Speckles.

View attachment 67268238

I bought one used for $500 plus fish finder. I was very pleased with the deal from a USAF retiree. The owner's wife forced him to get rid of it after he spent about $6K on a larger kayak with all the bells and whistles. It took up half the garage and his old Ocean prowler took up the other half. She wanted to park her car in the garage again. :)

You can see his new kayak in the ad pictures.

I've done some restoration work (adding bungee cord and attachment points), will add an anchor system along the length of the starboard side and am welding a dedicated kayak and camping gear trailer.

View attachment 67271239View attachment 67271240
 
I installed a fuel filter/water separator on my boat yesterday. Straightforward installation only required cutting a fuel line and mounting the filter base to an accessible yet out of the way spot back near the transom. Ethanol laced gasoline is utter crap for outboard motors.
 
Went out and did some aquatic social distancing a few days ago. Lake was pretty busy for a week day...maybe 15 rigs in the parking lot of the ramp I used. Both outboards ran without a hitch. I think the fuel filter/water separator was a good thing.
 
I am a big Pearson nut. Currently I have no floating money pits in ownership. But I would probably jump all over a good Countess Ketch or ahh...another 530.
 
Today I'm again working on a trashed out SeaDoo Speedster I bought cheap. The government effectively outlawed them in 2012. They are so desirable that a pristine one will sell for as much as they cost new - unheard of for boats that generally crash in value the moment you tow it off the lot. But this one needs lots and lots and lots of work. Already have at least 100 hours into it just cosmetically. Now it's to get at it mechanically.

A 15 foot jet drive boat, I researched for months for what is the safest, smallest fast boat to take one long runs far out in the blue water of the Gulf. I've done that in my old low slung Bass Tracker with a mere 30 hp motor I spent about 200 hours redoing a few years ago. But with the freeboard as little as less than 1 foot, getting into 4 and 5 foot seas is dangerous - and I've been in that situation alone far offshore a couple of times - plus it's slow. Max is 20 mph. Trying to go the Key West or the Bahamas in a 17 foot aluminum low 1980s Bass Tracker with a 30 hp motor? NAW, I'll get crazy taking risks in that low boat, but not THAT crazy!

The design of the Speedster is very unusual. It is designed to flood the interior (but not engine compartment) if the waves are too high or the person jumping waves too crazily. The interior will fill with water it hitting big waves TOO hard/deep/fast, adding half a ton of weight to hold it down - while having amply power to maintain full control. With the rear engine compartment not flooding due to the bulkhead and the enormous percentage of the entirely foam filled inner wide hull walls and high hull floor, filling the passenger/driver compartment with water only lowers the boat a couple of inches and it still is radically overpowered for it's size and weigh even with all that water weight. That is a VERY unusual design. Most boats are designed the bow to rise over waves, not be flooded by them. And they are the fastest small boats of its size range ever made.

I also like how much cheaper it is for anything about the motor, even buying a new one at 1/5th to 1/10th the price of similar horsepower outboard motor - though the Rotax motor is so small for its power output they are short life motors - figured to be 400 hours max and 200 if always run WOT (wide open).

It's small (but fat for length so stable) easy to tow and move on the trailer by hand and F A S T! When I'm done with it, it will be one of the fastest boats out there - at least 80 mph capable and I'm shooting for 90. However, from the factory they were good to 45 to 65, depending on whether or not the tiny Rotax 3 cylinder is supercharged. Even 60 mph in a boat (unlike a car) is kick ass fast for a blue water boat (as opposed to a flat water lake boat) - especially a boat only 15 feet long (only 12 at the waterline) and 6 foot fat.
 
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The company that built the same displacement/size/long block Rotax motor for the "Ms Geico" world speed record jet ski is making an identical motor for me, though the Speedster weighs much more of course. Amazing how much horsepower they can get out of a 1600 cc motor (97 cubic inches). 600+. But only 500 ponies without NOS, which mine will have. That should move this 15 foot, 1500 pound Speedster along plenty quick either way. Sort of an insane level of horsepower in that size boat - about the same power to weight ratio as a Camero with 1500 horsepower. Not that expensive even for that replacement motor - about 1/4th what a new mere 350 hp outboard would cost. The 3 cylinder Rotax is a tiny motor - about the same as a big motorcycle motor.

The top speed on jet drives is limited, generally to not much more than 100 mph. But they accelerate vastly superior. I've had 2 jet drive drag boats in the past. But they were absolutely NOT usable offshore with the massive V8 at the back and low slung. This little Speedster - that does not look fast like those drag boats did - will do zero to 60 in under 3 seconds by the time I'm done with her. Unlike my masculine and extremely aggressive looking drag boats with their huge motors dominating and sticking way up in the air at the rear - the majority of boat weight too (one with a huge supercharger and the other with twin 4 barrels on a high riser), the speedster seems feminine and passive in appearance. I prefer that look. The drag boats seemed like someone with an identity crisis trying to prove something.
 
Rotax is ok. But there are a lot of newer engines in very lightweight class that have eclipsed them in power now days. For an application like you describe, a Honda 1800cc V-6 would be a great light weight power maker
 
Myself, I would never buy a used jet boat. Like I talked about earlier, the very nature of them tempts their owners to run the crap out of them. Add to that in rough water the intake can such air and the engine over revs every time that happens and you're talking something that often has a short life.

All that is accurate. But I'm replacing basically everything anyway with a particularly stout custom build engine. But you are correct. The also consume far more fuel and can easily get jammed up sucking up crap and have a limited top speed. There is almost no steering a slow speeds for lack of a rudder.

People tend to run them and jet skis WOT continuously, the motors are short life etc. All newer ones come with rpm limiters however.

What they can't do is chop up manatees or people in the water.
 
Put four PBS turbojets on the back. 1300lbs of extra jet thrust would be fun! And only adding 160 lb's of engines. Heck, adding just 1 to a glider makes it self launching with the right landing gear.
 
Rotax is ok. But there are a lot of newer engines in very lightweight class that have eclipsed them in power now days. For an application like you describe, a Honda 1800cc V-6 would be a great light weight power maker

Jet skis and jet ski type boats are very motor specific and very limited in space. I'm not all that crazy about the SeaDoo mechanical design - some nightmarish like just replacing the fuel filter - plus being a small company when they discontinue something they also discontinue parts and support. Even SeaDoo dealers who sold the little jet boats refuse to work on them. I bought it for the hull design in that small a boat for being on blue water for safety factors, ease of towing and moving and overall it's particularly small size for a blue water capable boat. A speedster is a jet ski in the form of a small (very) boat. No other company ever made anything like it or is anything like in with an outboard or inboard/outboard setup.

Also I like how cheap a complete motor replacement is compared to outboards. About $3500, though I'm going well beyond that. Try buying a 300 hp outboard motor some time. Wow - crazy high prices. Same for the jet drive. MUCH cheaper to replace than an outboard lower unit plus most now have "wear rings" so replacement is never necessary as there is no transmission whatsoever. My Bass Tracker will be the small boat I continue to use most often and it's 4 stroke 30 hp probably will last decades.

I knew I was buying a basket case when I bought it, but saved nearly $10K doing so, trailer included and the fella before me put about $3K in racing add-ons I wanted worth more than what I paid for it all. (Top end supercharger, racing exhaust, racing injectors, racing impeller and jet drive housing, Remapped ECU etc.) I figure any used boat is buying someone else's problems, but new boat prices are absurdly high.

As for a general boating, you are 100% correct. Jet drive is the wrong choice by nearly any measure.
 
I am a big Pearson nut. Currently I have no floating money pits in ownership. But I would probably jump all over a good Countess Ketch or ahh...another 530.

I've been salivating over the Friendship 40. One of these days, I'm gonna have to take the plunge.
 
All that is accurate. But I'm replacing basically everything anyway with a particularly stout custom build engine. But you are correct. The also consume far more fuel and can easily get jammed up sucking up crap and have a limited top speed. There is almost no steering a slow speeds for lack of a rudder.

People tend to run them and jet skis WOT continuously, the motors are short life etc. All newer ones come with rpm limiters however.

What they can't do is chop up manatees or people in the water.

The outboard jet drives do find a niche around here for people who run smaller, snag infested rivers. I used to fish a river like that and often thought about switching to an outboard with a jet drive lower unit. You lose maybe 10% equivalent horsepower making that switch. And the reason I ultimately never did it is because of the low speed steering issues.
 
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