Shaun Van Poecke wrote:
"Garland Gray II" wrote in message
...
I suspect a water jet is not as efficient as a propellor.
Since you are evidently planning on 12v on your cat, why don't you get a
small 12v trolling motor ? That would take dumkings better than a gas
motor, although you would need to rinse it off.

the voltage issue is pretty redundant for me as the propulsion will be the
only thing powered, and i will be recharging at home, so it could be 12, 24
or 48. the trolling motor was something i originally considered, but i
heard a lot of bad reports about them, and they seem expensive for what they
are; the salt water ones even more so. There are no fresh water supplies
when my boat is, and its stored at the beach, so washing down is pretty
unlikely.

The only jet boats ive been in are the ones in new zealand, aluminum hulled
driven by either a single or a twin v8 engine and they sure do seem to suck
the gas down, but they have performance to match. I thought at the time
that they were very fuel inneficient, but compared to a similar powered
sterndrive, maybe not.

the 12v trolling motors have come down a lot in price, but they still seem
expensive to me (in australia at least) for what they are.

Shaun


The Minnkota series electric trolling motors can be used successfully in
salt water. I do it with both a 30 lb and 50 lb model. Paint the lower
unit with resin to prevent the paint flaking off. The only thing in the
upper unit is a switch. If you are worried about the switch getting
soaked, simply remove it and connect directly to the battery, or else
move the switch elsewhere.

BS