On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 11:02:47 -0400, "whitespc1"
wrote (with possible editing):

L.M. , where do you boat? You mentioned a lake......

I am in Colebrook, New Hampshire, on the border with Vermont, and just
10 miles south of the Canadian Border. We have a lot of lakes up
here. So far we have tried Lake Francis, First Connecticut Lake, Lake
Umbagog (also partly in Maine), Maidstone Lake (in Vermont). If it
would just stop RAINING, we will be going to Lake Memphramagog (partly
in Vermont, mostly in Canada), and several more large lakes in Maine.

I am interested in hearing how a jet boat would do in the salt water and in
the bay or heavier waters... any ideas? Any other negatives or positives
you can tell me about the jet boat option versus the standard cuddy or
bow-rider?

I can't tell you anything substantive (yet) about a jet boat in
sal****er - although we are planning to take a trip with it to Bar
Harbor in late summer.

I prefer the hull design of the Sea Doo over the standard bow rider.
Up here the standard bow rider seems to mean Bayliner, Crestliner and
some Glasstron. The Sea Doo seems to do much better in rough water,
although freshwater "rough" is a FAR cry from sal****er.

A jet boat has no transmission - it is an engine connected to a pump.
It turns by directing the jet out of a steerable port. To reverse, a
semi-circular half-pipe like affair is lowered over the pipe.
"Neutral" consists of the pipe half-lowered, so part of the stream is
directed forward, and half back.

The boat handles very differently at low speeds. In this regard, it
is very much like the old inboards - sluggish. To help, Bombardier
has added an interesting featu when you are moving slowly and turn
the helm to an extreme, the motor is temporarily sped up to help
"kick" the boat around. On plane, the boat handles much like other
craft, except that it can turn extremely sharp.

I picked a jet boat as the lakes up here tend to have a lot of
submerged rocks. Lower units tend to cost $1000 to replace. I picked
motor vs. sail as I've spent far too much time becalmed at the far end
of a lake.

This is my first jet boat, and I've had it only a few weeks. Prior to
this and over many years, I've had two small outboards, an 18' Century
Coronado (inboard) back in the early 60's, a 26' Chris Craft, a 38'
twin screw Hubert Johnson (incredible boat), plus several sailboats,
from a Sunfish, Dexter Dart, up to an older 36' or 38' Morgan (I
think). I grew up on Long Island, and have sailed quite a bit in and
around Bermuda. I am definitely not an expert, I just love boating.

--
Larry