New family boat
 

Hi,
I've had a 2001 Yamaha LS2000 for two years.
I would like to share some thoughts on this boat.
It is a calm water boat, due to the lack of a "deep V". Anything over a 2'
chop is quite nasty.
The advantage to this is that
it handles incredibly at planing speeds. It's basically a big fat jet ski.
Although it can be a fun boat, these are the things I dislike
about it.
1: It appears to be louder than conventional boats even at idle.
2: Two stroke motors have power gaps - particularly between 4000, and 5000
rpms.
3: It is a big giant vacum cleaner - sucking up sand, and, or pebbles can
damage the
impellers.( I recommend at least 2 foot depth of water.)
Sucking up seaweed means a 5 minute venture pulling out the weeds from
the cleanout plugs.
4:The windsheilds are for show only (very low) - your going to get wet
heading into the wind with
a slight chop.
5:No front bow cleat! I have to tie the anchor to the side cleat. (Everyone
knows anchoring to the
rear cleat is a no-no.)
6:No canvas enclosure option to extend the boating season.
7:Nowhere to mount electronics.
8:No weather seal for the glove compartment, which holds the radio - radio
got wet - radio doesn't work.
9:Cleanout plugs can become rocket propelled if not seated properly -
blowing the hatch open and
landing in the drink. (They don't float, and they cost about $200 a
piece.)
10:If one motor is disabled, you can't throttle past idle speeds with the
other motor
without forcing water through the disabled motor's exhast port, which
would damage the engine.
11:This baby drinks gas pretty fast.
Handling a jet boat is alot different than a conventional prop system,
particularly at docking speeds,
however once mastered, it can be a slight advantage over a prop system.(No
sidestepping, and the use
of throttles individually).
This boat is known for the ability to do 180 degree spinouts. (Smooth bottom
hull).
I do this only on smooth water , NO chop, and NO other boats around.
Disclaimer: I do NOT condone this! (Ready for flaming - yawn.)
I like the safety advantage of no exposed propellers.
..
I highly recommend an extended manufacturers warranty, (not aftermarket,
which is worthless).
I wouldn't pay more than 5 - 6% of the price of the boat.
Check out the Yamaha jet boat message board for information from other
Yamaha
jet boat owners.
http://network54.com/Forum/103885
LJ



"whitespc1" wrote in message
...
The Yamaha SR230 that I am considering is a 4 stroke:

Environmentally-minded Innovations
By employing proven technologies, Yamaha delivers significant reductions
in
emissions output and noise levels without compromising performance and
reliability. These technologies include:


a.. Yamaha MR-1 Four-Stroke Engine - Yamaha's first sport boat
four-stroke
engine is one of the cleanest, quietest, most fuel-efficient engines ever
introduced.

b.. Yamaha Sound Suppression System - This system of integrated noise
reduction components targets the three common types of noise: 1.) intake
noise, 2.) exhaust noise and 3.) noise from vibration.

"Terry" wrote in message
...
"L. M. Rappaport" wrote:

On 22 Jul 2003 23:18:24 -0700, (Frank and Ronnie
Maier) wrote (with possible editing):

whitespc1 wrote:

I am interested in a powerboat for the family. This will be
used
for
running around the Chesapeake bay in Maryland, skiing, tubing,
and
day
trips.
...snip...
Havre de Grace

A coupla comments, just FYI.

Good points of jetboats are that they are shallow draft and pretty
dependable. OTOH, they get bad gas mileage. They are easily yanked
around by skiers boarders, tubes, etc. They're not very roomy.

Our family of four decided that an open bow tournament skiboat was
the
best decision for us in circumstances similar to yours. You can buy a
decent used skiboat for the price of a new jetboat. They ain't real
good in rough water; but you probably ain't out doing family
watersports when things are rough.

My $.02,

Frank

FWLIW, I went through the same exercise and ended up with an 18.5'
SeaDoo by Bombardier. It is also an open bow boat, quite broad in
beam, with a hull which seems to be perhaps a bit better optimized for
a jet boat. Our first day out on a lake we ended up coming back to
dock into relatively heavy water, 4' waves with wind-driven rain. It
handled remarkably well. The power plant is a 200 hp 2 cycle Merc,
not what I would have picked, but the 40 gallon gas and 2 gallon oil
tanks give us plenty of range.

--
Larry


I thought two cycle engines are 'out' cos of the high pollution?
Even my lawn mower is 4 cycle!

New family boat
 

Excellent information Lou! This is the kind of stuff that makes forums
worthwhile. Thanks again for taking the time to document all of that.

It seems as if there are some significant new developments with Yamaha's
latest jet boat, the SR230. It is a 4 stroke, has a windshield, quieter,
blah, blah, blah.

IF I choose this boat I will definitely wait a year or two so that the model
is improved upon. Thanks again for the information since I think in the end
the choice will not be the jet boat considering what I am using it for.

Scott

"Lou" wrote in message
.net...
Hi,
I've had a 2001 Yamaha LS2000 for two years.
I would like to share some thoughts on this boat.
It is a calm water boat, due to the lack of a "deep V". Anything over a 2'
chop is quite nasty.
The advantage to this is that
it handles incredibly at planing speeds. It's basically a big fat jet ski.
Although it can be a fun boat, these are the things I dislike
about it.
1: It appears to be louder than conventional boats even at idle.
2: Two stroke motors have power gaps - particularly between 4000, and 5000
rpms.
3: It is a big giant vacum cleaner - sucking up sand, and, or pebbles can
damage the
impellers.( I recommend at least 2 foot depth of water.)
Sucking up seaweed means a 5 minute venture pulling out the weeds from
the cleanout plugs.
4:The windsheilds are for show only (very low) - your going to get wet
heading into the wind with
a slight chop.
5:No front bow cleat! I have to tie the anchor to the side cleat.
(Everyone
knows anchoring to the
rear cleat is a no-no.)
6:No canvas enclosure option to extend the boating season.
7:Nowhere to mount electronics.
8:No weather seal for the glove compartment, which holds the radio - radio
got wet - radio doesn't work.
9:Cleanout plugs can become rocket propelled if not seated properly -
blowing the hatch open and
landing in the drink. (They don't float, and they cost about $200 a
piece.)
10:If one motor is disabled, you can't throttle past idle speeds with the
other motor
without forcing water through the disabled motor's exhast port, which
would damage the engine.
11:This baby drinks gas pretty fast.
Handling a jet boat is alot different than a conventional prop system,
particularly at docking speeds,
however once mastered, it can be a slight advantage over a prop system.(No
sidestepping, and the use
of throttles individually).
This boat is known for the ability to do 180 degree spinouts. (Smooth
bottom
hull).
I do this only on smooth water , NO chop, and NO other boats around.
Disclaimer: I do NOT condone this! (Ready for flaming - yawn.)
I like the safety advantage of no exposed propellers.
.
I highly recommend an extended manufacturers warranty, (not aftermarket,
which is worthless).
I wouldn't pay more than 5 - 6% of the price of the boat.
Check out the Yamaha jet boat message board for information from other
Yamaha
jet boat owners.
http://network54.com/Forum/103885
LJ



"whitespc1" wrote in message
...
The Yamaha SR230 that I am considering is a 4 stroke:

Environmentally-minded Innovations
By employing proven technologies, Yamaha delivers significant reductions
in
emissions output and noise levels without compromising performance and
reliability. These technologies include:


a.. Yamaha MR-1 Four-Stroke Engine - Yamaha's first sport boat
four-stroke
engine is one of the cleanest, quietest, most fuel-efficient engines
ever
introduced.

b.. Yamaha Sound Suppression System - This system of integrated noise
reduction components targets the three common types of noise: 1.) intake
noise, 2.) exhaust noise and 3.) noise from vibration.

"Terry" wrote in message
...
"L. M. Rappaport" wrote:

On 22 Jul 2003 23:18:24 -0700, (Frank and Ronnie
Maier) wrote (with possible editing):

whitespc1 wrote:

I am interested in a powerboat for the family. This will be
used
for
running around the Chesapeake bay in Maryland, skiing, tubing,
and
day
trips.
...snip...
Havre de Grace

A coupla comments, just FYI.

Good points of jetboats are that they are shallow draft and pretty
dependable. OTOH, they get bad gas mileage. They are easily yanked
around by skiers boarders, tubes, etc. They're not very roomy.

Our family of four decided that an open bow tournament skiboat was
the
best decision for us in circumstances similar to yours. You can buy
a
decent used skiboat for the price of a new jetboat. They ain't real
good in rough water; but you probably ain't out doing family
watersports when things are rough.

My $.02,

Frank

FWLIW, I went through the same exercise and ended up with an 18.5'
SeaDoo by Bombardier. It is also an open bow boat, quite broad in
beam, with a hull which seems to be perhaps a bit better optimized
for
a jet boat. Our first day out on a lake we ended up coming back to
dock into relatively heavy water, 4' waves with wind-driven rain.
It
handled remarkably well. The power plant is a 200 hp 2 cycle Merc,
not what I would have picked, but the 40 gallon gas and 2 gallon oil
tanks give us plenty of range.

--
Larry


I thought two cycle engines are 'out' cos of the high pollution?
Even my lawn mower is 4 cycle!

New family boat
 

Hi Lou,

Just a note from another jet boat owner: Standard
Communications makes a VHF marine radio called the "Eclipse". It's
alleged to be waterproof. So far, mine is.

--
Larry