"Mikhael" wrote ...
You bought a 'boat' for safety yet you drink and drive in it?

Two separate issues there... Don't know about your area, but here in Texas,
drinking and boating go hand-in-hand... Sometimes it's a factor in
accidents, but I suspect testosterone is a factor in more of them... Combine
drinking and testosterone (i.e. teenage drinking) and you up the percentages
somewhat...

Of all the power boat drive mechanisms, a jet drive tends to be the safest
to anyone in the water near the drive mechanism... The maneuverability of my
jet boat is also such that in an emergency I can just turn the wheel all the
way to one side (even from a top speed run) and turn the boat around within
a length of the boat... This is actually quicker than slamming it into full
throttle reverse... I actually had a case where I had to do that on a run
down the San Jacinto river one day... I was coming around a bend in a
remote part of the river and there was a bridge crossing the river... The
bridge was in colors of black and gray... There was an elderly fisherman in
a gray jon boat across the opening underneath the bridge and he was wearing
gray camouflage overalls... He was right in the shadows of the bridge, so I
did not see him until I was right on top of him... I was doing around 40 mph
at the time... I threw the wheel all the way to the left and spun out doing
a 180 in front of him... I then idled past him and explained that I hadn't
seen him in the shadows until it was too late and apologized if I had gotten
him wet with the spray... Turns out the spray had stopped just short of his
boat... Must have been an impressive site from his point of view...

"Steve Barker" wrote ...
Gas HOGS. Be sure to test drive one for at least a few hours to see for
yourself. Don't take any salesmans word. You're looking at at least 10
gallons an hour.

But assuming that he's doing at least 30 mph for that 10 gph fuel rate,
that's still 3 mpg... For a boat, anytime your fuel consumption is measured
in "miles per gallon" instead of "gallons per mile", you're doing good...
grin

But assuming that he's doing at least 30 mph for that 10 gph fuel rate,
that's still 3 mpg... For a boat, anytime your fuel consumption is measured
in "miles per gallon" instead of "gallons per mile", you're doing good...

Since these boats are generally used for "point A to point A" travel (with no
particular destinations in between) and the trip is designed to take "X" number
of hours, fuel consumption is a factor.

"FRANKWBELL" wrote ...
It does here, too.

It was that way when I grew up in Louisiana also... I would suspect that it
is that way in a lot of the country...

And over the past three years we have had several fatal
boating collisions in Delaware and New Jersey as a result.
And those are just the ones that made the news.

I would also hazard to guess that there is a greater percentage of boaters
who drink while operating than there are car drivers who do the same thing
because it is basically part of the boating culture... In most cases, being
slightly inebriated on the water is going to have a less serious effect than
doing it on the pavement... Speeds tend to be slower, plus it's difficult to
drink while travelling over rough water without spilling your drink... I've
tried using a straw for my beer, but it just doesn't work / taste right --
too much foam... For the most part, you tend not to be operating your boat
in the immediate vicinity of other boats, so the penalty for being not
perfectly straight in your track is less severe (unlike not staying in your
lane on the highway)... There are always those who operate their boat (or
any other type of vehicle) beyond their abilities... As long as you are
careful and don't go to extremes, a few beers while boating is no big
deal...

I like my whiskey.

To each his own... I've never really developed a taste for the whiskey /
bourbon / scotch type of drinks... I hear that wine drinking and sailing are
somewhat linked... I guess they go slow enough that they can put drinks in
glasses that would spill in smaller / faster boats...

I would also hazard to guess that there is a greater percentage of boaters
who drink while operating than there are car drivers who do the same thing
because it is basically part of the boating culture... In most cases, being
slightly inebriated on the water is going to have a less serious effect than
doing it on the pavement...

"In most cases" is the problem. "In most cases" a drunk driver doesn't kill
anyone, but there are still plenty of cases where they do. While boats are
slower and there is more space between them, boats operate in an environments
that are far less forgiving once trouble shows up.

Just say no.

On topic: I think a Sea Doo sport boat is a great first boat. They're simple,
safe in reasonable conditions, and not hard to operate. A single engine model
is probably easiest, but even dual engine models aren't hard to handle. Don't
rule out the other brands like Sugar Sand and Yamaha. The one caution: The
earlier and current smaller jet powered boats have very shallow, slap-happy
hulls that are punishing in anything but smooth water.


-- Rich Stern
www.nitroowners.com - The Nitro and Tracker Owners Web Site
www.mypontoon.com - The Pontoon Boat Web Site
www.fishingreportdatabase.com - The Fishing Report Database
www.mysporttrac.com - The Sport Trac Web Site

"Rich Stern" wrote ...
While boats are slower and there is more space between
them, boats operate in an environments that are far less
forgiving once trouble shows up.

I'm not saying that people should drink to the point of being totally
****-faced... I'm just saying that a 6-pack of beer or two spread over an
entire day on the lake fishing does not make you an unsafe boater... Of
course, this depends upon your tolerance for alchohol... At least with
boating, we can keep our speed down and it doesn't necessarily back up the
people coming up behind us...

On topic: I think a Sea Doo sport boat is a great first boat. They're
simple,
safe in reasonable conditions, and not hard to operate. A single engine
model
is probably easiest, but even dual engine models aren't hard to handle.
Don't
rule out the other brands like Sugar Sand and Yamaha. The one caution:
The
earlier and current smaller jet powered boats have very shallow,
slap-happy
hulls that are punishing in anything but smooth water.

I've found that my 1998 Sugar Sand Mirage is quite punishing in 3-4 ft
seas... If you can get the speed right, you can skim across the tops of the
waves, but every once in awhile, you'll find that rogue wave / trough that
lets you drop 6-8 ft... They call it a 16 ft boat in their adds, but they
get that figure by adding in the length of the swim platform that overhangs
the jet drive... Without that, I believe it is more like 14 ft...

One thing that makes jet boats a little more interesting is that once your
engine is no longer producing thrust, your stearing capabilities have
virtually disappeared... It's not like an outboard where you still have the
outboard acting as a rudder even when the engine has quit running... What
this means is that throttling back significantly and trying to turn might
very well keep you going straight...

In article , "Grumman-581"
writes:

There are always those who operate their boat (or
any other type of vehicle) beyond their abilities... As long as you are
careful and don't go to extremes, a few beers while boating is no big
deal...

The same applies to driving. The danger is those who don't know when to stop.
And that's too many of us.


I like my whiskey.

To each his own... I've never really developed a taste for the whiskey /
bourbon / scotch type of drinks

(grin) Your loss.

... I hear that wine drinking and sailing are
somewhat linked... I guess they go slow enough that they can put drinks in
glasses that would spill in smaller / faster boats...


ROFL!

Frank Bell

In article , "Grumman-581"
writes:

It's not like an outboard where you still have the
outboard acting as a rudder even when the engine has quit running..

Speaking as an outboarder, it's not much of rudder once you throttle down. A
little bit, but not much.

Frank Bell

"Grumman-581" wrote in message
. ..
"FRANKWBELL" wrote ...
Speaking as an outboarder, it's not much of rudder once you
throttle down. A little bit, but not much.

Well, Frank, trust me -- a jet boat is even less of a rudder... Without
the
jet thrust, you're more like a stone skipping across the water...
Sometimes
you'll go straight, sometimes you'll spin out... I seem to remember the
old
bass boats that I was in as a kid having some rudder capability when
powered
down... At least it was possible to stay in a fairly straight line and you
didn't spin out...



But you do not have to have full throttle to steer. Do not have to jump
wakes 25' behind the boat. Had 2 kids riding double do that this weekend at
Lake Oroville, maybe 35' at most. Law in Calif is 100' from boat to jump
wake. 2 weeks ago at Stockton on the Delta, had 2 guys jump the wake at
50', and then cut across in front of me at maybe 25' to catch a big wake
from a cruiser. I am doing about 30 at the time. I run a really big
jetski, a 21' aluminum river jetboat, and I do not have a problem throttling
back and steering, just keep some power on to keep the pump giving force.
I am not against jetskis, think the ban at Tahoe was bad. But I am also for
giving out tickets for unsafe operation, and if the operator is under 21
they also have to take a safety & operation class.
Bill

"Calif Bill" wrote ...
But you do not have to have full throttle to steer.

No, but you pretty much need to have at least enough throttle as it would
have taken to maintain your current speed...

Do not have to jump wakes 25' behind the boat.

I think you're thinking about jet skis, not jet boats... I have a jet
boat... Same as a prop boat, but just safer when someone is in the water at
the stern...

But I am also for giving out tickets for unsafe operation, and if the
operator is under 21 they also have to take a safety & operation class.

rant
Here in Houston, the local water donut patrol likes to give out tickets for
supposedly making a wake in a no wake zone... I got one last year with
trying to diagnose a problem with my engine and there was no way that I was
making a wake... He had said that it wasn't that big of a deal, it would
only cost a couple of bucks... It ended up costing over $250... ****ing
uniformed robbers... If I had known it was going to be so much, I would have
told him he could have stuck that damn ticket up his ass... There is no way
you can fight those tickets either... It's completely your word against his
lying sack-of-**** word... I *always* slow down for no-wake zones! Any
other robber I could just go ahead and shoot the son-of-a-bitch if he was
trying to steal $250 from me...
/rant