DownTime wrote:
Ok, now you have me thinking of yet another gadget to spend my bonus on.
We have a Carolina skiff j16, with a 4-stroke 25-hp 'hi-thrust', Yamaha
short-shaft, with a 3-blade aluminum prop. We use it for the skinny
water fishing days. It ain't fast, but runs about 22 mph with two people
aboard. Without the wife, I got to around 24+, but don't ever tell her I
had referred to her as ballast.

Curious to know more about the jet drives, given most of the waters we
go to are very shallow, I am thinking this might make us more
environmentally friendly to the grass flats.

Would a jet drive help to increase speed at all? Or simply provide an
alternative to a prop?

An outboard jet drive is less efficient than a prop by
perhaps 20% or more and you really don't want to run one in
weedy water. For reference I had a 16' aluminum
flat-bottomed sled that came with an 85 hp 2-stroke and
jet-pump. I eventually replaced the 85 with a 115 hp.

-rick-