Who else uses Jet Ski for Dingy?

[cj88]

Look at adding a valve in the cooling line between the jet unit and the engine to close it off so no water gets pushed into the engine while it's being towed and not running.

[fox9988]

Some people love to hate PWC's. They are often referred to as Jerk Bikes on fishing forums. Its all about the operator, no different than a car.

[windycityxx]

You can add towing a paraglider to the list as well!

Originally Posted by cj88

The Sea-Doo is a product of Bombardier along with Skidoo. They came along later like the Yamaha which is when the term personal watercraft was coined. The original Kawasaki Jet Ski was a stand-up which had the patented hinged pole. The others started to enter the market just prior to the patent expiring with sit down models. Kawasaki also developed sit down models at that time.



Depending upon your needs a personal watercraft might be quite an acceptable tender but it won't match all the abilities of a RIB or hard dinghy for ultimate load carrying. On the plus side they're quick and can cover large distances, you can dive or fish from them, tow a skier and they can handle conditions other craft wouldn't consider being in. I've taken them out in the surf wave jumping when it was a 6m swell and blowing 50-60 knots.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by storx

i looked up the model he had, it says 398lbs

At 400lb, you could get a dingy with a 40hp outboard...I had a 13' tunnel hull inflatable with a 40hp outboard at one time.
- with motor it was around 300lb.
- It could carry 8 if you didn't want to plane.
- With 2 people I could run down most jet skis (yes it would hit get just shy of 60mph).
- It could carve a turn faster than a jetski.
- Handled rough water better than a jetski.

And it took 4 people to get the motor off if it's in the water...so not much worry about being stolen.

[storx]

Originally Posted by cj88

Have you seen this?


https://youtu.be/Wi7N7mo15aM

That looks like its made from just thick-walled ABS pipe and rope lol...

[billgewater]

In our marina, jet skis, skidoos, PWC's or whatever are generally reviled. Everyone hates them. Either they are speeding around well in excess of the safety speed limits or move along in displacement mode. When going slow they can can produce seriously disturbing waves trains which can upset folk on their yachts in a quiet marina.
However in an exposed mooring area or where wave action is normally present they may have some advantages.
In Queensland, jet ski owners are often part of the social "bogan" set. For foreigners, look it up.
There are well signed limitations on their area of use and users must have a QLD Marine Licence plus all jet skis, PWCs must be registered. .

[oceane]

in January, I bought a sea-doo spark (205kg/450lbs) the lightess on market I found, to replace a zodiak Futura mk2/20hp Honda as a dinghy for a cheoylee 43 sailboat... even If a bit more weight overall on the davits, being more compact make it easy to handle overall for lifting and storing. now I'm building a crate for swim platform to nest it there underway. being more compact I can also hoist/crane it on foredeck cradle(powerboat style!)
and , hey I went from 20hp to 90hp in very similar weight/price and more compact...
I can still carry 4 jugs of 5 gallons of water, or three 5gallons along with the Portuguese water dog on one side!!!!grocery also no problem, unless you're stocking for transpac crossing!? the exoskel design is good for tying a lot of gear of different sizes , 1-2 big waterproof duffle bag isbetter than a storage bin...

more maintenance and corrosion issue than an outboard+deflatable dinghy!, also jet tends to suck a lot of water debris here in Tahitian lagoon. as mentioned before, if you're towing at more than 8-13 knts you need to have a way to stop water intake into engine. as also mentioned before, towing very well with compact shape.
a bit of an issue to leave at shaddy dinghy dock for shafe and psychological fear of theft, but as mentioned before maybe it's less of an issue a jet for , time will tell, I installed a secret battery shutoff cause the key is easily bypassed with any magnet.

I did withhold togofor a jet for 7 years when all wife and kids and dog where aboard, but now thatit'sme, girl friend and dog, it's does the job well..but might be an issue when you have six guests aboard(but I'm done with that)!!!.......I'm driving it like i was riding a dinghy,and, doesn't earn me any hate yet,still have friendly reaction.as mentionned before, it's allabout who/how you ride, anyway above 30knts you don't see much and sadly jet tend toattract a lot of throttle freak that don't understand what happening, beside freak speed!!

not really a more wet ride than the deflatable &20hp, when it blows 20knts you get wet anyhow !!when calm it's fast and dry!!...fuel comsuption maybe 2-3 more time than Honda 20hp depending on average speed,but can stilldo more than 100k with a tank...obviously less stable than the futura (4mx2m) but way more swifter and sporty especially in surfing mode!!!

conclusion the last three months proved to be a love affair overall...but I guess it all depend on what you wanna do with it, some will like some will hate...I kept the zodiac as a back up!!!

hopethis help...


edit:last Friday,doing some tow-in foiling session in Papeete pass, was amazing to be able to tow a buddy and surf the same wave with the jet, almost in the tube while filming him over shallow reef......don't try that at home with your deflatable rubber duck!!!??? it really depend what you wanna do and compromise accordingly!!!

[Hoosierdoc]

How would they stop thieves? No offense, but they don’t seem like the fighting type

Originally Posted by plumqik

This combo seems to solve the problem of dinghy theft

[friz]

[QUOTE=storx;2850918]Wow so much negativity in the comments... man i ask who has them, not for the gripe fest...

No I don't but a very interesting idea I have not even considered. Probably due to the fact that a lot of operators have deservedly earned the machine the moniker of Jerkski. Also my 28' trailer queen is towed to where I get underway. My dinghy fits nicely into the bed of the pickup. A 300 to 400 lb jerkski would not work for me in any conceivable configuration.

[sguerrero1971]

We met a sailboat boat in Fort Myers Beach Mooring field that used a jetski as a dinghy, I believe it was a 41'- 44' Catalina they had a scissor lift added to the transom for it. I don't think they had a problem there, at least I don't remember an issue, but we met back up with them in Marathon FL, and they were not allowed to bring the jetski into the dinghy dock because of some rule (I honestly don't know the specifics). They also carried a roll-up inflatable due to having issues with rules at dinghy docks before.

One thing I noticed while in F.M.B. was it seemed terrible in the idle zone, no wake department. The dinghy dock there is pretty tight and with the current and wind can be a little difficult in a RIB, but on the jetski it didn't look like fun at all. The other thing I noticed and this may just be due to the version or model was they wore water shoes with their regular shoes in backpacks.

[Sand crab]

Getting back to the weight of the outboard isse. A Yamaha 9.9 is getting close to 100# so I would not classify that as easily stolen. A 20 HP is a 126# or more depending on specs. There is also lots of info on secret kill switches for outboards so then the thief would have to tow the entire rig away.
I have had more than one outing ruined by the constant racket of PWCs. Like hearing chainsaws at the beach. I don't like them.

[Sojourner]

As an aside, anytime a PWC rips by us on anchor with some pasty dude and a much younger bikini chick clinging to his hairy back for dear life, the three of us (plus any guests) give them a top-of-the-lungs 'jetski woooo'.... you know the one, kinda high-toned nasal weeeooooowww accompanied by an upthrust beer or the heavy-metal hand-horn sign. Don't know who's more annoying, us or them, but it's loads of fun and they think we're being supportive!

[oceane]

ya ,I do hate jerkski that don't know what to do with the toy beside a few donuts and straight line speedrun...

.....but at anchor what I hate the most is an cheap old fart and/or wanna be green young couple with a tiny dinghy and a 3.5hp air cooled outboard going by,...probably because they're affraid of sinking they mostly goes by very close to other boats, while looking inside porthole to see what ups, and take them about 5 minutes to go by,usually not even saying hi or waving,just staring, with their noisy blender, seems forever with that crappy noise, usually very early in the morning to be able to get to the dinghy dock by midday, while annoying everyone!!!!

at least jerkski, is a midday rampage, and the noise is gone in 1.1 second, the noise(or sound of power!?) is better to the ear than a freakin outdated blender....!!

I think next sunday am, i'll get drunk early(here you can drink & ride, as long as you wear a life vest to protect your life while endangering others!very fun!!) and go do high speed donuts around all those in the anchorage with a noisy blender,!!!!!!!!!, that will make me assume my new label of jerk for buying one, and I;'ll be bugging jerk makin horrible polluting noise while going nowwhere for owning a noisy blender.

so easy tolabel those that are not like me...be like me, be the one whoknows better!!! and hate the others....


i'll be the first to buy an electric jet with foil, ...no noise, no pollution, no wake...but i'll still be a jerk!!!???


sorry for my morning venting....
and don't get me started on
surf vs sup, mono vs cat, snowboard vs skiing, kite vs windsurf, car vs motorbike, foiling vs planning, men vs women...I can be a hater without compromise!!!!!!

[mayberrybfd]

But what about offshore ???

[taxwizz]

Originally Posted by robertmmcdermot

Hi,
To those who tow a Jet Ski or a dinghy: How do you rig the tow lines?
I'm new to towing either a conventional dinghy or a jet ski. I have a catamaran (MC30) with about 8' between hulls. I'm considering towing the dinghy/jet-ski 'between the hulls' in the area between the boarding steps on each hull, just aft of the cockpit.
I'd appreciate any advice and/or cautions wrt such a rigging?
Thanks,
Rob

I tow with my 30' monohull about 15 feet behind the boat. It tows easily and is very stable. And it slows my boat about 1 knot.
At anchor or at a dock I use lines fore and aft of the Jet Ski to secure it on my quarter. I also use a locked wire cable to secure it.

As i live in Canada, I have never had a theft problem. LOL.