Who else uses Jet Ski for Dingy?

[TheWingman]

We live on our boat and cruise the Caribbean six months a year. I have nothing against jet skis. I actually own a couple for our lake place. A jet ski won’t make a good dinghy. There are a lot of anchorages that don’t allow them, if you have guests you won’t be able to all go, and they can’t carry the large amount of stuff you will need at times. Get a nice hard bottom rib with a 15hp or larger outboard. Use a chain and a outboard motor lock and you will be secure. Get a set of Davits to carry it so you don’t need to drag it which is a pain. Good luck!

[mvmojo]

Didn't see it mentioned in this thread, but I suspect most of the PWC's are not meant to be stored in the water. According to a couple manufacturers I spoke with at a boat show, they have a lot of dissimilar metals in the engine/jet system and when not being used they should be stored out of the water, especially if used in salt water. To me, that rules out their use as a dinghy since I want to be able to leave it tethered behind my boat while at anchor, only lifting it out occasionally to clean the bottom.

[captainmarknc]

I have a 2016 Waverunner fx cruiser. It weighs almost 700 pounds.

The problem with towing them is that you can't tow faster than 7 knots or you will ruin the engine. That's what I was told.

It is great for making time, however. I prefer an inflatable with an 8 hp after having just owning many different tenders.

[admiralslater]

I never thought of the storage in salt water thing . That could be a big deal.
As an aside Saint Vincent and the Grenadines do not alow seadoos .
My brother inlaw had a waverunner at is cottage . It was very fast imo. 120 kph.
I found it bouncy and uncomfortable. It was quite unpleasant in even a light chop at speed and going slower it wandered. As a rescue vessel for life guards or raceing around on flat water , it is fine but for me it would be a poor tender.
Ps the manual says always wear a wet suit to avoid a highspeed enema. Ouch

[dalemann]

Originally Posted by cj88

Jetski is a trademark of Kawasaki but many use it as a generic term as they held a patent and so were the only manufacturers for a number of years. As others eventually entered the market people just called them all jetskis.

The original jet ski was called the Sea Doo. Invented by Bombardier in Canada in the early 60s.

[Oohla]

With this they won't see you coming:

Yamaha VDF-DS280-YM-80 Rds280 Sea Scooter 192W

[Medic 4 U]

I’m not using a jet ski as a dingy. They have a bad rap in my book. I know most users are fine, but a few bad apples, spoil the bunch. AND your feet will most likely get wet while using one. And I’m kind of a penny pincher. I also don’t like PWCs or outboards because I hate smelling like gas & oil, hate the hassle of having it on board, the maintenance involved, the noise, so I did something I haven’t seen done before, and it’s working out for me.
I purchased an off brand 4-person, 10-foot inflatable (GoPlus) dingy. It seems to be of decent quality, reasonable money. I also purchased a larger trolling motor. It has 86-pound feet of torque. I never intend to pull anybody skiing, or anything like that, just go from my boat to shore, and back. Something several trips, depending on how many people, supplies, et al. Now I work for a company that makes an all-electric APU, so I’m into the electric thing, and know about efficiencies, so I can tell you this 86-pound foot trolling motor will propel this dingy just fine, make her plane, no, but that’s not the intent of a dingy now is it? But TO AVOID ANYONE THINKING ABOUT STEALING IT, I have that covered too. And this can be done by any one on anything.
First, the battery box was designed to be mounted on the transom. And the weight of the box, the AGM battery, and the trolling motor are less than a 10 HP outboard motor, the largest motor allowed on the dingy, so I have not altered its safety in any way. This battery box is designed to covers the handles of the screws that hold the motor in place. I have denied access to any bolts to remove the battery box, or the motor. So, if you’re going to steal it, you’re going to steal the whole thing. So go ahead. I have two GPS tracking devices hidden onboard, on inside the trolling motor, & one inside the dingy. Law Enforcement will have you whenever THEY want you. And I will press full charges.
Recharging is done while connected to the boat, by a 4-wire plug. Only 2 wires are carrying power to the batteries. The other 2 simply complete a circuit that when disconnected alarm me (and the thief(s)). Sorry, I worked too hard my whole life to let those who don’t work hard to take my stuff for free. They’re lucky I let law enforcement deal with them, and not me.
I also have LED navigation lights that I have run for 10 hours, and have lost 2 volts of battery power, and have powered the trolling motor for 6 hours, with no noticeable loss of performance. I simply can’t imagine needing to use it longer than that before finding time for a recharge. Now most people would find a trolling motor on the back of a dingy strange, dumb, or useless, and that’s fine; BECAUSE MOST THINGS LIKE THAT ARENT STOLEN, BUT IT WORKS PERFECT FOR ME. And as a plus, it is nearly silent coming back to my boat in the middle of a pack of other boats anchored at night.

[Pizzazz]

I think a jet ski is a great addition to a cruising boat and a lot of fun. It depends on your age, if you have kids and how much you love the water. I think I will get one soon and keep it on the bow of my 31 ft boat. Two current options are the Spark (sit down, 400 lb empty) or the SuperJet (stand up, 300 lb). If you get older models from the golden era (early 90s) you can find some 200-250 lb models and you can always put them on a diet (i.e. remove unnecessary parts).

Have a look at this video and tell me would you want to do that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0HiRRgUehw

[intakecox]

I wave runner is a Yamaha brand personal watercraft. A jetski is a Kawasaki brand personal al watercraft and a seadoo is a bombardier brand personal watercraft. Rider position has nothing to do with the name. Its like......jello. everyone knows what it is but it's actually the brand name, not the product name.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by storx

Hello All,

Today I had more free time so I drove around to a handful of the Marina's within a few miles of my hospital I work at to just check them out and find out if they accept liveaboards. I was up at Turtle Cove Marina and this guy came up to the fuel dock towing an interesting "dingy", then after filling up he moved over to his slip and moved it to the front corner of his boat, tied off to the boat and dock. I was intrigued so I asked him if he had a good time out on the jet ski and he mentioned he didn't use it, which I asked why he would carry a jet ski if he was not going to use it... which he informed me that it's his dingy...

So after talking for a bit and him inviting me on his boat to check out a carver aft cabin, he explained that he had been using jet ski's for a dingy for nearly 6 years, because he got tired of all the issues he had with actual dingies previously. He explained that in 8 years of boating with dingies he had 3 motors stolen off his dingy, twice while parked at a marina and once while parked in front of a restaurant, coming out to his entire dingy gone, with the locking cable he used cut hanging off the dock. He was telling me that since outboard motors are easily able to be just picked up or dingies picked up, they are easily stolen cost a lot to replace. Since he has been using a jet ski, he has explored more with them traveling further and has had zero engine issues. He told me he picked up his 2017 Sea-Doo for $2800 brand new last year as a last year leftover and sold his 2014 Sea-Doo for $300 less than what he paid for it within 24hrs of listing it and only replaced it because the 3 year warranty had ended and wanted a warranty again. Told me when he needs to tow something on it like groceries, he uses a strap and 2 buckets 5 gallon size and sits them on the back corners and just tosses his groceries in the buckets and rides out to the boat or takes a backpack to toss them into, anything more or larger than that he just moves the entire boat near a dock and transfers it over.

Anyways, just was intrigued with his use of a jet ski as a dingy, he said he towed it all the way through the Caribbean islands and down to the Dominican Republic using it with no issues.

Tough to deal with on passage with a mono hull sail boat. Note also that they are specifically not permitted in most of the Caribbean.

[MrWesson]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Tough to deal with on passage with a mono hull sail boat. Note also that they are specifically not permitted in most of the Caribbean.

Most of the jet ski "bans" are for importation and commercial uses. I highly doubt you'd face any trouble using one as a dinghy in just about any caribbean country.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by StuM

Yep, for some reason, as soon as many people get astride one, their personalities seem to change and they behave like inconsiderate, irresponsible kids.

We’ve called them IQ reducers for many years. One seems to loose 20 to 50 points as soon as the throttle is found.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by MrWesson

Most of the jet ski "bans" are for importation and commercial uses. I highly doubt you'd face any trouble using one as a dinghy in just about any caribbean country.

Commercial use?? Like fishing and trawling? We are in our third year living aboard in the Caribbean. They are banned nearly everywhere and the ban is noted at customs and immigration check in. I have only occasionally seen one launched from some chartered mega yacht as a noisy disturbing toy. Usually the captain/owner gets a warning and the thing disappears. You would be prevented from using most dinghy docks by the harbor master or local cops.