Anyone own a Jet Ski?

[Blowfish]

Always like the idea of owning a decent jet ski to mess about on whenever it took my fancy. Hired plenty in the past and always thoroughly enjoy them.
A pal of mine has just purchased one and is keeping in a marina down in Poole on a versadock which seems like a much easier and less agro option than towing and launching.

Anyone here own one and do you get much use out of it or does the novelty soon wear off?

[Ari]

I don't have a thick neck, a full sleeve tattoo or a van or pick up, so they probably wouldn't let me have one, but if they would I don't think I'd bother as they always look to me to be a massive amount of fun for about 10 minutes.

And for the price of them these days you could buy a real boat and not have to get dressed up in a big rubber romper suit every time you felt like getting out on the water.

[Saleen836]

Blowfish said:

Always like the idea of owning a decent jet ski to mess about on whenever it took my fancy. Hired plenty in the past and always thoroughly enjoy them.
A pal of mine has just purchased one and is keeping in a marina down in Poole on a versadock which seems like a much easier and less agro option than towing and launching.

Anyone here own one and do you get much use out of itor does the novelty soon wear off?

This is why a a few friends ended up selling theirs, a lot easier if you live within a short distance of the coast to get use but living an hour away it makes it difficult

[LimaDelta]

The dream:



The reality:

[warch]

I've always found them a bit of an irritant to be honest. I'd prefer it if the operators would use them a bit further out (two or three miles from the beach in fact) so I don't have to listen to them roaring monotonously back and forth. It would be like riding a motorbike on a runway, no real sensation of speed. Bear in mind I've never had a go on one so YMMV.

I had a go in a twin engine Rib (Lymington to the Isle of Wight and back) that was enormous fun.

[robm3]

I've had a few on and off. I always buy in pairs so my wife and I can enjoy together, solo is pretty boring.
But I would never recommend one over a boat e.g. buy a boat first and then get a jet ski.

A couple of fun things:
Jumping swells, this is awesome fun.
Towing wakeboarder and skiers, you'll need a spotter on the back but Jetskis are a great way to learn to wakeboard.

However my view is skewered, I live in Sydney, we've world class waterways all around us, I'm 15 mins from a boat ramp, it's warm 9 months of the year, I have a couple of boats as well as, we've a variety of sealife to see whales, dolphins, sharks etc.. so never dull. Our water is clear and blue etc etc...

I was in the UK recently, I saw your grey brown seas and rivers. I wouldn't bother with jetskis at all (not until global warming totally kicks in and turns you into a tropical paradise!).
Get a decent boat first, so much more fun that can be shared.

[R8Steve]

Some nonsense being spoken on this thread by people that have never owned one...

I have a Yamaha FX SHVO cruiser, 1.8 4 cylinder, 4 stroke supercharged with 260 bhp.

It's fairly quiet, more so that most boats so is fairly unobtrusive which helps with the likes of the poster above who seems to find them an irritant, not acting like a clown on one close to shore also helps with this.

Mine can sit three and i go and explore the islands and can go into small coves/areas that no boat could ever get into, i visit restaurants that are next to the water for something to eat, i don't wear a big rubber romper suit as i don't get wet if i choose not to. Then if i want to get back home in a hurry i can open it up and hit 70mph+, all in relative comfort.

No real sensation of speed?

[LimaDelta]

R8Steve said:

No real sensation of speed?

We have two Mansory RXT-300s (among others). No doubt they are fast, but no real sensation of speed compared with a bike or car. I think it's down to the lack of corners, trees, etc. No frame of reference on the open water.

[R8Steve]

LimaDelta said:

R8Steve said:

No real sensation of speed?

We have two Mansory RXT-300s (among others). No doubt they are fast, but no real sensation of speed compared with a bike or car. I think it's down to the lack of corners, trees, etc. No frame of reference on the open water.

I use mine on a loch so i always have a reference, perhaps it's different if you can't see land but regardless, the acceleration of them will give you more of a sensation than any road vehicle IMO. And i own a turbocharged R1 so feel fairly qualified to compare.

[LimaDelta]

R8Steve said:

I use mine on a loch so i always have a reference, perhaps it's different if you can't see land but regardless, the acceleration of them will give you more of a sensation than any road vehicle IMO. And i own a turbocharged R1 so feel fairly qualified to compare.

Fair enough. It would be a bit more interesting with some scenery.

[gizard]

How do you maintain 70 mph unless it's flat calm?

[R8Steve]

gizard said:

How do you maintain 70 mph unless it's flat calm?

That's what they are designed for, they are very stable even in pretty rough water.

It can be a bit of a workout though!

[essayer]

R8Steve said:

No real sensation of speed?

I still maintain some jet ski I drove in 1996 was the fastest thing on the planet

[gizard]

R8Steve said:

That's what they are designed for, they are very stable even in pretty rough water.

It can be a bit of a workout though!

Hmm I'm not totally convinced - I've seen them trying to keep up with bigger boats in chop and they will just get air time - once the jet is out of the water no drive. No replacement for longer waterline length in a rough sea. I don't doubt some are very quick in calmer conditions however.

[R8Steve]

gizard said:

R8Steve said:

That's what they are designed for, they are very stable even in pretty rough water.

It can be a bit of a workout though!

Hmm I'm not totally convinced - I've seen them trying to keep up with bigger boats in chop and they will just get air time - once the jet is out of the water no drive. No replacement for longer waterline length in a rough sea. I don't doubt some are very quick in calmer conditions however.

If you're talking about 6 foot + seas it may be an issue but you don't see much of that at loch lomond thankfully

[warch]

I like the idea of actually going somewhere on a jetski but whenever I see them they're just being ragging up and down the beachside. Can they do 70? That's very impressive on water.

[R8Steve]

warch said:

I like the idea of actually going somewhere on a jetski but whenever I see them they're just being ragging up and down the beachside. Can they do 70? That's very impressive on water.

The ones that rag up and down the beach and go flat out through no wake zones are the ones that give the rest of them a bad name unfortunately. Not my thing and can see how it would annoy people let alone how dangerous it is.

There's a series called dangerous waters where a group of people try to go round the world on jet skis and it's a good watch (the first few series anyway until it becomes a massive advert for Kawasaki) and shows the better side of jet skiing IMO.

Yes, 72mph i've seen on mine with the trim down a bit from neutral and 0-60 is about 2.5 seconds.

[Ari]

R8Steve said:

Some nonsense being spoken on this thread by people that have never owned one...

I have a Yamaha FX SHVO cruiser, 1.8 4 cylinder, 4 stroke supercharged with 260 bhp.

It's fairly quiet, more so that most boats so is fairly unobtrusive which helps with the likes of the poster above who seems to find them an irritant, not acting like a clown on one close to shore also helps with this.

Mine can sit three and i go and explore the islands and can go into small coves/areas that no boat could ever get into, i visit restaurants that are next to the water for something to eat, i don't wear a big rubber romper suit as i don't get wet if i choose not to. Then if i want to get back home in a hurry i can open it up and hit 70mph+, all in relative comfort.

No real sensation of speed?

Nearly £20K!? You could buy a very nice proper boat for that! It might not do 70mph, but you've got to really hate being out on the water to want to get where you're going that quickly.

And 'fairly quiet/fairly unobtrusive' eh..?

[R8Steve]

Ari said:

Nearly £20K!? You could buy a very nice proper boat for that! It might not do 70mph, but you've got to really hate being out on the water to want to get where you're going that quickly.

And 'fairly quiet/fairly unobtrusive' eh..?

I didn't buy it new so try less than half that, i have a boat as well, i enjoy going out on the jet ski a lot more.

I think you're missing the point regarding going fast somewhat, if you drive your car fast does that mean you hate driving and want out the car as quickly as possible or is it just because you enjoy it?

The supercharged 4 strokes are quiet, yes.

[dangerousB]

Blowfish said:

Always like the idea of owning a decent jet ski to mess about on whenever it took my fancy. Hired plenty in the past and always thoroughly enjoy them.
A pal of mine has just purchased one and is keeping in a marina down in Poole on a versadock which seems like a much easier and less agro option than towing and launching.

Anyone here own one and do you get much use out of it or does the novelty soon wear off?

My mates are forever out on theirs and have been for several years now (all marina berthed). One of them recently bought a 380hp M140i and sold it within 6 months as it was "nowhere near as much fun as my ski", which kind of tells you all you need to know really.

In my experience, trailering your jetski will more than likely be the thing to take the shine off ownership - the best thing I've done with my boat is berth it in a marina. Not the cheapest exercise, but infinitely better than trailering it or have it on a swinging mooring and transforms ownership - going out on it now involves no faff whatsoever. As a result it gets used far more regularly and every occasion is a lot more enjoyable as a result. MDL even let me have a berth despite knowing I drive a van as well. Incredible

Back to jet skis though, go for it. Seriously thinking of one myself for next season.