What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

mrfizban

Seaman
Joined
Nov 17, 2004
Messages
62
Hello. I've been shopping some smallish 17-19 foot bowriders and noticed that the Sea Doo makes some strange lightweight jet-propulsion vs. V-6 engine type of 18 foot boats. What's the opinion on those things? Cheaply made? well made but expensive to fix? Nice but won't last 5 years? Etc. What's the pro's and con's to those things? Thanks. <br /><br />Jeff
 

KCook

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
1,624
Re: What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

The short verison is they are fun to run, but not so easy to live with. Here is another thread for the long version - Jet Pump vs. Conventional Prop <br /><br />Kelly Cook
 

MFG197

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 26, 2002
Messages
236
Re: What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

check out "yamaha 235sx help" by 2bigformyboat under boat topics...
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,464
Re: What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

Glorified Jet Skis...............
 

umblecumbuz

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 25, 2004
Messages
1,062
Re: What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

Horses for courses, Jeff.<br /><br />Fun in the sun? Sea Doo.<br /><br />Serious boating or fishing? Try something else.<br /><br />Ciao
 

MrBill

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 4, 2002
Messages
710
Re: What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

Quite a bit depends on the age of the craft, from an equipment point, not wear, etc. Regardless of size, the SeaDoo models, until recently, are significantly different than the tradition runabout in handling and manueverability. Rudderless models have no steering or manueverability at no-wake speeds. With two engines, particularly the 2-cycle ones, you've got fuel hogs on your hands due to the high rpm required for jet pumps...and one of every 40-50 gallons of fuel costs $34...and don't try a cheaper substitute (trust me on this one). <br /><br />Over all they're great fun, twin engine models are kind of funky...but the biggest issue is resale value. There is virtual NONE. On eBay and everywhere else, they're giving away 3 to 5 year old SeaDoo 'boats'.
 

jetboater

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 13, 2004
Messages
119
Re: What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

I have a 2000 20ft Sea Doo with a 240hp EFI Mercury V-6--seats 8 and will top out at 54mph with two on board. It's my second jet boat (I live on a lake and also have a 25 ft Sanpan pontoon with a Honda 115--the 7th and 8th boats I've owned in my 31 years of boating)<br />It's true a jet doesn't have great manuverability at low speeds but it depends on what you're looking for. They are great at going fast and watersports (pulling skiers and tubers) Bombardier makes Sea Doo (they started with the Ski-Doo) They're a Canadian company and also make most of Europe's high speed trains and small jet aircraft (such as many of the commuter planes flown in the US). their quality of construction is incredible. (Bombardier is also the company that bought Evenrude and Johnston outboards a few years ago)<br />As to reliability--in my 4 years of ownership, the only repair I've had to make is to replace a faulty fuel sending unit in the fuel tank--it cost me $104 and about 45 minutes of my time. <br />Sea Doo jet boats are available with 1 or 2 2-stroke or 4-stroke engines (either Mercury or Rotax--Bombardier's own brand) with up to 370hp (twin 4-stroke Rotaxes) and various lengths including a deck boat that's 23 ft. <br />My Merc 2 stroke V-6 (it's actually a 225 Merc outboard mounted inside the boat and tweaked by Merc to make 240 hp in a jet application) uses one gallon of oil for every 40-50 gallons of gas (similar to many other two stroke applications) and it's true that 2 strokes use more fuel--that's why Sea Doo also now offers 4 strokes as options (and their most powerful options are all 4 stroke now--they weren't when I bought mine or I would have gone 4 stroke instead) The cost for the oil is about $16/gallon-(Mercury brand oil--not an off brand)<br />I've found resale value not to be problem--I paid $19,500 for mine on a Shorelander Elite trailer with brakes (the standard trailer) in May of 2000 and I can easily get $13,500 (maybe even $14,000) for it now--I'd consider holding 70% of its orginal value after 4 years pretty good.<br />Again, it depends on what you want a boat for--if your going to be mainly fishing, get something else. If you want a well built boat to "play on"--pulling toys and skiers, a jet boat is something to consider. <br />May want to check out a web site dedicated to Sea-Doo jet boats and see what owners have to say before you decide (there's several thousand folks on that forum who'd be glad to share their thoughts (they'll ask lots of questions about what you'll be doing with the boat and they've talked about as many folks OUT of buying a jet as they talk into buying)--(and contrary to what some may think, most of the jetboat buyers are "older" folks---I'm 47 and I'm about of average age for the folks on the forum). <br />It all ultimately depends on what you're looking for but if you're at all interested in a jetboat, talk to the folks who own them to get the best input on their pros and cons as only the folks who've owned a particular boat can give an accurate picture of what they're like to live with day to day.<br />the site is <br />www.jetboating.net<br />thanks and good luck in your quest for the right boat!
 

MrBill

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 4, 2002
Messages
710
Re: What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

jetboater makes a lot of good points... particularly about talking to owners, even though owners are usually biased...try to find a Bayliner owner who doesn't like his boat!! I have owned Seadoo PWC's and would not try another PWC brand, I have found Bombardier to produce well engineered and reliable products. Bombardier and other manufacturers are moving to 4 cycle engines because PWC's and 2 cycle engines in general are now required to meet the emission standards in place for boats for many years. This potentially means a lot for jet drives since 4-cycle engines can not run at the 7,000+ rpms that 2-cycle engines easily run at. Although this hasn't hurt the top end of the 185 hp 4-cycle PWC's, it has changed the craft weight, hull design, maneuverability and maintenance requirements.<br />Bottom-line...Bombardier makes a high quality product, and if you're buying there are differences between jetboats and sterndrives or V drives...just like you would find between Crownline vs. Bayliner, Volvo vs. Mercruiser, Alpha vs. Bravo. You need to do your homework and select what generally is best for you.
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: What the opinion on SeaDoo boats?

I can't speak for the jet boats but I can vouch for Sea Doo (Bombardier) quality.<br /><br />We own three PWC's. One of which is a Sea Doo. It is the ONLY one that always runs. Easy to maintain.
 
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