So we hit the lake for the first time this season yesterday and had a blast. At the end of the day, though, my jetski came very close to sinking. I have done this kind of thing before, flipped it, forgot to put the plug in, etc. But this time I really thought she might be headed for the bottom.
It had nothing to do with me taking the thing apart from the engine back and reassembling with a couple replacement parts on Monday. I swear!
The timing couldn't be better though, as we were headed back to the dock and ramp about 8pm, and the ramp was in sight, less than a mile away. We were hanging out for a few minutes to get the last tuber and tube back in the boat before hitting the dock. The boat headed off and I, alone, decided to again check inside the hull to see how things were looking before I fired up.
I pulled the seat and saw the engine and electrical component box almost completely submerged, the water level was probably 75% to the top of the main hull cavity. I slammed the seat on and tried to coax her to life, got a sputter and gurgle, but no dice. Stood up and as my weight shifted left, the left footwell filled with water and the back left 1/4 of the ski was under. Quickly shifting a bit right the footwell drained about halfway which righted things for the moment. The closest bank was over 100 yards so I had one opportunity to save it and waved to the boat.
Luckily the wife was sitting in a rear facing seat and saw me. I had the tow rope ready by the time they were back and got the thing to shore and beached it beside the ramp. Pulled the seat again and noticed the evening sun poking through the rear of the hull, right about where the plug belongs. This was interesting as I had almost sunk this craft once before when I forgot the plug, and that has never happened since. (a zipper kind of thing)
Once out of the wet with water gushing out of the back, I could see the entire plug assembly - not just the plug, but the base flange that mounts to the hull, was completely gone. Well actually the gasket and screws that hold it all together were still there, but the business pieces were not. So, evidently the plastic was brittle and it was time to go.
I don't know how much longer I would have had, but my guess is 2-3 minutes, so things could have been slightly worse had this happened earlier in the day.
Made for an interesting end to an excellent trip. As they say all's well...
Quick highlight reel, sans semi-sinking (camera was done for the day):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1iLU2axJFo&hd=1
That water looks warm :) And superbly flat!
heh, that reminds me of a sorta similar experience back in the dark ages. When I was 14 or 15, l had a hydroplane start to disintegrate under me while out on a run. I was about a mile from shore. If I throttled back it started to really take on water. If I sped up the stern drains almost took care of the inrush but the boat disintegrated at an exponentially higher rate due to the pounding (some of the main ribs were rotten a the bottom was separating from the hull). The only thing of value was the outboard.
...Nothing to do but go full throttle and try to beach it. It was sort of surreal being headed for the shore at top speed with water gushing through the boat while watching chunks of the main infrastructure break off and fly out with every wave.
Made it, but just barely.
Went to Lake Jocassee this time.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1nOdvNyE9A&hd=1
(https://th3core.com/chat/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdrastictactics.com%2Fimages%2Flakejocassee-small.jpg&hash=029aa4ab9fcba96b06bacfda716bfb50deefde55)
Looks fantastic.
Bought a little jet boat.
(https://th3core.com/chat/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdrastictactics.com%2Fimages%2Fchallenger.jpg&hash=f1e97ff2fb875618a6f8008b153663d27b2cec58)
Quote from: Drastic on July 05, 2012, 03:03:33 PM
Bought a little jet boat.
Nice! But did you notice that there is a dead man in the back?
hehe, takes some acrobatics to get to the bottom of the engine. Going through everything, getting it all up to snuff before taking her out.
That is very nice. I love the Miami Vice colours :)
How fast do they go?
I looked at a jet boat with twin 150 Yamahas in... it was cheap, but the boss did not like it.
Look forward to hearing how it pulls skiers.
This one does mid-upper forties I think, more with the right impeller. hehe, I told Amy when I get the stereo/subs in, I want the Miami Vice theme song keyed up on demand.
This one is not the best skiing platform, with 110hp single engine, unless the skier is small or not going slalom. Great for tubes and other inflatables though.
I originally wanted to find a twin engine model, but they have twice the carbs, pumps, drivelines, and of course engines to maintain. Plus they drink gas at literally twice the rate, so you can empty the 27 gallon tank in a few short hours. Top speed is roughly the same as the single when stock.
QuoteYou have too much time on your hands ....
.... a small voice said that, not me :) Seems I don't have enough at the mo I guess!
Quote from: Rupert on July 06, 2012, 06:40:13 AM
QuoteYou have too much time on your hands ....
.... a small voice said that, not me :) Seems I don't have enough at the mo I guess!
Nah, you just have your priorities out of whack.
There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. - Kenneth Grahame
Of course I know you are right. One year I managed 3 months of holidays. This year struggling to pull in the statutory.
The demands on me seem to go up as I get older.
Quote from: Rupert on July 06, 2012, 01:51:28 PM
The demands on me seem to go up as I get older.
Do you have kids? if not you haven't seen nothing yet.... :)
Yes, that the problem... ::)
But a problem I would not be without.