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Good Boating Forum?

I have had several boats and it seemed like the bigger they were the more trouble they were to manage. I have downsized to a single engine Sea-Doo Challenger Jet Boat. Its cheap, dependable, easy off-and-on the water and it fits our lifestyle just right.

Congrats on that thing, sounds like you got in it right. Post up pics when you can. Even if it becomes a page in your scrapbook it looks like you should be able to get your money out of it and have some great memories in it.
 
Laurie,

Welcome to the powerboat club. Please raise the limit on your credit cards.

As others have said, maintenance is key, but especially so I have found on engines & drives running on the edge. And parts are $$. One other word of advice for when the go faster bug hits: HUGE differences in marine engines and auto BB Chevies. Get adivice and /or your rebuilds from marine folks. For example, a standard street BBC cam will cause water reversion on boats (due to the mixing of water and exhaust) - water reversion causes engines to grenade. There are ways to deal with this, but the cams are usually different. Auto engines run at 100% load maybe a few seconds at a time. Powerboats boats are at 80-100% load for hours.

Since you're going to cruise salt, make sure it has a closed cooling system OR no aluminum heads and only marine aluminum manifolds. Either way, flush, flush, flush - at least 30 minutes per side.

Here are some sites I have found useful:

Forums:
I usually only cruise Offshore Only. It deals with the engines & drives you'll have as well as the quirks of offshore boats. Probably more general experience there than the Baja forums; like here I found they are very willing to help. I've had marine mechanics PM & call me to help me DIY.
http://www.offshoreonly.com

Of course, the Baja forum as pointed out will be good for Baja specific questions

Parts places I've used and had good experiences:
http://www.marineengine.com/ Cheapest I've found, and has accessories also. Sells OEM & aftermarket parts. For OEM, I'd check around though
http://www.perfprotech.com/store/default.aspx
http://www.dougrussell.com/partscatalog/index.cfm
http://greatlakesskipper.com/ Good surplus dealer, great deals on new take offs, etc.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Andre
 
Thanks, I know I have a big learning curve ahead of me, but a lot of fun, too. :pbj
 
I can't wait! But first, we'll be doing a lot of maneuvering practicing and basic boat handling. But, once we're ready, I know it will be a blast. :)
 
"Laurie S." said:
I can't wait! But first, we'll be doing a lot of maneuvering practicing and basic boat handling. But, once we're ready, I know it will be a blast. :)
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This book will help quite a bit - at least it helped me, and I'd been boating 20 years when I bought it! If you get it, buy the paperback - the ebook (Kindle) isn't good because you can't see the illustrations and text on the same screen.
http://www.amazon.com/Powerboat-Handling-Illustrated-Make-Exactly/dp/0071468811/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297688687&sr=8-1
 
Back on my computer this AM so here is the link that helped me with my third boat and probably my last.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum.php

these guys are almost as much fun as the people here. They know their stuff and they will be able to help with everything from taking a basket case and rebuilding it to just maintaining it.

Good luck Lori. I look forward to a ride in Mexico some day, love to fish there! My truck or Excursion would be an awesome tow vehicle and launch vehicle on the sand in Mexico.

Mel
 
"apollard" said:
It is a blast - skimming across the water at 60+ mph is intoxicating. And well worth it.
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Yeah, but skimming across the water at 40 mph on your bare feet is even better!!
 
"AzPete" said:
Have you got a name for the boat?
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Yep, I'm calling it "Whale Shark" and it will have a home port of San Carlos, Mexico. There's a story behind that name. On my New Year's cruise my dive buddies and I swam with the whale sharks. I ended up right next to one as it swam by me, and it was bigger than my F-250. It was such a magical experience for all of us that we ended up yelling out "Whale Shark" everytime we saw each other and/or had a few drinks. We're still doing it in e-mails so it seemed to be the right name. In fact, it turned out we all thought it was first choice for the name on our own.
 
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