Cobra Jet steering on my Rinker Rocket

[Ben Okopnik]

I want to make this a calm, rational, balanced review - so let me get this off my chest first before I explode: WOO-HOO! This thing ROCKS!!!

OK, now that's over...

This review is not unmixed, in the sense that the changes to my boat's steering are not just due to the Cobra Jet installation. But, at the same time, I believe that I can clearly identify the changes that are due to it - and they're immense. All positive, and no negatives that I can see, feel, or imagine. (And being the persnickety, critical, and cynical engineer type that I am, you won't catch me saying something like that too often.)

Some context, first: this is my first jet boat - in fact, I never knew there was a separate "jet" category in boats despite having spent the last 20-plus years of my life on the water as a liveaboard cruising sailor; much less ever drove one. I bought it less than six weeks ago, and have been restoring it to proper working shape - as a seaman, I hate to see stuff done wrong on a boat; it makes my hands itch for tools - and learning how these things work at the same time. That's a bit of a problem, when the size of your test sample is one...

Something I thought totally sucked "on these jet boat things" was the steering; it was incredibly heavy and clunky for a tiny 15-foot boat, and I had to have a death grip on it at any kind of speed. The feedback was some weird mix of the wheel trying to get away from me and very heavy resistance to turning, as well as to any kind of control at speed. I could deal with it, but it wasn't pleasant - and thinking that I needed to put up with it "because maybe that's just how jet boats are" (hey, maybe it was just a result of 175HP worth of thrust - could be, right?) was a bit disheartening.

Enter Jeff, the magic @Cobra Jet Steering LLC Man.

Based on all the positive, excited reviews I've read about his steering system, I figured it was one of the best improvements I could make to my little Rocket, so I put it on my list of projects. And then, just recently, Jeff made a great offer to the members of this forum... how could I resist? Since he's less than an hour away from me, and I always enjoy meeting smart, inventive folks, I pinged him here and set up a time when we could meet. He also told me that he'd need to shape my diverter plate (for a very reasonable charge), and gave me advice on removing both it and the nozzle.

A couple of days later, he messaged me to say that everything was ready. Very kindly, he had cleaned off the oxidation on the nozzle, painted it - what a guy! - added a snazzy "Cobra Jet" logo, and removed some extra junk from the plate. Last, he also gave me a keystone piece of info that set lots of thoughts in motion: "the steering shouldn't be hard; you should be able to just spin the wheel with a finger."

Um... really? That meant there was a problem somewhere (one that the previous owner had just lived with.) Turning the wheel with the nozzle off was pretty easy - a little gritty toward the stops, but that sounded like the steering unit (and flushing it with Teflon spray proved that out and got rid of the grittiness.) The nozzle itself pivoted nice and free when held in place loosely... but when I cranked the pivot bolts down to the required torque, it just about seized up.

Turned out that one of the pivot bolts was about 2.5 mils too thick in the middle of the pivot. Weirdest thing ever (how the heck does that happen to stainless steel???), but - ten minutes with a drill motor and some very careful sandpaper work, and both the bolts slid through their bushings perfectly, with just the slightest bit of interference. It also turned out that the tube at the nozzle end of the steering cable was just slightly bent out of true - easy enough to fix. And now, the wheel could indeed be spun with one finger - and I was beside myself with happiness.

------

This morning, I hooked up the Rocket and towed it over to the Fort DeSoto boat ramp (Jeff had also advised me on local fishing, so I was headed for the north end of Egmont Key.) The sea state was middlin' to reasonable for my little boat, with the waves running 1-2 feet, which I figured would let me do a good test of the system. So, out through the Bunce Channel and into the Gulf of Mexico we went...

...and had a total ball. I had to restrain myself from opening her all the way up - the chop was a bit too harsh for that - but at a bit more than half-throttle or so, we were hitting 38mph by the GPS, and the steering was a dream. Not just how light it was - that was a delight - but how precise it was, and how little resistance it offered. Every little twitch of the wheel instantly popped her onto a new course; it was as if all of "slide" had been turned into "carve". I instantly stopped worrying about hitting a beam sea and rolling, or a head sea and pitching; the boat now had a bite on the water that I was certain would let me angle into the wave the moment I needed it. Better yet, my sweetie - who had only driven the boat at idle, in calm water before - took the wheel on the return trip when we were still a couple of miles out, and felt confident enough within a minute or two to get her up on plane (first time ever for her!) and buzz us down to the entrance channel and back to the ramp. Hell, she drove the boat onto the trailer - something she'd never done before! - like a champ. (I'm still all bug-eyed from that. She volunteered, after I had her do a little practice around the docks.)

The reason she was able to do that last bit is that the Rocket now has something it never had before: full control at slow (including very slow) speeds. I'd been clued in by YouTube videos - which was very useful indeed - that jet boats have to be kept in place, or steered at low speed, by bursts of forward and reverse; otherwise, you'd have no steering - which was true until today. Now, it's sort of like having a little trolling motor: not a huge amount of control, nor really fast, but definitely there.

In short, I can't recommend the Cobra Jet steering system, or the quality of Jeff's services, highly enough. A fine designer and craftsman, with an excellent product that does what it's supposed to - and for a very reasonable price.

(By the way, even his fishing advice panned out: a big croaker, a HUGE sheepshead, a medium-sized spot, two under-sized gag groupers - and almost a dozen shrimp stolen right off our hooks by the wily fish of Egmont Key. A great day of fishing and boating!)

 

[Seadeals]

It sounds like you got a “whole new boat” out of the deal by both fixing and enhancing the steering...and a new first mate because of it! Show us some pictures of the new setup and the snazzy painted nozzle if you have them.

 

[Ben Okopnik]

It sounds like you got a “whole new boat” out of the deal by both fixing and enhancing the steering...and a new first mate because of it! Show us some pictures of the new setup and the snazzy painted nozzle if you have them.

[laugh] @Seadeals, you must be telepathic. I was just outside, taking pics (and, of course, fiddling with boat stuff; can't live without that.) Here they are:

 

[Ben Okopnik]

And you're right about the first mate: she's been swanking about getting up on plane and throwing a rooster tail - on her very own, mind you! Her foot on the pedal and her hands on the wheel! - since yesterday. And that driving up on the trailer thing? Pshaw. She could do it ten times a day if she wanted to.

I've been nothing but encouraging, including buying a congratulatory dinner.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Thanks for the write up I appreciate all the kind words.
I was out in the water near where you were yesterday and I will be out by the Tierra Verde draw bridge today I need to get you up to speed on how to catch keeper grouper in the intercostal "NO SHRIMP" use heavy equipment and pin fish the size of your hand with a big weight bounced off the bottom where you found the small grouper and be ready to winch those fish up fast or they will break you off in the rocks.
here is what the nozzle and place diverter looked like before I did anything to it.

 

[Ben Okopnik]

Thanks for the write up I appreciate all the kind words.
I was out in the water near where you were yesterday and I will be out by the Tierra Verde draw bridge today I need to get you up to speed on how to catch keeper grouper in the intercostal "NO SHRIMP" use heavy equipment and pin fish the size of your hand with a big weight bounced off the bottom where you found the small grouper and be ready to winch those fish up fast or they will break you off in the rocks.
here is what the nozzle and place diverter looked like before I did anything to it.

Man, as well as you got me "up to speed" on the steering, whatever you've got to share on the fishing, I'll be happy to take. My only problem was that I saw no structure anywhere in that 90'-deep area - and I have no clue of how to fish without structure. Drifting got me nada, zip, and zilch. It was only when I anchored next to some dock pilings in shallower water that I started hitting fish. Next time I'm out there, I'll definitely try bouncing bottom with large bait (and I've got the equipment for it: 60-lb braid on 7' Big Water rods plus a Daiwa baitcaster ought to haul them up pretty well.)

I did mark tons of fish under the weed line - I'd estimate 50-100 fish on my screen at the same time - but they ignored everything I tossed to them. I think I'm missing a whole bunch of knowledge about techniques and lures... so whatever anybody's got as far as cluing me into that, I'm totally up for. I'm good on fresh water fishing, but I'm starting to realize that this kind of fishing is a totally different game.

 

[Scottintexas]

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the boat. I'll have to admit when you first posted I was a little disheartened knowing the work you had in front of you without any jet experience but it appears you're definitely on the right track ( Please put getting rid of that foot pedal on the top of the list!)

Kuddos to Jeff for sharing his wisdom (both fishing and steering), he does know jet boats, old and new!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

First advice forget fort Desoto boat ramp look up Maximo park boat ramp there are 2 ramps in that park and they are free they are also a lot closer to get to than fort Desoto and they are on the sky way channel, go 2.5 miles south on the channel and you get to the Egmont channel or turn right a bit before Egmont and you get to the chanel that goes by the fort Desoto ramp out to Bunces pass. I have secret grouper holes in the intercostal by Tierra Verde and lots of flats for bait you need a cast net and a bait well if you want to catch lots of fish , in my opinion anyway. I probably have around 1000 fishing lures. I actually find them but I never use them accept for decorations .

 

[Ben Okopnik]

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the boat. I'll have to admit when you first posted I was a little disheartened knowing the work you had in front of you without any jet experience but it appears you're definitely on the right track ( Please put getting rid of that foot pedal on the top of the list!)

That's excellent advice - and it's my big project for this coming week. We did a good 25 miles on the water today, most of it at speed (25-35mph), and that thing was nothin' but misery. I was crossing lots of cruise-ship and freighter wakes out in Tampa Bay, finding where the Rocket likes to take the seas (boy, she's not happy taking them head on!), and - you have no freakin' control with a foot pedal. Getting constantly shifted around by the boat motion makes you lose all registration of where the heck you are with the throttle - so it's easy to over or under-rev for the situation, which makes it less comfortable and less safe. I've already installed a little caddy just aft of the shift lever that my elbow can rest on, so controlling the throttle that way should be rock-solid.

Sailboats don't do that kind of speeds, but I'm used to steering in gales, which is pretty similar (I've stood watch in a Gulf Stream crossing for 22 hours non-stop, in 18-23' seas driven by an NNW wind, and climbing those square bastards will teach you a thing or two.) And - heck, I'm a seaman. I get heart-sick when I'm away from the ocean for too long, and I hope to go out in The Mother of All Storms while I'm single-handing round Cape Horn at the age of 120. This is just another way for me to be with it, and I'm lovin' it.

Kuddos to Jeff for sharing his wisdom (both fishing and steering), he does know jet boats, old and new!

Man, that's the truth - and I appreciate all of it. It's what I do with what I know, share it where it's useful - and I really enjoy seeing other people do the same thing.

 

[Ben Okopnik]

First advice forget fort Desoto boat ramp look up Maximo park boat ramp there are 2 ramps in that park and they are free they are also a lot closer to get to than fort Desoto and they are on the sky way channel, go 2.5 miles south on the channel and you get to the Egmont channel or turn right a bit before Egmont and you get to the chanel that goes by the fort Desoto ramp out to Bunces pass. I have secret grouper holes in the intercostal by Tierra Verde and lots of flats for bait you need a cast net and a bait well if you want to catch lots of fish , in my opinion anyway. I probably have around 1000 fishing lures. I actually find them but I never use them accept for decorations .

We were fishing at the bridge today - did a run out there after getting a whole bunch of nothin' at Cockroach Bay (two puffers and a spotted trout) - and hooked up with a whole lot of little fish; nothing that's on the FWC gamefish list, but - hey, it's better than we'd ever done here before (and it's what's for dinner, too.) Funny thing, though - our main conversation while driving back home was all about finding a closer ramp... Maximo looks perfect!

Never used a cast net before, but I'm always more than willing to learn. As to a bait well - I was already thinking about that, and measuring out the space under the rear seats on the Rocket. Looks like I can just fit a 10"W x 24"L x 8"D box with a solid lid under there. Call it 2" worth of head space inside the tank, and a 1/4" wall thickness, and that gives me ~1340 cubic inches/~48 lbs/~6 gallons. It's not much, but I figure it'll work fine for bait, and maybe a decent-sized fish or two. Unfortunately, I haven't found a great source for that kind of boxes yet - and building one myself, out of either FGRP or stainless, would be a major pain. So, it's on the project list - but not quite at the stage of being fully ripe for production.