DaytonGator
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 11
- Points
- 62
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2015
- Boat Model
- AR
- Boat Length
- 24
Hi guys,
I've been watching this forum for about a year now....lots of great info that was a tremendous help as I was researching jets & considering trading out of a 19' Sea Ray bowrider (4.3L I/O). I grew up in the Palm Beaches on a deep water canal with access to the intracostal/ocean & never without a boat. I absolutely took it for granted. Now, living in Ohio (16yrs), I FULLY appreciate what I left behind. I promised myself I'd never buy a boat up here, but eventually caved. I purchased the Sea Ray 185 Sport new in 2011 and quickly learned about boating in the land of all man-made lakes.....trailering for hours, winterization, and 7-8 months of storage/yr. Despite this, our family still had lots of fun. The Sea Ray was an exceptional boat. Built like a tank, no un-finished surfaces, rock-solid swim platform, perfect fit/finish, gelcoat, upholstery, canvas....everything. Zero issues after 5 seasons. The 4.3L was good for 55mph. We boated in Erie, Indian Lake, Cesars Creek, Rocky Fork, Buck Creek, Ohio river...and a couple trips per season South to Norris or Cumberland (both ~ 5hrs each way).
It had some shortcomings however. As the kids got older and wanted to invite friends, the 19' boat quickly became crowded. The 36" draft was deep enough for the prop to find every shallow in our muddy waters. The painted trailer was beautiful and I couldn't make myself dip in salt. Once winterized, it was done for the season....even if we had another weekend or two of unexpectedly nice weather. So...this past summer, I started looking at jetboats. The shallow draft, lack of hard winterization requirements, & with a galvanized trailer.....maybe I could buy back some of my season. And I have to admit.....watching the KevinandCorrie vids over and over during the long winter might have been the deciding factor.
My Sea Ray dealer (Cincinnati) is also a Scarab dealer. I wanted a 23-24' boat but not the $70K pricetag. The Scarabs are probably the flashiest jet boat option...and no question the most available power. I was highly concerned however by the 'Scarab' badge (brushed metal...along the windows) falling off of every boat in the showroom.....the one 'detail' you'd think the manufacturer would NEVER allow to fail.
The closest Yamaha dealer is also in Cincinnati (Lodder's Marine). They had one 2015 AR240 remaining in stock (August at this point) but had no ability (or willingness) to put it on a galvanized trailer....or work with me on price (wouldn't budge from MSRP). Long story short, I ended up 3hrs North in Sandusky OH (on Lake Erie) at 360 Powersports. They had one AR240 & several 242s in stock and galvanized trailers on the lot. They were also willing to take $49,500 for the AR240. I drove up on a Saturday, wrote the check, and drove it home without a sea trial (small craft advisory on Erie).
First impressions. Substantially more room, excellent/exciting acceleration, great top-end and no issues launching/recovering from the trailer. The wife & kids absolutely love the swim deck. Tons of storage. It definitely does not have the slow-speed maneuverability of the I/O and the 'always in gear' takes a bit of pre-planning at the dock....both completely manageable. The wake is not as nice as with the I/O...but if I wanted a perfect wake I would have bought a tow boat. Compared to the Sea Ray, the fit/finish definitely is not as nice....but a new 24' Sea Ray would have cost $80K....so it's really not a fare comparison. I'm not a fan of the Carlisle bias-ply tires that come on the shorelander...but these came with my Sea Ray as well. I've had exceptional luck with the Good Year Marathon Radials on everything I tow and will be replacing the Carlisles once they are worn with Marathons. I'm an engineer by trade and tend to by hyper-sensitive to design/quality....so take my comments here in that context. No mods yet except the delux moring cover & an extended warranty.
Towards the end of the season I always take a longish cruise on the Ohio. It's about 50 miles in either direction from Cincinnati before you hit the first lock. The Ohio is an absolute filthy mess for most of the season...but tends to clean up by late summer. It's not uncommon to find full trees, matresses, etc. floating just beneath the surface. ...But if you want to 'cruise' in southern Ohio, it's the only option. So....it was just me, boat (very) lightly loaded. I topped off the tank...nearly to the fill cap. The current was around 1mph. The fuel guage indicated 100% when I launched and headed West (with the current). I wanted to verify max range/efficiency/etc. I set the speed to ~32-35mph (~ 5500RPM, ~11GHP). The plan was to turn when I hit 65% fuel remaining or the first lock...whichever occurred first. I made it to the lock (50 miles) with 69% fuel 'remaining.' Sweet!
So...I turned around, now fighting the ~1mph current....with ~ 31-32mph indicated. On the way back up river, I injested my first piece of debris. The starboard pump picked up a plastic top from a coke bottle and sounded like silverware in a garbage disposal. It was easily cleared through the clean-out and there was no damage. Definitely got my attention.....guess this is jetboating! On the return trip, my fuel level was dropping....fast. Long story short, I did make it back to the dock (50 miles) with 5% fuel remaining (indicated). When I came off plane, it read 0%. So, moral of the story is.....our fuel indication is quite non-linear. Something Yamaha could have easily calibrated. Anyone else have experience with this? The tank accepted 45gallons after the trip....so maybe 5 gallons remaining...no idea how much of that remaining 5 gallons was 'usable.' My Sea Ray fuel gauge was quite non-linear as well. The tank tapered to hug the hull at the bottom....(i.e. there was less fuel remaining near the bottom of the sending-unit range). It was easy to visually inspect the fuel in the tank through the engine compartment hatch...so was never an issue. It was a rare great day on the river however...and once you get into Indiana...quite beautiful. Overall, had a blast.
Also on this trip, I received a low (house) battery voltage alarm. Both batteries were on but the house battery was clearly not taking a charge. I could parallel the batteries and the house battery would charge.....but would slowly decay while underway when taken out of 'parallel.' I checked the DVSR as some forum members suggested theirs had come from the factory wired incorrectly. Mine was wired correctly but didn't appear to be charging the house battery. So...first trip to local dealer (Lodder's Marine in Cincinnati). It was also time for the first service which I had already decided to allow the dealer to perform (~$500. I'll be doing all further maintenance). I got a call a few days later that it was ready and I asked about the DVSR. I was told that I need to make sure both batteries were in the 'ON' position. Yeah, got that.....I asked them to try again. After 3hrs & 2 techs were involved they concluded that the DVSR needed replaced. Problem fixed. Glad warranty was covering their time...but I now question the capability of their service department. More on that in a minute. Very responsive & professional however.
Other observations....my boat does seem to list a bit to the port as others have suggested. I probably wouldn't have noticed it had I not read about it here on the forum. The amount of water I drain from the bilge varies dramatically from trip to trip....guessing most is taken-on either through the rub-rail or the clean-out cover/tray when coming off plane. I've cut myself about a dozen times with the unfinished edges around the various compartments....something I'll be resolving this winter. I've got the somewhat sloppy sealant-job at the joint behind the rear wet compartments that some have complained about (starboard side below)...and the cut I received from this edge nearly required stitches.
So, I decided to 'winterize' the boat at the end of the season by pumping antifreeze into both engines (with feed from pump clamped)...and fogging. I initially fogged into the breather boot on the intake bellows as some have suggested....but WAY too much of the oil ended up in the bellows and could have saturated the air filter if I hadn't caught it (had the engines at ~ 2000RPM). So I repeated this process & fogged directly into the throttle-bodies with filter removed. The process didn't take an hour.....but I'm not convinced the antifreeze part is necessary. The boat is stored indoors....but not heated. We'll see how motivated I feel next season.
I did find a few spider-cracks in the gel that I'm not excited about. Both sides near the center boarding/walk-thru on the swim deck....and the infamous cracks around the pump bolts. The cracks on the swim platform were definitely not there initially, not sure about the pump bolt cracks.
This is the lower inboard bolt on the port pump.
I called the dealer (Lodders in Cincinnati). They need to see the boat (1hr drive)...and do not want to do any gel work until March. I have absolutely no idea how competent Lodders is with respect to this type of repair. I'm not thrilled with the idea of pulling the entire pump. They're a huge dealer with a massive service department.....we shall see. Has anyone else with this problem had the cracks around the pumps successfully repaired? Did they return? I'm planning a trip to FL in late March and concerned that this repair will drag-on. May need to wait until the end of next season. I've owned lots of (extremely used) boats with gel issues....not really interested in living with cracks on a new boat with < 15hrs. So this will be repaired.
Despite the issues, I'm very excited about the boat. The family loves it. It's a tremendous value at this price point and lots of fun. I absolutely plan on making the run to Bimini in the near future....either with the wife/kids or the dudes from work. Won't be this year, but next year is 90%. Looking forward to meeting other jetboaters and getting back on the water. I spend quite a bit of time in the Destin/Ft Walton Beach area for work and will likely bring the boat whenever driving is an option. Also looking to get back to the FL Keys this year for some diving.
I've been watching this forum for about a year now....lots of great info that was a tremendous help as I was researching jets & considering trading out of a 19' Sea Ray bowrider (4.3L I/O). I grew up in the Palm Beaches on a deep water canal with access to the intracostal/ocean & never without a boat. I absolutely took it for granted. Now, living in Ohio (16yrs), I FULLY appreciate what I left behind. I promised myself I'd never buy a boat up here, but eventually caved. I purchased the Sea Ray 185 Sport new in 2011 and quickly learned about boating in the land of all man-made lakes.....trailering for hours, winterization, and 7-8 months of storage/yr. Despite this, our family still had lots of fun. The Sea Ray was an exceptional boat. Built like a tank, no un-finished surfaces, rock-solid swim platform, perfect fit/finish, gelcoat, upholstery, canvas....everything. Zero issues after 5 seasons. The 4.3L was good for 55mph. We boated in Erie, Indian Lake, Cesars Creek, Rocky Fork, Buck Creek, Ohio river...and a couple trips per season South to Norris or Cumberland (both ~ 5hrs each way).
It had some shortcomings however. As the kids got older and wanted to invite friends, the 19' boat quickly became crowded. The 36" draft was deep enough for the prop to find every shallow in our muddy waters. The painted trailer was beautiful and I couldn't make myself dip in salt. Once winterized, it was done for the season....even if we had another weekend or two of unexpectedly nice weather. So...this past summer, I started looking at jetboats. The shallow draft, lack of hard winterization requirements, & with a galvanized trailer.....maybe I could buy back some of my season. And I have to admit.....watching the KevinandCorrie vids over and over during the long winter might have been the deciding factor.
My Sea Ray dealer (Cincinnati) is also a Scarab dealer. I wanted a 23-24' boat but not the $70K pricetag. The Scarabs are probably the flashiest jet boat option...and no question the most available power. I was highly concerned however by the 'Scarab' badge (brushed metal...along the windows) falling off of every boat in the showroom.....the one 'detail' you'd think the manufacturer would NEVER allow to fail.
The closest Yamaha dealer is also in Cincinnati (Lodder's Marine). They had one 2015 AR240 remaining in stock (August at this point) but had no ability (or willingness) to put it on a galvanized trailer....or work with me on price (wouldn't budge from MSRP). Long story short, I ended up 3hrs North in Sandusky OH (on Lake Erie) at 360 Powersports. They had one AR240 & several 242s in stock and galvanized trailers on the lot. They were also willing to take $49,500 for the AR240. I drove up on a Saturday, wrote the check, and drove it home without a sea trial (small craft advisory on Erie).
First impressions. Substantially more room, excellent/exciting acceleration, great top-end and no issues launching/recovering from the trailer. The wife & kids absolutely love the swim deck. Tons of storage. It definitely does not have the slow-speed maneuverability of the I/O and the 'always in gear' takes a bit of pre-planning at the dock....both completely manageable. The wake is not as nice as with the I/O...but if I wanted a perfect wake I would have bought a tow boat. Compared to the Sea Ray, the fit/finish definitely is not as nice....but a new 24' Sea Ray would have cost $80K....so it's really not a fare comparison. I'm not a fan of the Carlisle bias-ply tires that come on the shorelander...but these came with my Sea Ray as well. I've had exceptional luck with the Good Year Marathon Radials on everything I tow and will be replacing the Carlisles once they are worn with Marathons. I'm an engineer by trade and tend to by hyper-sensitive to design/quality....so take my comments here in that context. No mods yet except the delux moring cover & an extended warranty.
Towards the end of the season I always take a longish cruise on the Ohio. It's about 50 miles in either direction from Cincinnati before you hit the first lock. The Ohio is an absolute filthy mess for most of the season...but tends to clean up by late summer. It's not uncommon to find full trees, matresses, etc. floating just beneath the surface. ...But if you want to 'cruise' in southern Ohio, it's the only option. So....it was just me, boat (very) lightly loaded. I topped off the tank...nearly to the fill cap. The current was around 1mph. The fuel guage indicated 100% when I launched and headed West (with the current). I wanted to verify max range/efficiency/etc. I set the speed to ~32-35mph (~ 5500RPM, ~11GHP). The plan was to turn when I hit 65% fuel remaining or the first lock...whichever occurred first. I made it to the lock (50 miles) with 69% fuel 'remaining.' Sweet!
So...I turned around, now fighting the ~1mph current....with ~ 31-32mph indicated. On the way back up river, I injested my first piece of debris. The starboard pump picked up a plastic top from a coke bottle and sounded like silverware in a garbage disposal. It was easily cleared through the clean-out and there was no damage. Definitely got my attention.....guess this is jetboating! On the return trip, my fuel level was dropping....fast. Long story short, I did make it back to the dock (50 miles) with 5% fuel remaining (indicated). When I came off plane, it read 0%. So, moral of the story is.....our fuel indication is quite non-linear. Something Yamaha could have easily calibrated. Anyone else have experience with this? The tank accepted 45gallons after the trip....so maybe 5 gallons remaining...no idea how much of that remaining 5 gallons was 'usable.' My Sea Ray fuel gauge was quite non-linear as well. The tank tapered to hug the hull at the bottom....(i.e. there was less fuel remaining near the bottom of the sending-unit range). It was easy to visually inspect the fuel in the tank through the engine compartment hatch...so was never an issue. It was a rare great day on the river however...and once you get into Indiana...quite beautiful. Overall, had a blast.
Also on this trip, I received a low (house) battery voltage alarm. Both batteries were on but the house battery was clearly not taking a charge. I could parallel the batteries and the house battery would charge.....but would slowly decay while underway when taken out of 'parallel.' I checked the DVSR as some forum members suggested theirs had come from the factory wired incorrectly. Mine was wired correctly but didn't appear to be charging the house battery. So...first trip to local dealer (Lodder's Marine in Cincinnati). It was also time for the first service which I had already decided to allow the dealer to perform (~$500. I'll be doing all further maintenance). I got a call a few days later that it was ready and I asked about the DVSR. I was told that I need to make sure both batteries were in the 'ON' position. Yeah, got that.....I asked them to try again. After 3hrs & 2 techs were involved they concluded that the DVSR needed replaced. Problem fixed. Glad warranty was covering their time...but I now question the capability of their service department. More on that in a minute. Very responsive & professional however.
Other observations....my boat does seem to list a bit to the port as others have suggested. I probably wouldn't have noticed it had I not read about it here on the forum. The amount of water I drain from the bilge varies dramatically from trip to trip....guessing most is taken-on either through the rub-rail or the clean-out cover/tray when coming off plane. I've cut myself about a dozen times with the unfinished edges around the various compartments....something I'll be resolving this winter. I've got the somewhat sloppy sealant-job at the joint behind the rear wet compartments that some have complained about (starboard side below)...and the cut I received from this edge nearly required stitches.
So, I decided to 'winterize' the boat at the end of the season by pumping antifreeze into both engines (with feed from pump clamped)...and fogging. I initially fogged into the breather boot on the intake bellows as some have suggested....but WAY too much of the oil ended up in the bellows and could have saturated the air filter if I hadn't caught it (had the engines at ~ 2000RPM). So I repeated this process & fogged directly into the throttle-bodies with filter removed. The process didn't take an hour.....but I'm not convinced the antifreeze part is necessary. The boat is stored indoors....but not heated. We'll see how motivated I feel next season.
I did find a few spider-cracks in the gel that I'm not excited about. Both sides near the center boarding/walk-thru on the swim deck....and the infamous cracks around the pump bolts. The cracks on the swim platform were definitely not there initially, not sure about the pump bolt cracks.
This is the lower inboard bolt on the port pump.
I called the dealer (Lodders in Cincinnati). They need to see the boat (1hr drive)...and do not want to do any gel work until March. I have absolutely no idea how competent Lodders is with respect to this type of repair. I'm not thrilled with the idea of pulling the entire pump. They're a huge dealer with a massive service department.....we shall see. Has anyone else with this problem had the cracks around the pumps successfully repaired? Did they return? I'm planning a trip to FL in late March and concerned that this repair will drag-on. May need to wait until the end of next season. I've owned lots of (extremely used) boats with gel issues....not really interested in living with cracks on a new boat with < 15hrs. So this will be repaired.
Despite the issues, I'm very excited about the boat. The family loves it. It's a tremendous value at this price point and lots of fun. I absolutely plan on making the run to Bimini in the near future....either with the wife/kids or the dudes from work. Won't be this year, but next year is 90%. Looking forward to meeting other jetboaters and getting back on the water. I spend quite a bit of time in the Destin/Ft Walton Beach area for work and will likely bring the boat whenever driving is an option. Also looking to get back to the FL Keys this year for some diving.
