So, why did you get involved, why are you even here ??

[bigcat_ak]

bigcat_ak: did you know that it is illegal for the military to hire somebody with an IQ less than 83? This is about 12% of the US population. However, there is no similar law prohibiting jet boat ownership.

Good info Viking. I think my guy must have had somebody on the inside to get him in. The biggest surprise of the trip was that we didn't shoot him.

[Midwestjet]

So I've been working on the Mississippi River as a pilot/captain since 1980 and have seen
the watershed from Louisiana to Minnesota. All day I pass smaller tributary streams and
often wondered what is up around the corner that I couldn't see or navigate. Had a bass
boat, but wasn't a lot of fun unless fish were hitting which in my case wasn't every trip.
Saw a video posted by Toshiro AK ( Hewescraft extreme shallow, I think ) and thought to
myself...that's it! Got to have one! So shopped around and decided on a sportjet and have
beat the snot out of it trying to get up tributaries where one shouldn't be able to boat.
I've always been a history nut, and read a lot about the French Trader's river network
and how the traders opened up the nation by portaging canoes on nearly every river
and stream in the mid-continent. I wanted a jet boat so I could travel the rivers they did.
Jets aren't for everyone but suits my wants and needs very well. As far as why I'm lurking around
Meanchicken.net, shoot boys, you have the best damn web site to be found if you want to
learn how to drive or fix a jet...period! I learn something new every visit. Keep up the great
site!! Midwest

[smitty]

3 wide and 5 deep? Wow.

[Lignite]

Dad wanted something to run on the river and the lake here where we live when I was just a little guy. He wanted an airboat, but thought they were too loud for family stuff and no good in the wind on the lake, so tried out a couple of the little jet boats with open exhaust, but they kept burning off the water skiing ropes. Finally found a 21' Glastron with a 429 Cobra Jet and a Berkely pump, and we ran it for many many many years (that boat was awesome). Unfortunately my first wife didn't like it, so we sold it. Then I got rid of the first wife, and got a new-to-me 21' aluminum Boice Jet, and a new wife that really likes it. Someday I'm going to buy back that 429, and put it in the Boice (the new wife may not like that, but I hope she does...).

Turning gasoline into noise and pucker factor on the Missouri since 1981.

[wrath]

Boss lady never had been in a boat at 30some years old. I can't swim very well and I float like wheelweights. I always liked fishing, Dad always had boats but usually they were aluminum of some kind with an outboard of some kind. So, I like to stay in fairly shallow water. Preferably water that I can swim to where I can touch bottom within 10 minutes.

I like to go fast. I like to explore. Most of Michigan, that isn't on big water, is busy if something with more than 12" of draft can get down it.

So, that left me with a jet boat of some kind or a small sterndrive I didn't care about. Finding anything that went at least 50mph 19' or under with 12" or less draft was a bit of a challenge, except a jet boat. And I can't leave a sterndrive alone so it'd end up with a GM 6.2L and suddenly I'd care about it.

Boss lady seems to be hooked on the jet boat, but I think it's more of the drinking on a sandbar part she likes best. But we can go places in the boat that you can't with a prop, assuming weeds don't make your life miserable.

I wish we had an aluminum one, but oh well. Maybe next time. I like that after spending about 30 hours and $600 worth of Dynamat and other sound deadening we can talk at dinner volume levels at 30mph. I like that it's easy to get on the trailer, fairly low maintenance, etc. The fuel economy is horrible on a 240 M2, but such is life. I kind of wish it went faster, but 55 is probably good enough. Been contemplating getting a full Exact setup so I can load the pump up more because it bangs off the rev limiter at 55. But boats are holes in the water you throw money into much like cars are the black stripes on the asphalt you burn money into.