Well... I Finally Pulled The Trigger (School Me Please)

I finally pulled the trigger on a SeaDoo GTX jet ski. Please school me on Temporary Import Permit (TIP) or anything else that I specifically need for both the SKI and Trailer. I pick the SKI up on Tuesday after going to meet the owner today. Hoping to take the first trip to Cholla Bay sometime in October, maybe sooner after making sure everything is checked out and ready to go. Not trying to die in the ocean. Secondly, now after years of requesting and inquiring, I will need those MARKS!!! LOL HEEEEEEERE WEEEEE GO!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I have ridden ATV's and dirt bikes to El Golfo from Cholla but always wanted to make this trip on a Jet Ski. Have fun & be safe!

Before venturing on any trips, note the fuel consumption in hours and guage accordingly.
Especially going against tide, wind and current. In which your fuel usage could double.
1 gal there, 2 gallons back etc.

Test runs Az lakes ,.then wait till October 10 or so.

azdiva said:

Before venturing on any trips, note the fuel consumption in hours and guage accordingly.
Especially going against tide, wind and current. In which your fuel usage could double.
1 gal there, 2 gallons back etc.

Click to expand...

The 97 SeaDoo GTX has a 787cc engine with 110hp. Fuel consumption is 11.85 gph at WOT (wide open throttle) with a 15g capacity. Top speed appears to be between 55 and 59 mph. Using 12gph and 55mph as the base that would give you a range of 68.75 miles before you run out of gas. I have to look and see if the reserve is accounted for in the total capacity. Cost of gasoline in Rocky Point is nearly $4/g therefore, that 68.75 miles is going to cost about $60 unless my math is off (which is certainly possible). With that being said, I do plan on taking a few test runs at Pleasant. I will mainly be using this thing for fishing and not recreational boating so I doubt I'll ever run into any capacity issues. Looking to hit some inshore reefs, fish the jetty and maybe a few spots over past whale hill and Unconscious... I figure those to be 10 - 15 mile one way trips out of Cholla Bay not going WOT because there will be a lot of trolling and stops in between. This is going to be more of a point to point type of use rather than WOT around Cholla Bay for recreation. Hopefully I can keep costs down that way. Now I know why the rental guys try charging so much per hour. I never realized that these machines use that much gas. I've read the boat guys talk about their gas consumption for years but thought it would be better on a ski. If you take my numbers from above, you're getting about 1.8 miles to the gallon. I think the boat guys do better than that....


Thanks for the input. This is why I started the thread, to get me to critically think about some of these things because this is all new to me. Trying to be as educated as possible before I go out there. Trying to learn about the machine and get an understanding of what does what for troubleshooting. My worst fear is being a couple of miles out and the machine not starting....

Anyone have anything to add on what I need to take the ski into Mexico??? Do I need a TIP or is that just for boats? Ski is already registered in AZ and trailer has title, is there anything else specifically that I need to do to bring both of these into Mexico? Does American insurance on the ski cover the ski in Mexico or is that something that I have to get along with the Mexican auto insurance?

Cholla bay can be really nice in the beggining of the summer when the South facing beaches are getting hammed on, usually smooth and easy to launch.
We take skis to cholla bay all the time, Current AZ reg, Trailer title to get into mex.....Never had an inspection on the water by mexican authorities (dont know if they even do this), cant help with that. Cholla bay is amazing place to jet ski, you can go in big waves or the smooth bay. Only issue is it gets really busy in the evenings with locals, plan to be off the water before it gets too busy or you will have to negotiate with a ton of people to move there beach set up so you can get the truck and trailer down to the water- they are cool about it if you pass out beers while asking Haha.
My favorite place to ride is out of tucson beach (just past JJ's) Beach gets small at high tide but huge at low tide. easy to launch there at low tide. Usually I go launch at low tide or when its coming in, we ski for 6 hours thru the high tide then pull out when the tide is going out (1/2 way out the beach gets access again to pull out ski's) can be done at JJ's cantina anytime but Tucson Beach is different.

Im running some 1994 yamaha's so we dont carry extra insurance on the skis only list the trailer on the auto policy.
Dont go further from the shore than you can swim, and for goodness sakes DONT SHUT IT OFF!
Unless you have another ski with you.....or even 2. lots of water on board and some food and a FLASH LIGHT the fisherman are all over at night, wouldnt want a near rescue to only be hit by a panga in the dark. If you do end up adrift theres a good chance you might get found out there, theres a ton of boats running around. Mileage is relative, run hard use lots of gas, run easy that seadoo will get good mileage.
Dont forget to pack water, a tarp and food on the ski somewhere, even if its hard to get to. It could save your life.
Run it in fresh water first and put it thru its paces, lots of start and stopping the engine, use all of the systems it has.
if it acts up at all, get some help to figure it out before you go out to sea.
Get to know your ski, battery is critcal to be a good AGM type, tight cables. spare spark plugs and wrench, starting fluid, look underneith of it and see where stuff gets sucked in, Ive pulled shirts and hats out, countless amounts a seaweed, get familiar with getting under it and pulling stuff out. If you run it with seaweed in the pump it can starve the engine of cool water supply and overheat. debris must be pulled out.

Jelly Fish
you could get stung badly if you get in the water to free up your ski and get hit by one. you Must be prepared for jelly fish with a Credit card and AMMONIA to scrape off the stingers then to neutralize the venom with the ammonia.
One of the guys on here got hit by one while in the ocean off his boat and would not have survive if it wasn't for the ammonia on board.

Put a survival kit together and leave it in the ski.
Hope to see you out there.

danwerle said:

Cholla bay can be really nice in the beggining of the summer when the South facing beaches are getting hammed on, usually smooth and easy to launch.
We take skis to cholla bay all the time, Current AZ reg, Trailer title to get into mex.....Never had an inspection on the water by mexican authorities (dont know if they even do this), cant help with that. Cholla bay is amazing place to jet ski, you can go in big waves or the smooth bay. Only issue is it gets really busy in the evenings with locals, plan to be off the water before it gets too busy or you will have to negotiate with a ton of people to move there beach set up so you can get the truck and trailer down to the water- they are cool about it if you pass out beers while asking Haha.
My favorite place to ride is out of tucson beach (just past JJ's) Beach gets small at high tide but huge at low tide. easy to launch there at low tide. Usually I go launch at low tide or when its coming in, we ski for 6 hours thru the high tide then pull out when the tide is going out (1/2 way out the beach gets access again to pull out ski's) can be done at JJ's cantina anytime but Tucson Beach is different.

Im running some 1994 yamaha's so we dont carry extra insurance on the skis only list the trailer on the auto policy.
Dont go further from the shore than you can swim, and for goodness sakes DONT SHUT IT OFF!
Unless you have another ski with you.....or even 2. lots of water on board and some food and a FLASH LIGHT the fisherman are all over at night, wouldnt want a near rescue to only be hit by a panga in the dark. If you do end up adrift theres a good chance you might get found out there, theres a ton of boats running around. Mileage is relative, run hard use lots of gas, run easy that seadoo will get good mileage.
Dont forget to pack water, a tarp and food on the ski somewhere, even if its hard to get to. It could save your life.
Run it in fresh water first and put it thru its paces, lots of start and stopping the engine, use all of the systems it has.
if it acts up at all, get some help to figure it out before you go out to sea.
Get to know your ski, battery is critcal to be a good AGM type, tight cables. spare spark plugs and wrench, starting fluid, look underneith of it and see where stuff gets sucked in, Ive pulled shirts and hats out, countless amounts a seaweed, get familiar with getting under it and pulling stuff out. If you run it with seaweed in the pump it can starve the engine of cool water supply and overheat. debris must be pulled out.

Jelly Fish
you could get stung badly if you get in the water to free up your ski and get hit by one. you Must be prepared for jelly fish with a Credit card and AMMONIA to scrape off the stingers then to neutralize the venom with the ammonia.
One of the guys on here got hit by one while in the ocean off his boat and would not have survive if it wasn't for the ammonia on board.

Put a survival kit together and leave it in the ski.
Hope to see you out there.

Click to expand...

awesome information..... Go Joe!

The don't shut the engine off part is a biggie with me. I apply that to most everything I do.

Knowing your shore line like the back of your hand is a never-ending continuing education...

danwerle said:

Cholla bay can be really nice in the beggining of the summer when the South facing beaches are getting hammed on, usually smooth and easy to launch.
We take skis to cholla bay all the time, Current AZ reg, Trailer title to get into mex.....Never had an inspection on the water by mexican authorities (dont know if they even do this), cant help with that. Cholla bay is amazing place to jet ski, you can go in big waves or the smooth bay. Only issue is it gets really busy in the evenings with locals, plan to be off the water before it gets too busy or you will have to negotiate with a ton of people to move there beach set up so you can get the truck and trailer down to the water- they are cool about it if you pass out beers while asking Haha.
My favorite place to ride is out of tucson beach (just past JJ's) Beach gets small at high tide but huge at low tide. easy to launch there at low tide. Usually I go launch at low tide or when its coming in, we ski for 6 hours thru the high tide then pull out when the tide is going out (1/2 way out the beach gets access again to pull out ski's) can be done at JJ's cantina anytime but Tucson Beach is different.

Im running some 1994 yamaha's so we dont carry extra insurance on the skis only list the trailer on the auto policy.
Dont go further from the shore than you can swim, and for goodness sakes DONT SHUT IT OFF!
Unless you have another ski with you.....or even 2. lots of water on board and some food and a FLASH LIGHT the fisherman are all over at night, wouldnt want a near rescue to only be hit by a panga in the dark. If you do end up adrift theres a good chance you might get found out there, theres a ton of boats running around. Mileage is relative, run hard use lots of gas, run easy that seadoo will get good mileage.
Dont forget to pack water, a tarp and food on the ski somewhere, even if its hard to get to. It could save your life.
Run it in fresh water first and put it thru its paces, lots of start and stopping the engine, use all of the systems it has.
if it acts up at all, get some help to figure it out before you go out to sea.
Get to know your ski, battery is critcal to be a good AGM type, tight cables. spare spark plugs and wrench, starting fluid, look underneith of it and see where stuff gets sucked in, Ive pulled shirts and hats out, countless amounts a seaweed, get familiar with getting under it and pulling stuff out. If you run it with seaweed in the pump it can starve the engine of cool water supply and overheat. debris must be pulled out.

Jelly Fish
you could get stung badly if you get in the water to free up your ski and get hit by one. you Must be prepared for jelly fish with a Credit card and AMMONIA to scrape off the stingers then to neutralize the venom with the ammonia.
One of the guys on here got hit by one while in the ocean off his boat and would not have survive if it wasn't for the ammonia on board.

Put a survival kit together and leave it in the ski.
Hope to see you out there.

Click to expand...

I'm a non-owner Cholla Bay regular so that part I have covered lol but thanks for the other tips. Problem is I'm not using this jet ski for recreational purposes as it is supposed to be used. This will not be a jet ski that goes WOT and figure 8's and loop de loops and whatever else maneuvers. This is a point A to point B ski and there is an absolute necessity to be able to shut the engine off. There's just no way I can be out fishing for 4 hours and leave the engine running the whole time. I know that pry isn't ideal but realistically this ski will be running when Im going from A to B but when I get there the engine will have to be shut off. Unless trolling. "The further from shore than you can swim" part is a no go too. First of all, I doubt even an avid swimmer could swim to shore from a reasonable distance when there is current and tide going out. I have personally rescued two swimmers from off Pelican Point that thought they were in a safe distance from shore until they realized they were essentially swimming in place and getting worn out quick. Secondly, I'm disabled so even if I was a reasonable distance from shore I still wouldn't be able to swim in if I wanted to. Either I sit on the couch the rest of my life or I make educated decisions to be as safe as possible but I'm not going to stop living my life. Looks like you may be fairly new to the forum but I have about 7 years of kayak fishing experience now and I'm pretty confident I know what I'm doing while out there. I do take the sea very seriously. My overall concern or rational fear is the SKI not starting. I don't know how likely this scenario is but it's definitely something that I need to be aware of. I have a brand new AMG battery and it's sealed so I'm confident about the battery part. Obviously I plan on lake testing this thing here soon. I will certainly have a VHF radio and I don't plan on going very far out but again, I just don't see how realistic it's going to be to not be able to shut the motor off while I'm out there.

I'm sure these are all no-no's but so is kayaking in the sea by yourself and again, I've been doing that with great success for 7 years now so I'll take my chances. This has been a dream of mine to have a "fishing jet ski" and I'm all in regardless so... LOL

Thanks for the reply about what I need to bring the boat into Mexico. If I'm reading this correctly I do NOT need a TIP on the SKI only AZ registration and the trailer title, correct?


Picture of the ski after I brought it home. Needs a new seat skin which Im going to change to black. I've since buffed the hull and paint so it looks pretty good but I also got it running. I bought it knowing it didn't run. Carb rebuild and it's running good on the hose but I haven't put it in water yet. Not sure if the jet pump and wearing is good until I ride it. Still have to put my fish finder GPS on and make a cooler/rod holder setup for the back. Getting excited but I don't know if I'll get down by October now. Might have to wait till November. Depends on how good of shape this thing is in and how quickly I can get it rigged up. I'm going to re-post in the fishing section. Cheers!

It would be great if you had a friend on his own jet-ski to fish with you. Having a buddy boat along can help soooo much--I have been saved more than once just because I had another boat somewhat nearby to rescue me and vice-versa.

We rode a couple xp's for 10 years there, they never failed to restart, choya bay was the best to launch from and very flat water, only problem once you turn them off they wander off and you have no control, you can easily fall off sideways and getting back on is a mission.

RULE OF THUMB........

When dealing with mechanical equipment.....ESPECIALLY COMBUSTION ENGINES! DO NOT EVER SHUT IT DOWN! if'n you want to get back to the barn without swimming, walking thirty miles or wishing you had a parachute on your back (the Army never issued them to Huey crews).

Way back in 1999 I had a brand new 24' Scout center console with a screaming Yamaha 250 strapped to it's ass. First trip out, maybe fifty miles in Sargasso country trolling for and killing some big Dorado when the Yammie had a sudden stoppage like maybe I'd run over a floating telephone pole. The stern was being pulled down and since it was a snotty steaming hot July day a lot of water was sloshing over the transom and the deck was two inches deep in blood and sea water. So I try to raise the engine and it won't come up but the stern gets pulled down even more. I take a look over and see the prop balled up with blue poly rope and a hundred feet of hooks and longline fading into the crystal clear blue-black depths.

So I jump in with a knife in my hand and start chopping and cutting. My girlfriend tells my that there are several sharks circling the boat now as the bloody deck is leaving a delicious chum line. I finally get the crap removed and crawl back into the boat and go to start the engine which is now is totally dead. I open the deck hatch to check out the battery and it's sitting in three inches of water since the bilge pump won't work without twelve little volts of juice. My Boy Scout training pays off since I always carry a spare battery. I get my tools, have no problema disconnecting the leads from the dead batteria but when I try to connect the hot wire to the plus post on the spare I get the shit shocked outta me, no wonder since I'm kneeling in salt water, dripping in salty sweat and the battery is soaked as well.

So, time for Plan B. I remember that stuffed in one of the console lockers is a bag of goodies that came with the new Yamaha to include the Operator's Manual and a six foot length of white rope with a handle on the end. Try lifting the lid off of a 250 in sloppy seas, that is something I'll never forget or ever be forced to do, PERIOD! Then comes the starting the lawnmower with the string trick, except that it's a six cylinder car engine standing on it's end and bigger than most Jap rice burners. So after maybe fifty pulls, turning the ignition switch ON and priming the fuel system since it was forced to run dry with the balled up rope, I get her going.

After considering a kicker spare which is total bool-sheet I decide to get rid of that tub and get something a little more dependable with TWO engines. Only took a month to sell it to some guy in San Diego for more than I paid for it then order my current Sea Pro with twin Yammies that I NEVER shut down!

Same goes for being fifty miles out in the desert or out on Salinas Point, I NEVER shut down a perfectly good running Jeep! Had that happen once in Iran. Think about a thirty mile walk out in rubber flip-flops, in the dark, without a flashlight.

So Joe, you might consider strapping a five gallon fuel can to your new rig.

JJ

Jungle Jim said:

RULE OF THUMB........

When dealing with mechanical equipment.....ESPECIALLY COMBUSTION ENGINES! DO NOT EVER SHUT IT DOWN! if'n you want to get back to the barn without swimming, walking thirty miles or wishing you had a parachute on your back (the Army never issued them to Huey crews).

Way back in 1999 I had a brand new 24' Scout center console with a screaming Yamaha 250 strapped to it's ass. First trip out, maybe fifty miles in Sargasso country trolling for and killing some big Dorado when the Yammie had a sudden stoppage like maybe I'd run over a floating telephone pole. The stern was being pulled down and since it was a snotty steaming hot July day a lot of water was sloshing over the transom and the deck was two inches deep in blood and sea water. So I try to raise the engine and it won't come up but the stern gets pulled down even more. I take a look over and see the prop balled up with blue poly rope and a hundred feet of hooks and longline fading into the crystal clear blue-black depths.

So I jump in with a knife in my hand and start chopping and cutting. My girlfriend tells my that there are several sharks circling the boat now as the bloody deck is leaving a delicious chum line. I finally get the crap removed and crawl back into the boat and go to start the engine which is now is totally dead. I open the deck hatch to check out the battery and it's sitting in three inches of water since the bilge pump won't work without twelve little volts of juice. My Boy Scout training pays off since I always carry a spare battery. I get my tools, have no problema disconnecting the leads from the dead batteria but when I try to connect the hot wire to the plus post on the spare I get the shit shocked outta me, no wonder since I'm kneeling in salt water, dripping in salty sweat and the battery is soaked as well.

So, time for Plan B. I remember that stuffed in one of the console lockers is a bag of goodies that came with the new Yamaha to include the Operator's Manual and a six foot length of white rope with a handle on the end. Try lifting the lid off of a 250 in sloppy seas, that is something I'll never forget or ever be forced to do, PERIOD! Then comes the starting the lawnmower with the string trick, except that it's a six cylinder car engine standing on it's end and bigger than most Jap rice burners. So after maybe fifty pulls, turning the ignition switch ON and priming the fuel system since it was forced to run dry with the balled up rope, I get her going.

After considering a kicker spare which is total bool-sheet I decide to get rid of that tub and get something a little more dependable with TWO engines. Only took a month to sell it to some guy in San Diego for more than I paid for it then order my current Sea Pro with twin Yammies that I NEVER shut down!

Same goes for being fifty miles out in the desert or out on Salinas Point, I NEVER shut down a perfectly good running Jeep! Had that happen once in Iran. Think about a thirty mile walk out in rubber flip-flops, in the dark, without a flashlight.

So Joe, you might consider strapping a five gallon fuel can to your new rig.

JJ

Click to expand...

https://www.flickr.com/groups/hippietrail/pool/with/8965953151/#photo_8965953151 Iran, traveled there in 70 ...crazy times...didn't shoot anyone but smoked some great hash

For piece of mind just setup a dual battery system and don't run over any plastic bags out on the water. Plenty of stainless auxiliary dual battery boxes available for your ski and super easy to wire up with an A/B/All battery switch. As additional insurance, I refresh both batteries every year pretty much.

Or if you don't want to run dual batteries get one of the capacitor jump start devices from Costco for about $50 bucks and make sure it is fully charge each time you go out.

Also..................

If'n you decide to slip over the side for a dip, be sure that you have fifty or a hundred feet of line secured to and trailing in the water behind your rig WITH YOUR HAND ON IT! A boat can be pushed along by the slightest breeze much faster than most people can swim.

That my friend I know as a matter of fact! Good idea to have your boarding ladder deployed as well, BEFORE YOU JUMP INTO THE WATER! Most of them float. Might wanna have it secured with a line too.

JJ

Good stuff, Im going to Cholla next week to run the skis!
Good luck to you, Hope to see you getting pulled around on your jet ski by some big bull shark you caught!

Must have been fun to go to Iran with a Hall pass to rally the VW all over the place! we only get to do that stuff in Mexico now.
You old men had all of the fun in the 70's!!!!

So Dan..........

I've only been on a Jet Ski once and that was it for me. Lake Havasu maybe twenty five years ago. Me and my chick, hot July day damned thing just quit center of the lake. No cell phone in those days, did have a pocket VHF, called Vessel Assist, took em almost two hours to get out to us then the wonderful tow back gettin tossed around like we had a Bull Shark on a line. Back at the ski rental dock the guy runs his hand into the intake and pulls out a white plastic grocery bag. Problema solved! Dumb shit idea of fun anyways.

As for your rant concerning Iran...WTF are you talking about? "Hall pass?? VW all over the place??" Wadda you smokin this early afternoon? Save some for me this weekend!

JJ

We brought trailer across and Mexico border asked for title and registration on it.

Jerry wrote he went to Iran in 1970 above (would quote if I knew how..)
Clicked his link and its a bunch of hippies in a VW bus cruising around camping on what is probably some
terrorist nuke camp now.....He was issued a Hall pass based on political freedom that you could not get now.

Hall Pass: examples:
1 Wife says OK you can go out with your buddies and watch football- you get a hall pass

1(a) Strip club for you brothers wedding pre party- wife said no-no hall pass issued

2 Drive your prius in the fastlane at 55mph- we expect that and issue you a hall pass instead of honking.

3 Cover you Ford Raptor in SCORE stickers and drive anywhere you want in Baja, places you would be nervous to be in normally-Hall Pass issued they think your part of the race.

4 Race your Trophy Truck in Rocky point down the city streets, aim at the local police doing the road closure, kick a big drift next to them(would be shot at normally)- they cheer for you and issue a hall pass

5 Get pulled over by BLM in Nevada for ignoring Road Closure signs during a race, would normally be arrested and have the raptor impounded BUT because you have 4 good looking girls with you- hall pass issued based on providing the Officer with some nice Visual Candy.

Hope this Helps, There are many reasons to ask or assume you can get a hall pass for your actions.

Dan