The personal watercraft industry is booming at an alarming rate! With more first time buyers and uninformed operators behind the handle bars, it is important to safe this summer out on the water. Marion Knaus with Northern Ontario Travel touched on some simple yet important key factors that are often forgotten by new riders when operating a PWC: not using the safety lanyard properly, not riding in shallow water, unprepared docking, forgetting to refuel, forgetting the drain plug. To some this may come as common knowledge, but to a first time rider, this could certainly ruin what was supposed to be an adventurous day on your new ride. So let’s recap these key factors to avoid any mishaps. 

All PWC are required to have a safety lanyard and it must be used properly at all times. If your watercraft is equipped with a safety lanyard that is worn on your wrist, be sure to tighten it rather than just leaving it loose. In the event that you may fall off, your ski’s engine will stay running instead of coming to a stop. Sea-Doo solves this problem entirely; their lanyard clips to your life vest to avoid the possibility of the lanyard slipping off.

To some it may come as a surprise, but your low draft PWC is not a shallow water capable machine! Riding through shallow water, beaching your ski, or even encountering weeds could end your day on the water if not handled properly. If you’re lucky, you will simply have a jet pump that needs to be unclogged and is a rather quick fix. However, damage to the jet pump or the hull of your ski is very likely when riding in these conditions. It is best to ride in a minimum of two feet of water and anchor when necessary.

Just like parallel parking a car, docking your ski is a skill that takes time and practice to learn. It is important to get a feel of your watercraft’s reverse system and how it responds before approaching a dock for your first time. When the time comes to dock your ski, have your dock lines ready and keep all hands and feet inside the vessel just in case of collision. Most importantly, if you see a fellow rider struggling at the boat dock, lend a helping hand. Offering some pointers to someone who needs it may be the difference between them returning to the water and listing their ski for sale.

If you plan to be out on the water all day, be sure you have the fuel to do so. If you don’t have any fuel stops on the water, you may want to consider bringing extra fuel with you. The Watercraft Journals’s “Long Hauler Auxiliary Fuel System is an ingenious way of toting plenty of extra fuel on your ski. It is compatible with all 2004-and-newer Kawasaki and Yamaha 4-stroke models, 2003-through-2011 4-stroke Sea-Doos, and 2002 through 2009 4-stroke Honda Aquatrax models. It provides an extra USCG certified 12-gallons and automatically fills your fuel tank. The days of manually refilling with fuel jugs and risking spillage are over!

Lastly, forgetting the drain plug is a common mistake that many of us have made, including myself. It is one of those things that you typically only forget once and will become something that you triple check on every ride. If the plug happens to be left out, the ski will rapidly take on water until it is screwed back in. To avoid this problem, RIVA Racing offers self bailing drain plugs. These plugs will automatically drain water from your hull but never allow water in. These are available for purchase at greenulk.net at a 10 percent discount! Don’t sink your ski, check your drain plugs.

Summer is in full swing and with 2020’s pandemic isolation in the rearview mirror, it’s open season on the water in 2021.  Sea-Doo has your safety in mind with their tips on how to ride responsibly and safely. If you’re in a hurry to get out on your new Sea-Doo, here’s a quick rundown on what you need to know before you get your ride on.

You must be 16 years old to ride a Sea-Doo and never use drugs or drink alcohol before riding. Always wear a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device when riding. Don’t be a reckless rider and ruin your day or someone else’s. Attach a tether cord to your PFD or to your wrist and keep it free from the handlebars.

Take it easy on the throttle until you’ve reached a clear area away from shore. Always play well with others and be a responsible rider. Check out the Sea-Doo piece on Responsible Fun. It includes pertinent information on seamanship and waterway etiquette, and it is an excellent read for new riders or a review for the old salts.

There is also a chapter on Social Responsibility from the Personal Watercraft Industry Association. It encompasses an array of environmental items that we as watercraft operators, can put into practice every time we go out on the water. We all have a part in keeping the ecosystem healthy and safe from damage.

We are all responsible for making sure that we do no harm to the environment, and we can accomplish these things by using safe boating practices so that we may enjoy healthy waterways in the future.

Sea-Doo has given us an excellent source for information pertaining to getting on the water safely and having fun doing it

Mark your calendars! The annual MudBug rally will be taking place on June 10-13 in Morgan City, Louisiana. MudBug has occurred for well over a decade; what started as a meet up for the world’s fastest PWCs to battle it out has evolved into a laid back group ride with some incredibly fast skis.

Those attending will find themselves deep into Louisiana’s swamps with the greatest crowd the PWC community has to offer, maybe a few alligators as well. The local bayous offer beautiful scenery incomparable to anywhere across the nation; windy, narrow trails bordered with centuries old cypress trees are no stranger.

The group tends to make frequent stops to refuel, hangout, and try Louisiana’s famous cuisine. Believe it or not, some of the best places to experience the taste of Louisiana are right on the water! Even though MudBug brings out 100-plus mph turbo builds, all skis are always welcomed. As usual, there is no set ride or route for MudBug.

In order to stay updated on ride locations and launch times, visit the forum on www.greenhullk.net for the most accurate information. The Watercraft Journal will be attending this years ride and topping off the weekend with a live stream with Jerry Gaddis from the GreenHulk headquarters Sunday night. MudBug has something to offer for all PWC enthusiasts and is not a weekend you’ll want to miss. We’ll see you there, sha!

Steven in Sales has an updated guide to his article on jet ski warranties. He neatly lays out the details in an easy-to-read format. We’ll touch on some key features beginning with what warranties don’t cover. As a default, they cover nothing more than manufacturer defects so if you suck up some rocks or other debris, the owner is often on their own.

Equally, factory warranties are tiered and body defects are only covered in the first year. Unapproved mods can void your warranty. If you are planning to modify your ski and you aren’t sure about the mod, contact a dealer. They will let you know if it will void your warranty. Transversely, consumers have rights and should know that specific modifications will not void the entire ski’s warranty, which The Watercraft Journal detailed previously here.

Depending on where you live, the default manufacturer warranty is 1 year and the max warranty on a jet ski is 5 years. Here’s a tip, buy your next ski at a boat show. The manufacturer will sometimes give out extra warranties to dealers. Buyers can sometimes score 3-or-4 year warranties – often times as a show promotion.

Steven recommends getting the warranty promotion instead of the money-off deal. In this case, an extended warranty is your friend, though buying it doesn’t speed up repairs. You have to wait just like everybody else, especially in the summer months. Steven recommends always taking the manufacturer warranty over the dealer warranty, citing that a warranty from the manufacturer is easier to deal with, although top tier dealers like Cycle Springs Powersports have demonstrated over the years to be just as reliable (if not more) than the OE. Check out Steven’s complete guide here.

Per an article by Joshua Dowling published on Watercraft Zone, Sea-Doo customers and dealers are unhappy about a delay in delivery of the new Sea-Doo Fish Pro’s to dealers in Australia. The PWC were scheduled to arrive in May or June, and they have been pushed back to August at the earliest. Some dealers and customers are speculating that the Sea-Doo Fish Pro 170 models were diverted to the US market due high demand on top of a PWC shortage.

The machines are assembled in Mexico and take about two months to arrive in Australia and given that timeline, Sea-Doo had an ample amount of time to notify dealers in Australia of the delay. They didn’t and now Sea-Doo dealers must face dissatisfied customers. Quite a few Sea-Doo Fish Pro 170 buyers have been waiting since January for their new skis to arrive and according to one dealer source, a lot of customers are asking for their money back.

“Everyone understands the world is in a state of flux right now and there are production delays and interruptions,” said one Sea-Doo dealer source. “However, the least Sea-Doo could have done is tell us sooner rather than later that there was going to be a further three-month delay.”

Sea-Doo also continues to be plagued by problems with its “Intelligent Debris Free” (IDF). The IDF is designed to switch into a reverse thrust to clear debris from the intake grate and jet pump. It is possible for the IDF system to get stuck between forward and reverse on some models, which will disable the craft. The machine is rendered inoperable at that point and will have to be towed.

Though all the Sea-Doo watercraft outfitted with IDF are inspected, some problematic units seem to have slipped through. Dealers advise owners of 2021 Sea-Doo models equipped with the IDF technology to take them in for an inspection if they’ve encountered any issues.