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Video: Ten Quick and Simple Hacks for Cleaning Your PWC

By
Ocean Priselac
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Are you one of the jet ski riders who dreads the thought of cleaning your PWC after an exhausting day of riding? Well, Jet Ski Camping has compiled a helpful list and video to make your life easier and we’re sharing it with you.

The first thing you want to do is purchase a garden hose wand. The wand should measure at least two feet in length and has an on/off trigger. Find one with a thin adjustable nozzle because it will make it easy to clean out those hard-to-reach places. One of those areas is part of your trailer frame. It’s a good idea to get inside the frame openings because trailers typically rust from the inside out. Stick the hose in one end of the frame. Check out the video for the sponge trick.

Prior to washing the engine bay, give it a good look and see if any water is inside the compartment. This little trick could save you from sinking. The compartment should be dry and watertight. Once you have checked for water, give the engine a good spray, making sure to not spray inside the air intake. Cover the air intake with your hand while spraying to keep the water from entering.

After you’ve rinsed the engine, unscrew the drainplugs from the rear and lift the jockey wheel onto an upside-down bucket to get your trailer tilt on. This will drain the water from the engine compartment.

Occasionally, it’s a good idea to rinse the engine mounts. Jet Ski Camping does this by filling the hull with one or two inches of water, which will cover the deep-seated mounts and they’ll get a good rinse.

A good jet ski flushing can be done at the boat ramp if it has a spigot and you have your hose with you, and it isn’t too busy. You can leave your drain plugs on the way home so that the water can drain while you drive. Take the route with the most hills. We see guys leaving the nearby boat ramp with water gushing out of the backs of their boats. Whatever works!

Also, you don’t want to skip the foot holds. Mold and rust love those areas. Simply take a sponge and soak up the water.

Before putting the cover back on your craft, give the engine a good anti-rust spray using an extension hose with a 360-degree nozzle attached to a can Fluid Film. The 360-degree nozzle hose will give you the ability to properly coat and protect everything.

Save yourself some time and save your ski from saltwater corrosion by following these simple tips from Jet Ski Camping!

Video: Greenhulk Teases Our ’21 GP1800R vs. ’20 GP1800R Shootout

By
Kevin Shaw
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created by dji camera

For those paying attention, you will have known that The Watercraft Journal’s own Kevin Shaw was recently down in Morgan City, Louisiana to join Greenhulk.net’s own Jerry Gaddis and his son, Greg for a very special day of testing. We brought down a nearly brand-new 2020 Yamaha GP1800R SVHO (touting a paltry 14 hours on the clock) to place up against Jerry’s near-showroom new 2021 Yamaha GP1800R SVHO to conduct a little showdown of our own accord.

It didn’t take long to see that the 2021 model truly stands above all other GP’s who came before it, and while neither this article or Greg’s video below will reveal the final results – those will be revealed in a soon-coming full-length video from The Watercraft Journal in the next week – we will tell you that the 2020 put up a good fight and is a worthy opponent, but if you’ve got a stock 2018, you’re gonna want to sell that bad boy on Facebook Marketplace as soon as possible.

Again, the full length video and article will be published exclusively on The Watercraft Journal and our YouTube channel in the coming week, so please do not miss out. If you’re a “Yamaha guy” this is gonna knock your socks off.

Jet Ski World Cup Rolls Out Overview Schedule 2021

By
Kevin Shaw
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Man, 2020 was a crazy year (and frankly, 2021 ain’t looking all that rosy either) and a major surprise for many in the personal watercraft racing community was the delay of the Jet Ski World Cup (y’know, the “King’s Cup”) from its usual spot in early December to all the way until April 21st-through-25th of 2021. While this certainly messed up a lot of people’s racing ambitions, heavy travel restrictions due to COVID-19 made hosting the event earlier an impossibility.

Now with vaccinations being widely distributed and authoritarian lock downs being eased in many countries, Pattaya, Thailand’s World Series event is nearing closer. In preparation for the big event, organizers recently published an overview schedule for the week’s racing, which you can read HERE. Obviously, for those stateside, there’s quite a bit of preparation needed, so it’s best you jump on your reservations now and start arranging for transportation of your ski, gear and other necessities.

P1 AquaX Partnership with Yamaha to Continue in 2021

By
Kevin Shaw
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It wasn’t too long ago that The Watercraft Journal published the tentative schedule for the 2021 P1 AquaX race schedule, and now the racing body just announced that Yamaha Motor Corp. USA is back on board as the title sponsor for the series. Of course, with Yamaha WaveRunners absolutely dominating the closed course and offshore super course-style race format, it’s no wonder.

Both the FX SVHO and GP1800R have remained favored weapons-of-choice of the series’ top athletes and it’s likely to continue, particularly as Yamaha and P1 AquaX have agreed to permit the 2021 Yamaha SuperJet compete as well.  We’re excited to see how this year shakes out too – as Sea-Doo’s newly redesigned RXP-X 300 promised to give the big SVHO-powered Yamahas a run for their money.

Here’s the entire press release from P1 AquaX:
Powerboat P1 and Yamaha Motor Corporation have jointly announced that they will be continuing their watercraft racing partnership in 2021. Entering its fifth year, the relationship is an outstanding example of leading manufacturers using the P1 AquaX race series as a marketing and promotional platform.

Bryce Parker, Marketing Logistics Supervisor at Yamaha WaterCraft Racing, explained: “We understand the importance of racing and the impact it has on our business. We are looking forward to the year ahead and hoping that the return of a safe environment will allow for a normal race season. We will continue to enthusiastically support P1 AquaX, our dealers and our racers. With the release of the new GP1800R and SuperJet it promises to be a very exciting year.”

For over 30 years, SuperJet has been the pinnacle of stand-up, creating a world of racing around it, and in August this year Yamaha announced the launch of the all-new 2021 SuperJet WaveRunner. It features a complete redesign since the introduction of the WaveRunner line in 1990, with an entirely new hull and now powered by Yamaha’s three-cylinder four stroke TR-1 marine engine, and will compete in the AquaX Sprint division next year.

The GP1800R, which Eric Francis rode to victory in the P1 AquaX Bahamas World Championship in 2019, has experienced a significant redesign for 2021 with the new hull producing improved handling. It looks set to be the Yamaha racers’ watercraft of choice in the AquaX Enduro 300hp class.

“Partnerships are at the heart of our business and being supported by a world class manufacturer like Yamaha speaks volumes for our AquaX race series,” said P1 USA Championship Manager Michelle Petro. “The successful relationship began in 2017 and, with no racing at all being possible last year, 2021 will see AquaX celebrate its tenth season of racing.”

The P1 AquaX USA Championship kicks off in Daytona Beach in April.

Video: Sea-Doo Recaps 2020 With Some Season Highlights

By
Brice Leckrone
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As we ring in the New Year with hopes for many bright and fun-filled times on the water, it’s worth having a look back at 2020 to see some of the highlights that many Sea-Doo riders had.

Judging by the video re-cap it seems that many riders were not letting a worldwide pandemic get them down and instead chose to take advantage of every opportunity.  Take a look at this video that shows some of the best highlights of 2020 from riders all around the world.

Sea-Doo would also like to wish everyone a Happy New Year as they write this warm and comical message to a year that we will surely remember for a long time.

Dear 2020,
It’s been real. While you’ve certainly thrown us a few of the best curveballs we’ve seen in quite a while, you’ve helped our riders rediscover the freedom we crave and the passion we have for the Sea-Doo Life. Here’s some of our best from this past year to remember us by. Yes, we’re breaking up. It’s not you, it’s us… no, wait, it’s definitely you!

To everyone who shares a passion for the open water, we hope you have a safe, happy, and healthy New Year! We can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store!

Video: Restoring Faded & Sun-Bleached Plastics With a Heat Gun

By
Kevin Shaw
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As personal watercraft have rapidly ballooned in size over the decades, manufacturers have had to find new and creative ways to help keep weight down. To counter packing on some serious pounds, companies like Sea-Doo have invested millions into developing different forms of plastics to replace heavier fiberglass, all while retaining strength, rigidity and the watercraft’s overall aesthetic.

This means that today’s watercraft are more and more typically black molded plastic than painted surfaces. Unfortunately, despite modern blends and advanced treatments, black plastics can quickly fade if left uncovered. Damaging UV rays can leech away vital elements in the plastic’s polypropylene composition, leaving it bleached white and if left out too long, even chalky and flaking apart.

Although our 2020 Sea-Doo GTI SE 170 came brand new to us this last April, without the use of a good UV-filtering cover and frankly, a summer of continued riding, saw our ski’s plastics quickly begin to fade. To battle this, we tried every topical treatment from XPS, and even dipped into our vast collection of automotive and marine-grade detailing chemicals to no avail.

Before things got too bad, we’re going to show you how we restored our Sea-Doo using the single-most effective way to bring a near factory luster back to black plastics – and that is by using a heat gun. Thankfully, dedicated heat guns are surprisingly affordable and easy to find: we picked ours up at Harbor Freight for just over $20. [Note: we are following both BRP’s Polytec repair steps as well as the plastic restoration guide by ASE. – Ed.]

And no, your wife’s hair dryer won’t work here. Hair dryers do not generate enough focused heat, as they’re meant to blow warm air not act as a service tool. Please don’t cut corners here. And obviously, don’t start until you’ve cleaned your surfaces of any waxes or treatments, as these can react negatively to the heat process.

Treating faded plastics with heat works by slowly breaking down the plastic’s molecular composition, allowing the chemical bond to realign as the polymers cool, leaving a wet, glossy surface. This process is tricky as the substrate can melt quickly if too much heat is applied at once. The key is to keep your heat gun consistently moving and roughly 4-to-6 inches away from the surface.

It’s important to note that as you’re trying to restore your faded plastic’s shine, you’re also wanting to maintain its textured surface. If too much heat is applied, you can literally melt the plastic, leaving a glassy smooth – albeit discolored – surface. That is why patience and consistency is paramount here. Take your time and pay attention to what the plastic is doing.

As intense heat is focused on the plastic’s surface, you’ll see spots begin to appear – this is what is called “sweating.” As you move your heat gun’s tip in a concentric pattern around the area, you should see the sweating increase, slowly deepening the color and returning back to a deep, rich black.

If you see some spots begin to become shiny, back away and let it cool off a bit, as that’s a sign of too much heat and the substrate is beginning to melt. Thankfully, you can always pull back and let the surface cool to observe your progress, then reapply heat and pick up where you left off. Plastic can be pretty forgiving in this way.

Although the transformation process happens quickly in front of your eyes, its again, super important to be patient, pace yourself and be consistent. It’s also helpful to aim the tip of the heat gun perpendicular to the surface, meaning adjusting your angle to the contours of the plastics. These parts have lots of highs and lows, and its easy to overheat one area while trying to treat another.

In restoring our Sea-Doo, we treated each panel one at a time. Prior to each panel cooling, we also applied a liberal coat of Meguiar’s Ultimate Black plastic restorer to the warm surface with a microfiber towel. This protectant is one of the few on the market that isn’t a wax but is an actual penetrant, chemically adhering to vinyls and plastics unlike others that merely produce a surface layer of UV protection.

The final result of less than an hour’s worth of work is hard to deny. Obviously, this is not a permanent solution and will still require proper care and protection, but this will help extend your plastic’s life a while longer. Equally, older plastics or those with heavier UV damage may require several passes, but the process is identical – and even for colored plastics as well.

After seeing our latest video, a reader named Rodney shared, “This is a nice trick. [This is my] 1994 Yamaha WaveRunner III before and after [using a] heat gun.”
There’s no reason to live with dull, sun-bleached faded plastics or foot the bill for all new replacements when a little elbow grease on a Saturday morning could have your personal watercraft looking brand new.

[Editor’s note: It’s been 2 months since we performed this treatment, and the GTI SE 170 remains as glossy as the day we performed it. We’ve traveled 1,400 miles with it on a trailer, racked up several more riding hours, and pressure washed it twice – and it still looks great. –K]

The Watercraft Journal By The Numbers: Record Growth for 2020

By
Kevin Shaw
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First launched on New Year’s Day in 2013 under the name Watercraft Performance – and later rebranded The Watercraft Journal in Fall of that year – this publication has swelled to become the single-most frequented resource for personal watercraft reviews, industry news, accessory and apparel evaluations, as well as race and event coverage in the world. As we near half a million annual readers it’s an odd realization that WCJ has also surpassed the subscription sales of former print hallmarks Personal Watercraft Illustrated and Splash magazines.

Not only has WCJ continued in its upward trajectory for nearly 8 years, but we’ve also expanded into video production, providing The Watercraft Journal a whole new demographic of readers who often do not overlap between the magazine and YouTube channel. This fetches WCJ an additional audience of 1.1 million viewers, pushing The Watercraft Journal’s total audience to over one and a half million annual readers. This kind of audience is something that readers of old school PWC magazines could only dream of.

So how does The Watercraft Journal succeed when others fail? Easy, reliability. No other publication produces on a tighter schedule. Equally, we contractually deliver on the commitments we make to our supporting advertisers. Companies looking to reach this magnitude of audience know that WCJ is the best, most reliable way to do it. We provide measurable results in click-throughs, impressions and interactions ensuring that your advertising dollars result in sales. Those who join the WCJ see a better return on their investment than with any other PWC publication. That’s a fact.

Finally, our publishing schedule and social media presence is so vast and consistent that others simply fall short. Others like to try to sprint to the finish line, while we’ve managed a steady, consistent pace that has taken us further than our competition. Under the direction of industry veteran, Editor-in-Chief Kevin Shaw, The Watercraft Journal is respected and trusted by all three Original Equipment (OE) manufacturers as well as other major producers within the industry. We’ve helped open distribution channels for smaller companies, develop and trial-tested new products for manufacturers and much more. A rising tide raises all ships, after all.

Total Readership and Growth in 2019 vs. 2020

Growth By Nearly Half Over Last Year
Upward growth is great, and continued growth is really great. But what happens when 7 years into The Watercraft Journal you leap ahead of last year’s readership by nearly 47-percent? That’s pretty much unheard of. But that’s exactly what happened in 2020 and we know exactly why. Certainly the austere COVID shutdowns pushed people into pursuing new forms of fun – and a new jet ski certainly looked like a good option for tens of thousands of people worldwide. The Watercraft Journal capitalized on this surge as the primary source for industry news, product and PWC reviews, and much, much more. Additionally, in offering unique written, photographic and video content to peruse, visitors to WCJ could soak up far more information than a few scant pictures on a printed page, or a blog rehashing the same factory studio images.

2019 total number of readers: 334,779*
2019 total number of articles read: 674,833

2020 total number of readers: 487,368*
2020 total number of articles read: 866,963

*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.

A Steady Flow of Content Never Ceases
Our publishing schedule is pretty radical; every week The Watercraft Journal produces five new articles as well as a easy-to-click newsletter that shows up in your email’s inbox every Friday recapping the week’s stories. (Except for national holidays, we’ve never “taken a day off” or decided to make up work the following day. Nope. That’s not us.) Equally, we produce two full-length video episodes on our YouTube channel as well as host a weekly “The Watercraft Journal IRL” live broadcast. Our readers have come to depend on The Watercraft Journal as a reliable source of industry news, product releases, event coverage and of course, reviews of some of the best stuff the PWC industry has to offer. We value our relationships with these companies who see the impact that partnering with WCJ brings their brands; and in turn, we hope you support those companies who support us!

Total number of articles published in 2020: 259
Total number of news articles published in 2020: 211
Total number of feature articles published in 2020: 48

Much More Than A Website
When you’re nearly a decade into a project, it’s unlikely to see explosive growth but that’s exactly what happened to The Watercraft Journal in 2020. Leaping ahead of last year’s readership by nearly 47-percent is all the more remarkable when considering 2019’s growth over the year previous was a scant 6-percent. So what accounted for such a significant leap? Diversification. While video production has always been a part of The Watercraft Journal’s diet of unique content, it took a far larger role in mid-2019 accelerating into 2020. Equally, The Watercraft Journal’s audience isn’t just reading articles, but engaging in Instagram stories, commenting on Facebook posts and sharing YouTube videos. This, combined with unique access to PWCTrader’s search engine of used and pre-owned personal watercraft and our own T-shirts and decals in our store, and The Watercraft Journal is suddenly much, much more than just a single website posting updates on the PWC industry.

Total number of Facebook followers: 30,054
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand
Total number of Twitter followers: 1,023
Total number of Instagram followers: 12,623
Total number of YouTube subscriptions: 11,328

And The Beat Goes On…
There’s an old saying that you can’t deny the scoreboard, and the numbers that The Watercraft Journal has racked up speaks to the success of this publication. We’ve welcomed more readers than our competitors and even legendary print titles of old; we’ve written more content; provided more information; and produced more multimedia than many would produce in double the time. If there’s a failing that we’ll admit to is that we continue to struggle to convince many holdouts of the value The Watercraft Journal offers to their business. Some are slow to change. Others think their own social media page can make the difference that we can. But if you’re one such company whose ready to reach literally tens of thousands of would-be customers and have us spread the word about your product and services, then please email [email protected] about advertising your company in the world’s most popular PWC magazine today.

EasyGuide Improves Supply Chain, Drops Prices by 25% for 2021

By
Kevin Shaw
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One of the unexpected side effects of 2020’s shutdowns has been the impact placed on manufacturers and the supply chain. We’ve seen this most prominently with delays to new Yamaha and Sea-Doo watercraft rolling out, but the logjam has also bungled up smaller manufacturers as well. This in turn, has caused several to seek out new business partners – and in the case of EasyGuide, render some positive results.

Recently, EasyGuide announced a recent partnership with a new supplier providing all of the hydroformed plastic components for the docking device. EasyGuide’s CEO Cliff Leisure stated, “We own the molds, they own the machines that are capable of running the molds.  They can run our parts at a better rate which allows us to drop our price significantly.” Yes, that’s right.

Leisure continued, “We can now offer EasyGuide at a much better price. And to start off the New Year, we are offering a 25% discount!” To purchase the best addition to your single-place PWC trailer, simply go HERE to save a quarter of the previous cost and start your riding season right! Whether you’re loading or launching, the EasyGuide makes boating that much easier. See the newest animation below to see how it works:

There’s Still Time to Save at RIVA’s End of The Year Sale

By
Kevin Shaw
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We know that it’s a little cliche to say, “There’s still time to save…” but yeah, it’s true. If you’re online reading this, then you’re just a few more clicks away from scoring a pretty deep discount on pretty much everything that RIVA Racing offers. No joke, the whole friggin’ catalog has been listed and -repriced just for this sale.

Whether you’re looking for new riding apparel, air intake systems, exhaust kits, top-loader intake grates, Pro Series sponsons, factory and aftermarket accessories, steering components and even engine upgrades like fuel injectors or supercharger parts – again, pretty much everything is on sale for one more day. Opportunity knocks, but for not very long.

So without belaboring the point much further, head over to RIVA Racing by clicking this link, which will take you directly to their massive End of The Year sale page. Start exploring because you’re bound to find something we’ve been wanting now at a lower price.

Unlimited PWC Parts’ New Sea-Doo RXT-X 300/ST3 Deck Mats

By
Kevin Shaw
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Sure, there’s a few aftermarket traction mat companies out there, but few show the kind of style and flare that you can get from Unlimited PWC Parts. Wanting to add a new look to your 2018-up Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 or other ST3-based runabout without looking like everyone else is now a lot easier thanks to Unlimited’s line of ST3 Sea-Doos.

“In addition to the excellent cushioning provided by the two-layer mat structure,” Unlimited explains.

“The latest laser processing has been incorporated into the design and construction, which not only eliminates the surface tension of water and allows the deck to drain smoothly, but also provides a durable mat with high grip even when wet. They also provide a durable mat with good grip even when wet.”

This specific kit includes half a dozen laser-cut mats specifically for applications with X-series foot wedges. Applying Unlimited’s mat kit is easy using their new double-sided tape.

“The double-sided tape used is not the conventional 3M tape, but a new PSA2 based on 3M 9786, which has excellent wrinkle resistance, durability and adhesiveness.” Kits are available for $289.95 USD and will radically change how your Sea-Doo looks and feels.

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