For those not paying attention, at The Watercraft Journal we publish two new videos a month – always including a fresh episode of “Long Haul,” our ongoing YouTube series where we review the newest and most innovative personal watercraft, participate in awesome adventure rides and give you the real dirt on the future of the PWC industry. Like we’ve said before, for 2017, we’ve severely stepped up our production, and now produce not one, but two unique, new and entertaining videos a month – completely free to you and shared exclusively on The Watercraft Journal YouTube channel.

This month, we take you further into our review of Yamaha’s FX Limited SVHO for 2017. Building off of one of its most successful new additions to its 2016 lineup – the VX Limited – the new addition to Yamaha’s lineup of FX-based WaveRunners wields a full catalog of accessories for the whole family to enjoy (like a 1-person towable raft and color-matched tow rope, gear bag, dry bag, waterproof phone case, 12v raft inflator, etc.), as well as a supercharged & intercooled Super Vortex High Output 4-stroke engine. Without a doubt, this machine is one of most impressive and well-equipped that we at The Watercraft Journal have tested.

So enjoy the latest episode of “Long Haul” and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, as you’ll receive updates when a new video is uploaded, as well as other notifications. We’re stepping up our video segments in a big way, and we’re excited to bring you along for the ride. So again, please check out the latest episode of “Long Haul” shown below, as well as click on the link to subscribe (for free) to our YouTube channel.

An announcement in a Pro Watercross email reports that the 2017 Sea-Doo X-Team is offering a bounty to racers who excel on all sanctioned closed course races in the United States and Canada. The bounty program applies to racers in all Pro Watercross Divisions, with the exception of slalom races.

If you’re up for the challenge, register for this cool program. Sea-Doo are looking for riders willing to adhere to the contingencies required to receive a bounty. The box below contains the list of specific race classes and their payouts. Below is a short compilation of Sea-Doo’s contingencies in order to qualify. If you would like to read all of them, see this page.

Racers must compete on a Sea-Doo with a 4-TEC or ACE engine powered machine. Racer must list Sea-Doo as the brand and Sea-Doo X-Team as a sponsor on all entries. A Sea-Doo logo decal must be distinct, visible, and legible with a minimum of 2 inch tall lettering forward of the handlebars and above the water line.

*Racers are eligible for as many contingency payouts earned during an event. Championship bonus points are awarded if the racer piloted only a Sea-Doo in a runabout heat, LQS, or motos, regardless of class. The bonus point rules apply to each 2017 race.

When the racer finals, there must be a minimum of five competitors in the class in order to qualify for contingency. All claims have to be received within ten days of an event, otherwise your bounty is forfeited.  Payments will be issued form BRP after the Pro Watercross and BRP verify results and make sure the claims are signed by an event sanctioning official.

Friends and colleagues have warned that venturing the Mississippi River is not a ride you want to do. Contrary to the lulling appeal of sailing the “Old Man,” traversing the Mississippi is one of temperamental weather, combative boat traffic, surprisingly currents, stretches of drab and lifeless scenery, seemingly limitless flotsam and almost life-threatening pollution. Although not off of my personal “bucket list” it has been bumped to my “maybe” file.

One adventurer who already faced his mortality was Bill Ayars, who sought to take his teenage daughters down the legendary river via a pair of Sea-Doo GTXs. The ride itself has been documented by Ayars himself who wrote My Journey Down the Big Muddy. Ayars reached out to The Watercraft Journal and was kind enough to share a couple excerpts from his book, which we have included below (as well as links to how you can purchase a copy of his book).

The idea for a jet-skiing trip down the Mississippi River came while poison dripped slowly into my arm.

I was 50 years old and recently diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells. Every third Friday for five months, I sat in the hospital in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, for eight hours undergoing chemotherapy.

Toward the end of treatments, in December 2006, I started thinking about taking an adventure. I wanted something to look forward to, something to celebrate my survival. I wanted my teenage daughters, Jennifer and Jackie, to come with me.

Seven months later, my oldest daughter, Jennifer, and I were flying down the Mississippi River having fun, each on our own jet ski. It was the first day of our 1,700-mile jet-skiing trip from St. Paul, Minnesota, to New Orleans, and we were full of energy. As far as I knew, no other woman or girl had jet skied the Mississippi.

We had left St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier that morning from beautiful Hidden Falls Regional Park, just below the first lock and dam on the river at mile marker 844. Our destination that day was Alma, Wisconsin, 95 miles away.

We were all a little nervous at the start, uncertain of what lie ahead. It didn’t help that a woman we met the night before warned us of whirlpools that she claimed could pull entire boats under.

We later learned they’re called wing dams – and they do not “eat” boats. Still, the next seven days would be full of uncertainty, scary moments, and challenges. But triumphs and fun, too.

Frequent Obstacles
There were locks and dams about every 25 miles. We often had to wait for long periods, sometimes hours, to be let through. We’d pass the time by studying our maps or just lying back on the jet skis and resting.

The 27 locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi, as we learned, were built to control the water levels and tame a series of rapids on the upper Mississippi from St. Paul to St. Louis, Missouri.

Over this 600-mile stretch, the water fell more than 400 feet, often through boulders, rapids or small water fall systems. Entering a lock was sort of like getting into an empty bathtub. Once inside, water poured in to “raise” you up to the next portion of the river.

“Dad, I don’t know what to do!”
About halfway through our trip, a storm hit. The rain and wind stirred up the river something fierce. The waves were huge and washed over the front of our jet skis.

At one point, Jennifer stood up and a wave crashed into her, almost knocking her off her jet ski. She screamed to get my attention but I couldn’t hear her. When she finally caught up to me, she glared.

“I could have died behind you. I could have died!” she screamed. This was not the start I anticipated. New Orleans was still a long way.

To read more about Bill Ayars’ adventure, go to http://www.thebigmuddybook.com/ to purchase his book, “My Journey Down the Big Muddy.’’ Ten dollars from each purchase price goes to The Emerald Jenny Foundation, which provides online resources to families struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Also, check out photos and chapter excerpts on http://www.facebook.com/thebigmuddybook and follow us on Twitter @thebigmuddybook

Although far too close to shore to grant full salvage rights, maritime law states that the person to recover a sunken vessel is awarded (typically) between 10-to-25 percent of the value of the recovered item. While that might not sound like much, considering the market value of some historical artifacts pulled from the ocean floor, salvage diving can actually prove to be quite lucrative. And surprisingly, sunken jet skis – much like sunken sailboats, fishing boats and other vessels – are strewn across the ocean floor wherever mankind has sailed.

Of course, in late May of this year, one former owner of a Krash Industries Predator (sp.) became very happy when Ian Banks, a scuba diving enthusiast, discovered his lost freeride ski off of Gold Coast Seaway, in Queensland, Australia. When properly equipped, such machines can cost upwards to $25,000 to $30,000 USD, considering all of the lightweight, hand-formed carbon fiber and billet aluminum components. Freeride skis are some of the most intricate in all of jet skiing, requiring some seriously skilled hands to build machines capable of the amazing acrobatics shown in just some of the coverage published on The Watercraft Journal.

Of course, Queensland’s Gold Coast is considered one of the most desirable freeride locations in the world, and is host to several world famous freeride competitions. When more information arrives regarding the owner and details pertaining to its loss, we’ll update the story.

[Updated 6/18/2017]

Thankfully, the personal watercraft community came through in a big way over the weekend. A virtual avalanche of information came pouring in, as reports revealed the Krash Industries Predator ski belonged to Australian freerider James Ricardo. Richardo suffered a sudden steering failure which sent the ski into a nose dive down to bottom of the Gold Coast Seaway.

Clint Ebbesen who was part of the rescue, explained the reason for the sinking, “[It was a] mechanical failure. A bolt holding on the handle bars sheared off. As the handle bar was pulled away from the ski it pulled on the steering and throttle cables, making the ski go full throttle at full lock and the ski just dived underwater and went down very quick.”

With quick work by Ian Banks, who located the ski in no time at all (and tied a locator buoy to it), a response crew was aboard a rescue boat, and with a few ropes and 3 hours time, Richardo’s ski was back on dry ground. Because of the heavy ingestion of sand, the Predator was whisked onto a trailer and hauled off to a local shop to be completely disassembled, cleaned and rebuilt as new.

Did you know that you could make upwards to $1,500 a month writing for The Watercraft Journal all by putting in an extra hour or two a day worth of work? Seriously, it’s that easy. Because The Watercraft Journal continues its aggressive industry-leading daily (Monday-through-Friday) publishing schedule, and we need as much help as we can get to continue to entertain and inform our ever-growing readership, we’re excited to announce that we’re hiring!

Right now, The Watercraft Journal needs to fill a very important position: a News & Feature Editor! That’s right, we’re looking for self-motivated, dedicated enthusiasts looking to work with the single most popular PWC magazine in the world to help spread the word about our industry’s best and brightest brands and manufacturers, as well as help provide a focused spotlight on our sport’s best freeride/freestyle riders, manufacturers and events! Here are the details below:

News Editor
Shaw Group Media, the publisher of The Watercraft Journal (watercraftjournal.com) is looking a self-motivated, energetic person to hire as News & Feature Editor. The News & Feature Editor must have a strong interest in the personal watercraft (PWC) industry, be at least somewhat familiar with proper terminology, technology and persons/companies therein, or willing to learn quickly.

The News & Feature Editor must be able to turn around news content into fast, legible and informative written content for The Watercraft Journal. Applicants are encouraged to have several social media feeds providing leads for potential news that the rest of the Editorial teams might not have access to. An ongoing Google document is regularly updated with already pre-approved news topics to be written about, as well.

Riding ability, photographic talent or writing experience is appreciated and encouraged, but not necessarily mandatory.

The News & Feature Editor position is a 1099 freelance/subcontractor position and will be paid twice a month per a predetermined scale for each written article. There will be a 90-day trial period for every applicant to evaluate work ethic, determination and commitment to providing superior, reliable news-worthy PWC content for The Watercraft Journal audience.

All serious inquires are to email introductory “cover letter” and resume to [email protected].