Help with logistics of ownership

[Aaronfl]

Hi everyone,
I am considering purchasing my first Pwc and am weighing the costs of ownership. The community I live in does not allow storing boats etc outside and we have no room in our garage. Also, I only own two sports cars that will not tow a Pwc. This leaves me with two options.

1. Purchase a cheap truck and store at a storage yard. Storage fees would be around $100/month plus the price of a truck, insurance registration etc.

2.) storage at a local marina $150/month. This includes unlimited times taking in and out of water with their forklift and they rinse/flush it out for free. This option does not require me to purchase a truck or a trailer.

I am leaning towards option 2 as it seems much cheaper and easier. The problem is what do I do when I need to bring it in for Maintenance or warranty work? I doubt the dealer would pick it up with their own trailer form the marina.

I am sure there are others with this situation. What do you recommend I do?
Thanks!

 

[AircraftDoc]

Option 2.
The marina will have some kinda trailer. A large boat trailer will work if the trailer has 4 skids - The PWC will just use the two inner ones. When you need to get to the dealer, you can rent a pickup.
You can also buy a Pwc cart that load in the back of the pickup. The forklift at the marina can load and the dealer can do the same in reverse.

 

[Bren989]

Option 2 sounds good as long as you are ready to commit to one ride location. I personally like to take my pwc's with me on vacation and ride in a variety of environments (lakes, rivers, and ocean) so that would not work for me. I'm not saying it's the wrong decision you just need to make sure you are fine with being location restricted.

 

[Coastiejoe]

#2 two and rent a truck from U-haul or Home Depot when you want to move it. No insurance and no responsibility to owning a vehicle to move it.

 

[deacon252]

The only thing I would add to this conversation is the fun factor. I know of a lot of people who buy 1 Jet Ski but because of how much fun it is buy a second one for spouse, kids, or friends. If that is a possibility, option one might be best. With that said though, you can switch from option 2 to 1 at any time. It's a lot harder to go the other way.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

option B works fine to make sure you like the idea of pwc ownership.

I prefer A myself but its because I very much prefer to vary my ride locations, I have a lot of options and I like to explore all of them on a rotating basis.

 

[sktn77a]

Many dealers will service the PWC/boat at you place (or the marina), in or out of the water, and many marinas have mechanics that can do routine service work. Check it out - option 2 sounds best

 

[chamilton89]

I tow with my sports car, works just fine. Storage may still be an issue forever. I take my boat off the trailer and use a Pwc dolly to maneuver it into the back of the garage for storage. Just thoughts.

 

[Aaronfl]

thank you for all the replies! There are two Seasdoo dealers in my area. I will call them and see what kind of solutions they have. I appreciate the comments!

 

[Spimothy Leary]

as far as servicing is concerned your in the exact same "boat" as hundreds of watercraft owners that have their boats stored on a lift with no trailer, no tow vehicle, mobile mechanic's aren't exactly dirt cheap but they have the extra expense of coming to you. So your situation is not that unusual.

IMO the inflexibility of having to ride the same area over and over again overrides the concerns about a mobile mechanic but that is personal preference of mine.

in addition to checking with the dealers, i'd check around and see if you can discuss this with a mobile marine guy vs a dealer (depending on make model, age of course, if its still under warranty then you might be somewhat limited)

what part of florida are you located?

 

[Aaronfl]

Thanks. I would like to purchase a new seadoo with the extended warranty. I am located in Estero,FL just south Ft Myers.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

new ski... ok... well first, once you get past your 10 hour service you shouldn't expect to have to maintain anything for the next 12 months, so IMO the mobile mechanic thing isn't really a "thing" you should not have to worry.

If you haven't purchased yet... consider Lake placid marine for purchase, they are known to offer better deals than sun sports, destination powersports (charlotte) or Florida motorsports.

re: Estero: I'm in Cape Coral so I know the area well.

Lets assume your looking at a marina either South Lee or North Collier, somewhere in the proximity of Barefoot beach as a point of reference.

You are limiting your ride area to Lovers key, fort myers beach, and everything within a max of 25 miles north and south of there from your starting point (you can reach the tip of marco, down to the sanibel lighthouse before gassing up or turning back) < sound about right?

Although I do like riding the beach, if you are dry dock only your effective range is going to mean you really can't ride to any of the following places.

Kissimmee River, Lake placid, lake june, the caloosahatche river, Franklin Locks, Matlacha pass, pine island sound, charlotte harbor, peace river and the back waters in marco.

<not a dealbreaker yet, but after a few weeks/months you might get bored with the same FMB spots every time.
FMB is very nice and I might say that for a first time user you won't get "bored" with the same spots for a few months but eventually your going to want to expand your ride territory, and enjoy some of the nice backwater rides that will add some variety.

I might suggest this: go with the dry dock option, if possible avoid a long term commitment, and see just how much you enjoy pwc ownership. If you fall in love with the sport, then consider a) adding tow package to car, or getting a cheap tow vehicle for $1500, any pickup or small SUV will do the trick lots for sale. Hell i'm selling my POS durango for $1000 after I get a newer truck... you could always keep the trailer at an outdoor storage facility for about $25 a month, a little more hassle but not that bad...

Also if you invest $175 into a nice shop stand (I have three) you can generally tuck your ski into the back of the garage on a stand, and store the trailer somewhere else (got a nearby friend with a decent sized back yard and no HOA? then your fine.)

Also, if you find snowbird neighbor, you can maybe rent 1/3 of their garage to store your ski/trailer, I rent my neighbors garage for 9 months a year @ 25 per month, I keep my ski in his garage while he's up in michigan, and the other 3 months my truck stays in the driveway, the ski is on the trailer in the garage... just some outside the box idea's.

You will like riding the estero area, but cautionary note: really easy to get lost and or grounded on a sandbar in lovers key, VERY shallow if you get outside the channel. invest in a gps or get to know the area well otherwise, you WILL get stuck on a sandbar, guaranteed.

 

[Aaronfl]

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to write that detailed response. I will look into the dealer you mentioned. I really like this area, but I do see how I am limited with the dry dock. Fishtail marina on fmb is where I plan to dry dock. Thanks again for the thoughtful response.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

fishtail is nice, we rented a pontoon there when relatives stayed on the beach, good service, very professional. its about 5 minutes from lovers key, easy access and a short idle into the channel (a real B1tch during season getting on/off the beach by car so keep that in mind)

One thing is for sure after about 5 months in estero bay, you'll know the bay very well Lots of dolphins in the area, very scenic and unfortunately lots of FWC hanging around and plenty of places for them to hide. Invest in a little gps and you'll be able to follow the channel through the backwaters quite a ways south, very pleasant ride, i've done it several times.

There is a cool speed run up the estero river, 6 miles of nice turns and no speed limits (at least we never obeyed them if there were any, just watch out for kayakers) Flippers (LK resort) is a great place to stop, pull right up on the beach in front and enjoy $11 burgers and cold drinks, pricey but excellent food. I can run from the Cape Coral Yacht club to Flippers and back with about 3 gallons of fuel to spare.

Once you head out under the bridge near lovers key there is a great place to beach the ski's on the left, plenty of boats/people and a good break for wave jumping right there, once past that you can hang a left and ride parrallel to the beach towards barefoot/naples, you can stop on many area's of the beach to rest w/o getting hassled. or hang a right and ride about 300 yards offshore parrallel to FMB towards sanibel (some hotels will harass you and won't let you park). your ski should be able to make it from Fishtale to sanibel and up into pine island sound about 6-8 miles but then you will be running about a half tank and would need to top off or turn around.

IMO, i'll do a semi retraction, if your base is Fishtale you wont' get bored for at least 15-20 rides, < 6 months minimum. then you can re-evaluate whether you really like riding pwc's and perhaps then invest in a $500 trailer (rocket in ft myers is excellent, but I would use craigslist) and a cheap tow vehicle.

last word of caution, it is dangerous to ride in both shallow waters (estero bay) and open water (da gulf) without a ride buddy, if you get stranded or break down you are at the mercy of helpful boaters or waiting an hour for sea tow to show up. Always best to have another ski out with you for safety's sake. We have other members here that live right in your area including myself that would be happy to meet up with you for some sun & fun.

 

[Hawk388]

I would have to ask what your sports cars are. I've seen everything from Mustang GT's to Porsche's towing these things. Every vehicle out there is good for at least 1,000lbs of towing. So unless your ramps are so steep as to require a 4WD vehicle, you'd be amazed at the vehicles you see putting these machines in at ramps.

Here in my neck of the woods, there is a guy who routinely puts his RXT300 in at my ramp using his Mercedes AMG-GT.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

yip, one of my buddies drags his FXSHO around behind a toyota corolla, I bet he's put 5000 miles that way, including out of state trips.

 

[chamilton89]

I tow my RXT with my Pontiac G8 GT, went through 4 states last week. Can be done!

 

[Ft. Myers Gtr]

Hey just saw this post, I also live in estero and always looking for people to ride with. I've gone out on the peace river a couple times with spimothy Leary and it's a great ride also been around lovers key and estero bay. I do recommend Florida motors sports in Naples. I just recently bought 2016 gtr 215