Keeping it Interesting

[PJ Moran]

Sorry if this isn't the place...

I was reading in another thread about all of the like new PWC's that come up for sale each year - like with 10 hours on them. It makes one wonder why they were purchased in the first place.

I just bought mine off a guy who sat on them for almost ten years! He rode them somewhat actively for the first year, just a tad the second year, then lost all interest and parked them. I guess he thought somehow the fire would rekindle. It seems pretty common for the initial excitement to wane and for boredom to set in, resulting in the sale of like new PWCs.

I've only been out three times, and I still look forward to the next time, but I'm already wondering what keeps it interesting? How many times can you ride around the same bay (or lake) looking at the same things, or whatever? Dunno. I worry a little bit about getting bored with it. That would be horrible, because not only have I invested in the equipment and all the extras that go with that, but I'm getting a boat house built with a lift. I'm even talking to the builder about adding a low platform where PWCs can be moored and boarded easily.

What a shame it would be if after one summer, I'm "over it"!

I'm 57 and not interested in being the fastest on the lake or doing any "extreme" tricks, or whatever. You can see I have a pretty basic rig. I just enjoy riding around, mostly. It's a fun way to go visit someone else on the lake, too. How do y'all keep it interesting? Where do you go? What do you do? Seems I've read about events where riders gather and cruise around or something. I hope / assume that having waterfront property with the skis "at the ready" in the boathouse will make it more likely that I'll get them out. If I had to trailer them somewhere every time I wanted to ride them, I think that might get old.

What bout going to different lakes? Does anyone do that? I compare it to golf - you can play your home course all the time, or you can venture out to other area courses for some variety. It might not be the most convenient, but it keeps it a little more interesting. Do people travel in groups to other lakes and make day trips out of it?

 

[Greg Moore]

In a lot of cases like ours the SeaDoo is a secondary water toy. We 'boat' and had a pair of doo's a few years ago, used them a lot first summer because it was an awesome summer (Lake Huron, Canada) next summer was cold and windy so very little use. Sold them the 3rd year. We moved from a jet boat to a pontoon so bought the RXP cheap a month ago so I could get my speed-need satisfied next summer, but it will again be a secondary toy. We dock our pontoon so coming and going is a cake walk, I'm too cheap to pay for another dock for the seadoo so it has to be launched and pulled each time. Really limits how much time it will see..

Many out of our marina are exactly the same.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

Put 50-60 hrs per year on the skis.

We have a group of guys that meet up every Friday. Our “home lake” has about half a dozen restaurants where you can tie up and have lunch. So we spend about two hours riding and an hour or so for lunch solving the world’s problems. Our lake is large enough that an excursion to explore sections of the lake makes for a different trip each week.

Once a month, we pull the skis (we all have docks) and trailer them to a “visitor’s lake” that is within a few hours drive.

The camaraderie of a few riders along with the fun of riding never grows old.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

We go out and hang around the small islands, nothing's more satisfying when someone rolls up to join the party and shoot the s_t except for some who insist on blasting the rest of us with ridiculous music at insane levels. I wish they'd stay at home for crying out loud.

 

[greenhornet2]

having others to ride with is a big part of it. I bought a spark so it stays fun because you can just play doing donuts 180's jumping wakes wheelies (I have extended vts) learning to power slide and skip across the top of the water sideways. I would get bored on a big ski.

 

[nateccnn]

I'm new to this too. 55 yrs old but still have a need for speed. I've owned boats for the past 30 years. Always loved the water. But my boat doesn't get used a lot. I've threatened my wife that I was going to sell them. But once in a while I wake up on a Saturday morning and think to myself...wouldn't it be fun to hit the lake today. All my water toys are paid for and don't require a lot of maintenance (although winterizing them kills me emotionally every year).

We trailer ours. We have a pair of 2007 Wake Edition Supercharged. Also have a 19 foot runabout boat. My son pulled the boat this year while I trailered the skis behind my 5th wheel. So we camp on the shore of the lake and have the boats all moored just off-shore. I snap a picture of the camp site and text my buddies and within a few hours a few will show up with coolers full of beer (their way of paying us for gas I suppose).

Certainly comoradire is a big factor. But last trip I took just the family up to Lake Tahoe. Me and the little kids pretty much stayed in the boat while the older kids took turns buzzing around us on the skis. We took sandwiches and sodas and had a great family fun day.

I joked with my wife last weekend that I was going to sell the skis since we only used them three times this year. She got highly upset with me. Her children seemed to visit us more this year.

Put the invitation out there and they will come. Everyone loves to ride but very few want to actually own one.

I hope to get more use next year. This year I did have some maintenance issues to deal with that kept me away from the water. I bought used and knew what I was buying. All that is taken care of now. Should be fun next year.

Now that the boats are all winterized (as of Sunday night) I am getting the snowmobiles tuned up. Hoping for snow now.

 

[PJ Moran]

Put the invitation out there and they will come. Everyone loves to ride but very few want to actually own one.

Interesting that you say that...

Bear with me.

I have a sister-in-law who bought a small place in the same bay several years ago. The family would gather two or three times a year to have some "lake time", and that often involved a ride in their pontoon boat. Kids and grandkids usually came.

A year ago, another SIL bought a place in the bay. But, she has a larger home and built a nicer boat house, and equipped it with a ski boat and two jet skis . Guess what happened? No one visited SIL #1 any more because SIL #2's place is much more fun. More relaxed atmosphere and more toys . So, SIL #1 reacts and goes out and buys a used pair of skis so that the kids will want to visit them, too. But, it isn't working out as planned.

Now comes us, third family member in the bay (I married one of four sisters). We'll have an even nicer house, nicer boat house, and two nice jet skis. It will get interesting

We did not do any of it to compete. We did it to be able to enjoy on our own terms and on our own schedule (more than once we went up there to hang out and play on the skis only to find a group of young'ns already partying down there). But, I can see it causing some tension within the family. I think we're going to become suddenly popular with the younger crowd

 

[smkas26]

I live in South Louisiana within 15 minutes of 4 different launches, so I will take the ski out by myself sometimes for just a few hours and other times for the day. We also have a group that ride pretty much every Saturday and the rides are as close as home to as far away as Panama City, although we usually stay a few days when we travel more than 3-4 hours to ride. We may even launch just to ride 20 minutes to go eat supper at a place on the water. We have also gone to Bimini from Miami I guess my point is, we keep it interesting by changing it up.

 

[nateccnn]

PJ...just a thought. If you live in the same bay, maybe ride the skis over to the other SILs house or have them ride to yours for the big family reunion. No need to compete. Take turns hosting and invite all to join in. Dali Lama would be proud? LOL