Pond Racing! Tons of fun!

[Watson91]

Well, basically this came about two ways. 1) I wanted to enjoy the ski with some friends, but with only one ski wasn't practical to load up some friends and make them sit on the dock at the lake all day. 2) I didn't want to drive 45 minutes to the lake every weekend.

So, I decided to get out on my grandpa's pond and do some depth checking. After a few laps around on the floating dock with a trolling motor hooked up we had a basic outline of where it was deep enough. Now, mind you this pond isn't huge, but just big enough to have some fun. I went and picked up some 5 gal buckets and made some buoys out of them. Decided to set up a small make shift race course. My 95 GTX isn't much of a racer, but it ended up being a lots of fun!

 

[Watson91]

One problem was the pond was a little small on one side for turning. Me getting a little to comfortable with the ski decided to start making some full speed laps. I got to where I could pretty much make circles without letting off full throttle. All was good until I came around on my third lap where I hit my wake from my first lap. It threw me up over the wake and I pretty much lost control. I ended up running smack into the floating dock and ripping a few planks off of it. Before all was over the front half of the ski was on the dock and I was still trying to figure out what was going on.

I ended up puncturing the hole fiberglass body straight through. I didn't let it slow us down, it was above the water line so the bilge pump got to do its job keeping the water cycling that was moving through the inside of the ski. It kept it dry the whole time afterwards. The hole is being patched tomorrow evening. I have never done fiberglass work so hopefully I can get some pictures of the process.

(Notice the small piece of wood still stuck in the crack, and the fact you can see the foam on the right side of the crack.)

 

[Dr Honda]

Ouch... but that could have happened in a big lake.

 

[brandon32689]

You might be a redneck if you got a trolly motor hooked to a dock.(lol I had to) but fiberglass work.and to bad just buy a little kit that has all you need. Clean and dry area real good and its easy. Just guna have to find some paint to match afterwards.

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

how's this for red-neck: I built a trolling motor add-on for my 92 GTS. Works AWESOME for fishing, the unit clips onto my pump outlet and is controlled by a two-way switch at the helm and steers with handlebars. I have a spare battery that I use to putt myself around the lake

 

[Watson91]

I believe my gfs dad said we would end up routing out the spot to enlarge it and make the hole cleaner. Then he is bringing some fiberglass home to patch the hole and some factory match gel coat. He said he would bring some buffing compound that they use at their seadoo plant and buff out the whole thing possibly.

The trolling motor on the dock is a pretty cool idea. It is used mostly for fishing, but worked well. I got a little crazy and ended up beaching it a few times for fear to try to recover in the shallow water. After getting pushed back out, we used the dock to tow me out of the shallow and back into the deep water.

This round only two friends were available last minute to join me. We all had a blast, and I enjoy being able to let other people ride and enjoy the ski. Next time hopefully I can have a larger turnout and maybe not choose such a hot day. It ended up being 100+ here, and my back looks as red as my truck. Luckily, and somehow, it doesn't hurt that bad so it hasn't slowed me down any.

I just wish I had a couple of XP's or something a little smaller. Would probably be that much more fun. The ole' gtx is a bit of a hog out in the water, but fun none the less.

 

[Watson91]

Just a small update. Got it all fixed up today. Took some fiberglass and pudied the hole. Then took gelcoat and topped it off and gave it some shape. Should be good to go. We are going to touch it up again tomorrow. Then i'm going to buff the whole thing out with some gel coat rubbing compound. Should look like a new ski soon, hopefully.

I will get a picture of the finished product tomorrow.

 

[Watson91]

And here she is all fixed up. You have to look very close to tell there was anything ever finished. Very happy with the final results of this fix. Best of all it was free!

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

WOW, I'm impressed, it looks better than before!

 

[Watson91]

Yep, I had a few nicks from the previous owner but nothing terrible the jet ski is in great shape for its age. I went ahead and patched them while we were doing it. Turned out just as great. Basic procedure was fill the whole some fiberglass puddy. (Gray stuff seen in picture) Then we had a gel coat puddy mix which was applied. We allowed it to cure, then sanded it down using various grits and some water. Then we went back over and touched it up and sanded a small bit more. I was amazed at how well it turned out.