How do you launch a jet boat?

[dgie]

I realize this is a stupid question to some, but how do you launch a jet boat? It seems there are a lot of things to do. I may be doing it alone so i am interested in how they do it. I need to get the boat running, then adjust the gate valves, that are back by the transom (do people move them forward more so they can reach them withoust jumping out of the boat). I then have to worry about the boat taking off while i am doing all this. I am iterested how others do all this when they are alone at the launch.

[woodster]

Why do you have to mess with the gate valves? It should be preset.. If u mean the one for your wet headers,On my old boat i ran heater hose to under my front seat of my boat and put a handle valve on it.. Then i could turn the water off when idling and on when running..

[dgie]

I have one gate valve between the pump and the engine. The reason for this valve is to turn it on and off when hooking up a water hose. I have one from the outlet of the engine intake neck to turn on and off the water to the headers, sounds similar to the one you had up by your sea. I only have it there for when I am running off a water hose. I have the Bassett pressure "T" valve for whe it is running off the pump. I also have one at the outlet with a gauge hooked to it. I was told to adjust the valve leading out of the boat until the headers start to stem, then the boat will be ready. That would require me to get out of the boat to adjust it. I could move it forward like you say. That would require the water to travel forward of the boat and then all the way back to get dumped out the back.

[Squirtcha?]

Here's a suggestion that might help out some. First, put whatever you know you're gonna need in the boat tools etc. If you're by yourself (assuming you are), remove any back tiedowns, make sure your bilge plug is in and back your truck up until your trailer's fenders are just about to go completely under water, maybe 2" of fender showing. Release the nose pin and attach a rope to the bow eye. Push your boat off the trailer while holding the rope, you can then walk the rope out along the dock area and tie the boat off to the dock. This will allow you to go park your truck before everyone in line starts going nuts.
If it's a new to you boat, you probably won't want to venture too far from the dock.
As for the water valve thing...........make sure you start out with it all the way open (counterclockwise). It'll take a while to warm up the engine. You'll probably have to idle around for quite a while before the temp gauge will register. You'll want to adjust the valve a little at a time until your idle temperature is 150-180 degrees. Once that's done, you should be good to go. You'll see your temperature go way down (100 degrees isn't uncommon) while you're running the boat at anything over an idle due to the volume of water that's going through the block, but that's normal. When you return to idle it'll slowly go back up to the 150-180. Make sure you have steam coming from your headers or you'll blue em.
Hope it helps some.
[ May 26, 2003, 10:03 AM: Message edited by: Squirtcha? ]

[RandyH]

I agree with Squirtcha, It has been tough for my wife to learn how to back up the rig. She starts to steam so I just throw her in the boat, untie everything, put in the plugs, test fire it to make sure it going to start and back it in. Pull it down the dock , tie it up and go park the rig. Make sure your reverse bucket is open so that you flood the pump while you are backing in also.
Pulling it out is the same way. Tie it up in the same place if you can, go get the truck and most of the time you can just rope pull it right on to the trailer and wench it up. Now getting it centered on the trailer is another story.
Good Luck,
RandyH

[Danhercules]

Make sure your reverse bucket is open so that you flood the pump while you are backing in also. This past trip when I put the boat in, I fired her and put in in rev and gave some gas and my boat went no where. I put it in fwd and nothin(no gas cause there was the ramp in front of me). I put in in rev again and reved it. nothin. I thought my pump was trashed. All of a sudden it pulled, all was ok then. Is that what happend, an air pocket? :confused: I did not think that could happen. eek!

[victorfb]

it doesnt take much to cavitate the pump, a small baggie, or weeds, (not smokeable) will leave you stranded till you reach in and pull it out. or like dan did, just rev it and make hamburger out of it. if you leave your boat in the water at night, make sure you reach under and clean the grate before you fire it up. for some reason stuff collects there like a magnet.

[victorfb]

a good way to launch a jet boat is..... rev the heck out of it and slam the gate open. it should launch nicely.

[thedroid]

Like Squirtcha said...
If it's a new to you boat, you probably won't want to venture too far from the dock.
And if your on a river make sure to go UPstream.

[GlastronGuy]

I'll add:
I fire it up at home before I leave to make sure the battery is charged, then I turn off the battery switch. I load all gear into the boat and make sure that the bilge plug is in.
While I am waiting in line to launch, I make sure all the tie downs (except for bow eye) are off, battery switch in on. I really hate it when some jackass backs his boat into the water then starts loading all of his crap into it from the tow vehicle.
I open the reverse bucket all the way before I back into the water.
Before the tow vehicle has a chance to pull away, I make sure it will start. If there is a dock I wait there till my tow driver gets back. If there is no dock, I pull away from the ramp and crank Stevie Ray Vaughn in the CD player. I wait outside the ramp area until the driver is back at the ramp before I pull back up to the ramp area.

[Danhercules]

GlastronGuy:
While I am waiting in line to launch, I make sure all the tie downs (except for bow eye) are off, battery switch in on. I really hate it when some jackass backs his boat into the water then starts loading all of his crap into it from the tow vehicle.
I open the reverse bucket all the way before I back into the water.
Before the tow vehicle has a chance to pull away, I make sure it will start. If there is a dock I wait there till my tow driver gets back. If there is no dock, I pull away from the ramp and crank Stevie Ray Vaughn in the CD player. I wait outside the ramp area until the driver is back at the ramp before I pull back up to the ramp area. Do you take the trailer with you?? When do you disconnect the bow eye??
:confused: :confused:
just kidding smile_sp

[pops1]

Danhercules:
Make sure your reverse bucket is open so that you flood the pump while you are backing in also. This past trip when I put the boat in, I fired her and put in in rev and gave some gas and my boat went no where. I put it in fwd and nothin(no gas cause there was the ramp in front of me). I put in in rev again and reved it. nothin. I thought my pump was trashed. All of a sudden it pulled, all was ok then. Is that what happend, an air pocket? :confused: I did not think that could happen. eek! On some launches you can get a air pocket. Best way is launch, leave it on the trailer run it untill you see thrust comming out. Pump is loaded. Droops sometimes cause this to occure because of the compound angles. Also there is a valve made to bleed the air out of the bowl that works- Aggressor and Aggressor Dealers carry them. You also might be starting to get to much w/ring blow by and loosing your frontal load pressure although I think you just had air lock.

[Chris J]

Do you take the trailer with you?? When do you disconnect the bow eye??
just kidding
--------------------
'77 Southwind.
I've seen this done. It was a boat with what looked like a family that may have recently moved to the US. They were cruising on the lake and it was making a wake like you never seen. We watched them for a bit and the guy riding shotgun say "Look they still got the F-ing trailer strapped to the boat". Someone must have already pointed it out to them because they were heading to the ramp.

[GlastronGuy]

Chris J:
Do you take the trailer with you?? When do you disconnect the bow eye??
just kidding
--------------------
'77 Southwind.
I've seen this done. It was a boat with what looked like a family that may have recently moved to the US. They were cruising on the lake and it was making a wake like you never seen. We watched them for a bit and the guy riding shotgun say "Look they still got the F-ing trailer strapped to the boat". Someone must have already pointed it out to them because they were heading to the ramp. Was it a blond in a Bayliner?

[GlastronGuy]

Danhercules:
GlastronGuy:
While I am waiting in line to launch, I make sure all the tie downs (except for bow eye) are off, battery switch in on. I really hate it when some jackass backs his boat into the water then starts loading all of his crap into it from the tow vehicle.
I open the reverse bucket all the way before I back into the water.
Before the tow vehicle has a chance to pull away, I make sure it will start. If there is a dock I wait there till my tow driver gets back. If there is no dock, I pull away from the ramp and crank Stevie Ray Vaughn in the CD player. I wait outside the ramp area until the driver is back at the ramp before I pull back up to the ramp area. Do you take the trailer with you?? When do you disconnect the bow eye??
:confused: :confused:
just kidding smile_sp I must have taken a stupid pill today, that doesn't make any sense to me. :confused:

[dgie]

I am not retarded enough to leave the boat strapped to the trailer. I was just not sure how to launch this boat, while I am outside the boat adjusting the gate valves. I have decided to move the gate valve that spills water out the transom. Forward, just behind the seat, so I can adjust the valve from inside the boat. I had a vision, if I try to launch the boat the way it’s currently set up. I would back the boat into the water. Drag it over to the dock, park the tow vehicle. I then come back drag the boat over to where I can stand up jump in, fire it up, set it to neutral. Jump out, go to the back, and set the valve to where the water steams off the headers at idle. The idle in the boat with my luck would spike, then I am left there with my dick in my hand watching my boat go off into the sunset. Pulling a Forest Gump and saying "That’s my Boat". I think it would be best to move the gate valve, what do yall think?

[Squirtcha?]

dgie:
I have decided to move the gate valve that spills water out the transom. Forward, just behind the seat, so I can adjust the valve from inside the boat. I wouldn't mess with that dump valve. Just leave that one open all the time. If you adjust that and it builds too much pressure in the block, bad things will happen. Popping freeze plugs is real common.
You can adjust the valve that goes from pump to motor. That's where you set up the water temperature for the motor. The Bassett T valve will regulate the rpm that steam goes to the headers. They should be dry from idle to around 1800-2000 rpm and the steam will kick in after that.

[dgie]

So, if I leave that dump valve wide open, I will build enough pressure to kick open the valve to the headers? It seems to me water would take the path of least resistance and head to the dump valve first, instead of trying to kick open the "T valve " to the headers.

[Squirtcha?]

I've got -8AN lines running from the pump to the motor, and also to the dump. It's roughly 3/8" and so are both the valves. I also use the Bassett T valve for header water. I run both my valves (engine water and dump water) wide open. My water for the headers will start at 1800-2000 rpm and shut off while idling. My engine temp runs at about 150-160 degrees at idle and 120-130 while underway.
If you poll people on this board about their dump water on a typical setup (no thermostat or pressure bypass valve) I'm willing to bet they either won't even have a valve on their dump water, or if they do.........they don't close it down. It's not necessary, and could potentially lead to some serious problems.
You should be able to accomplish everything you need to do, just by using the valve on the water supply from the pump to the motor.
[ May 26, 2003, 09:17 PM: Message edited by: Squirtcha? ]

[Danhercules]

Squirtcha?:
I've got -8AN lines running from the pump to the motor, and also to the dump. It's roughly 3/8" and so are both the valves. I also use the Bassett T valve for header water. I run both my valves (engine water and dump water) wide open. My water for the headers will start at 1800-2000 rpm and shut off while idling. My engine temp runs at about 150-160 degrees at idle and 120-130 while underway.
If you poll people on this board about their dump water on a typical setup (no thermostat or pressure bypass valve) I'm willing to bet they either won't even have a valve on their dump water, or if they do.........they don't close it down. It's not necessary, and could potentially lead to some serious problems.
You should be able to accomplish everything you need to do, just by using the valve on the water supply from the pump to the motor. I agree with Squircha?. The only thing diffrent for me is that I have to close my gate valve from the pump to the motor a bit to keep temps up. I run in the river and water temp is at 60*, so I close my intake a bit. I had it wide open before and I got a little water in the oil, now no probs and I get up to 180 on idol and 150 running.