Out With The Old and In With The New

“Change in all things is sweet.” ~Aristotle

Freshness…it is what we prefer in the food we eat, how we hope to feel when we wake up each new day, and what we need in our daily physical and mental lives.  I just recently came back from a 17 day motorcycle trip, and am feeling quite fresh and energized!  But my freshness is not limited to my mental state…

Nobody likes a disgusting, unfresh sandwich!

Just a week before leaving for my road trip, I was out and about on my ski doing what I do best.  While on the last few miles en route back to the dock, a strange thing happened.  The ski started doing something called “porpoising”.  This is a bizarre behavior in which the nose of the boat starts bouncing off the surface of the water, even though there is no chop present.  It feels like sitting on a high speed merry-go-round.  I had heard of this phenomenon, and as I annoyingly bounced along, tried to remember what causes this.  I assumed it must have something to do with pump loading or an imbalance in the pump area, since that is where the thrust for a PWC comes from.  Either way, it was very annoying, and I was glad I was nearly home.  I figured I would look into it afterward.  But little did I know at that exact moment, there would be no afterward.

Submarine Mode should not be an optional feature...

After a minute or so of cruising at various speeds to try and smooth out the ride as much as I could manage, I felt the engine RPMs suddenly drop, without my reducing throttle.  Uh-oh…this cannot be a good sign!  I instinctively looked aftward and saw the rear platform rapidly disappearing beneath the water’s surface.  That can only mean one thing…we’re taking in water, and FAST.  I blew motor mounts on my old ’04 RXP several years ago, and as a result it began taking in water due to engine misalignment and shaft seal compromise, so I immediately recognized the situation.  If you ever start taking in water while out riding, you have 2 choices, and only seconds to decide on one.  You can either get on the gas immediately and not let off until you get to a ramp when you can drag it up onto the sloped surface and prevent it from sinking (and this is directly dependent on whether or not you can get enough thrust and forward movement for your bailers to suck water out at least as fast as it is coming in) or pull the key and let it sink.  It can be saved if this happens via a dewatering/boil-out procedure and your engine will be fine.  It does take some time, but it does not mean boat ruination.  If you choose to run it until it fills up to your air intake, your engine will ingest water, it will hydrolock, and then sink anyway.  And then you are facing a giant fiberglass paperweight.  A truly hydrolocked engine is not repairable.  It would have to be replaced.  Your ski will not sink to the bottom of the ocean, by the way.  It has enough foam in it to stay buoyant so that at least the handlebars will still be above the surface.  I realize this sounds daunting, but this is why you MUST be prepared before you head out.  Keep your towing company’s phone number in your phone, and have your phone in a waterproof phone bag in case you ever need to make such a call while floating in the water!

PWC or popsicle?

Adrenaline almost guarantees you will be fast-thinking.  Thankfully it was a busy Saturday and I was in the company of numerous weekend warriors out and about that day.  I quickly flagged down a passing boater and asked if there was a boat ramp nearby (I am still getting to know my own neighborhood!).  Magically, there just so happened to be one only 400 yards away.  This can seem like an insurmountable distance when you are taking in water as if your boat had been hit with a cannon ball.  The ski was still running at this point, and the distance was relatively short…so I made that rapid decision to try and run it and get to that ramp.  It is always risky to take this option because you truly do not know if you will be able to bail as fast as you are ingesting, thus risking hydrolock and permanent damage.  But that is the choice I made.  Getting on the gas full throttle, the ski had so much water weight in it that it stood up nearly vertically, resembling a popsicle pushing water in front of it. (BTW, this fully explains the porpoising…it was taking in water, even up on plane, and getting heavier and heavier at the rear, thus creating the weight imbalance and subsequent bouncing across the water)  I slowly started making progress towards the marina channel.  Gunning it seemed to just BARELY be enough to start bailing faster than intake.  By the time I hit the marina entrance, I was actually just about up on plane.  This is the ONE AND ONLY time I will ever endorse someone to go full speed ahead into a marina…because coming off the gas now will ensure inevitable sinking.  And any angry boater will have to suffice with an after-the-fact apology and (legitimate) explanation.  An emergency is an emergency.

It is bad when your engine compartment resembles a salt
water bathtub.

I made it to the ramp.  I hopped off and spun it around and dragged it as far up onto the ramp, rear first, as I could; it was very heavy and I was by myself.  It was still probably taking in some water at this point, but at least it was now out of harm’s way, and sitting on a ramp, so it would not sink.  The rest of the story involved having a neighbor come out with the truck and trailer (remember, this is why you should always file a float plan before you head out), and spending the next several hours draining, washing, and trying to get the water out of the engine.  For a 4-stroke, this involves many oil changes, removing spark plugs and turning the engine over to shoot the water out through the spark plug holes, repeated until no water remains in the crank case.

I was about to leave for 3 weeks, so that left me time to think and make a big decision.  My trusty ski now had 570 hours on it, was out of warranty, and had been starting to show signs of wear and tear.  I was fully confident that the engine would be just fine…I have known Seadoo 4-tec engines go to 1200 hours or more…my concern was with the electrical components that had marinated in salt water for the hour or so that lapsed between the initial ingestion till I got it onto the trailer and opened up the drain plugs and started salt water Niagara Falls.  Experience from the last ski taught me that once electrical components have gotten salt water soaked, they will never be quite right.  Ghost problems tend to start appearing after time.  Crystals of salt will not only screw up electrical contacts on plugs and connectors, but can even get inside wires and travel, and cause problems weeks or months after the event.

I am a PWC adventurer.  I make long journeys far from home and often by myself.  Reliability and trust is a core requirement of my vessel.  It is why I never modify them with high performance parts.  Stock is best for reliability.  Would I ever trust this ski again?  Would I worry about a sensor failure 20 miles from home in a remote mangrove channel?  Probably.  So the decision was made…it was time to replace my ride.

My last adventure aboard my beloved 2008 RXP-X

It’s not like I did not get my money’s worth out of the last one!  And that the same will be true of the replacement.  There just so happened to be a great incentive being offered by Seadoo, that was due to expire the day after my scheduled return from the road.  I negotiated a great price on my replacement, and got an extra 2 years of factory warranty, free of charge.  This is something I normally purchase at great extra cost…so it was a no-brainer.  

So I am happy to announce that I am the proud mama of a brand new Seadoo GTR 215!  This ski has no idea what it is in for.  The inaugural ride has yielded 3 hours on the engine.  Break-in will last through the first 10 hours.  It is a brand new hull design that rides quite differently from my old RXP-X.  I think it is perfect for the ocean and long distances I cover.  Still getting used to the Seadoo iBrake…it is completely different from the old style of reverse via a lever.  

My new baby...I just love the smell of new PWC engine compartment in the morning!

 So October has been a fresh, revitalizing month so far.  I feel mentally refreshed from 3700 miles on a motorcycle and physically refreshed to be riding on a brand new ski.  Out with the old and in with the new is a great metaphor for all things in life; we need change of all kinds.  These are just 2 examples.  If the end of riding season for some of you has you feeling a bit depressed, change it up a little.  Make some new goals and work towards them.  Fresh perspectives change everything!