The jet ski project

Because everyone knows that boats are so reliable and long lasting, we decided to buy a 15 year old jet ski on the cheap at the end of last summer.

Missing Splash Guard

Battery Out For  a Charge

It was amazingly perfect!  Besides the fact that it had a dead battery and a chunk knocked out of the fiberglass.  It also seemed to rev a little high and smoked more than Popeye.  Oh and don't mind the fact that it was still registered in Virginia and the current owner had never bothered to transfer the title into his name.  These trivialities aside it seemed to be wonderful and did I mention cheap so we bought it.

The next day after the rush had worn off we realized that we had left the key with the last owner and that it would be impossible to transfer the title to our name without him having it in his first.  After 2 months of going back and forth we finally got the key and the title and took it out for our first drive.  (yes we neglected to drive it before we bought it, didn't I say that it was a good deal).  Anyway, after about 5 minutes on the lake we realized that we couldn't see because the chop was so rough and the splash guard was missing from the front, we couldn't slow down or it would cut off and the battery was still dead, and we had decided that as long as we survived when it sank we wouldn't worry about the money we had spent on it at all.

We eventually made it back to shore with the jetski intact and decided that we would go about improving it.  We bought a new battery, a new splash guard for the front, a jack stand for the trailer and a cover.  Of course jet skis would be a little harder than anything else on the face of the earth to work on so nothing went quite as planned (just ask my friend Chris about the round 19mm chunk of skin missing from his forehead).


Then there was the matter of cosmetics.  This jetski had literally been rode hard and hung up wet, but not to fear.  A quick trip to AutoZone and I had everything needed to make it right.  Basically bondo, black spray paint and clearcoat, Armor All, and a bottle of wash and wax. Thankfully I waited to work on it until after our second trip to the lake, because that entailed knocking another hole in the front on the end of the Harris lake boat ramps.  The park rangers may still be curious as to why the last board is missing from the end of the dock.  Bondo, however, is amazing!  While most likely not up to the standards of a full fiberglass repair and gel coat, it was cheap and looks quite good (and I think it is waterproof).

Jack Stand and Cover

We eventually got it ship shape and took it down to Kristin's Grandparents' house on the Pamlico river for a weekend.

Our jetski is the one in the front with the new splash guard installed {The other jetski was what got this whole thing started... Kristin's dad bought this immaculate ski that is actually a year older than ours but looks brand new. Then we just had to get one too, so he wouldn't have to ride by himself of course.}

Everything went splendidly all weekend and we headed home happy about our investment and hard work.  Until we got to Zebulon and had a massive blow out in one tire.  It would appear that the owner before us had bent the axle on the trailer so it was dragging sideways behind the truck not necessarily rolling.  It was close enough that around town it wasn't noticeable, but on the highway going 70 mph for extended stretches it dragged the tires bald, then white, then flat.  Thanks to a lot of help from Colin and Hilary, our family friend Guff, and God we were able to buy a new tire and get it installed and limp the trailer home before the other tire blew, because of course we were to cheap to buy 2 new wheel and tire combos.

After this I started the journey of finding a new axle.  Apparently it is impossible to purchase an axle for this trailer anywhere remotely close to Raleigh.  After spending what felt like hours on the phone I decided that the best bet would be to buy an approximate axle from Agri Supply and have brackets welded on to fit our trailer.  Our brother in law Colin and his brother William helped tremendously.  Not only did they weld the brackets on, Colin took the old axle off and removed the hubs, got the new brackets welded on painted the new axle, cleaned and greased the bearings, put in new seals, and installed everything on the trailer.

New and old axle in the bed of Colin's truck

Shiny new axle installed

Of course since it is a good $20 cheaper to buy a new tire than a wheel and tire combo I bought 2 new tires.  However, it is a serious pain to change tires on a wheel this small so I wasted several hours and finally with lots of help from my friend Ben and his No-Mar classic got the new tires on the old rim and on the trailer.  We also decided it would be a good idea to mount a spare tire.  Now it looks amazing and tows like brand new!

Kristin's amazing wax job

New NC Decals

This spring we did a little preventive maintenance and decided to change out the plugs on the back of the ski.  When I pulled the old ones out would you believe the goodies the last guy had stored inside!  1 deep well socket, 2 hose clamps, 3 small steel washers, and some parts to who knows what all came rolling out.  It was like Christmas in May!

Non OEM Solenoid with tape residue on connector

Well then we went to crank it up and the ingenuity of the previous owner struck again.  Apparently at some point the starter solenoid had failed and he decided it would be a great idea to take one from a dirt bike, strip the wires, and use masking tape to splice it in.  I mean you would think someone so bent on rigging things would at least have some duct tape or electricians tape on hand.  Well shockingly in a wet environment the masking tape had broken down and the wires had arched and as soon as we connected the battery the starter went to town and wouldn't stop turning until we disconnected the battery.  Thankfully this was a cheap and easy fix (begging the question why it wasn't done right the first time).

Anyway so far this summer it has cranked and run every time we have taken it out.  We'll keep you posted on what else we find wrong with it as we go.

Riding in Blount's Creek