Quote:
Originally Posted by TiltonBB
I would never, and have never, run a jet ski that has been pulled from fresh water to "clear it out". It is fine and ready for the next ride just the way you took it out of the water.
When I use something in salt water I take it back to the house and immediately attach the garden hose and run the motor for about 5 minutes. Then I pressure wash it and the trailer.
Any boat that I am taking to a ramp I start it at the house for about 2 seconds just to make sure it is ready to go and the battery is up. As soon as it fires I shut it off.
When launching the jet ski I instruct whoever is driving it to start it in reverse. That way, if the nose has come off the front stop,and it often does due to the incline of the ramp, you don't start it and slam it back into the trailer. People forget that from the moment you start it it is always pumping water (until they suck up a dock line) 
On the jet skis and the pontoon boats that I trailer I loosen the winch strap about a foot before completely backing down the ramp. That way, when I hit the brakes the boat will move back a foot and be in slightly deeper water. The tow vehicle will not have to go as far into the water and doing this also breaks any friction if the boat has been on the trailer for a long time. Sometimes they stick. |
Good idea to pressure wash the back of the truck, and underneath as much as possible, (as well as the boat and trailer that you just used in salt water), or get it to a car wash that does the under carriage as well, asap. Although I agree that having two people that know what they're doing is always the best way to launch a water vessel as far as being efficient goes, but one guy can be pretty quick too if everything is thought out, and prepared in advance. The only difference in "time" between one guy, or two, is the time it takes one guy to park the tow vehicle and get back to the vessel at the dock, and that is only if the driver of the tow vehicle is not going out on the vessel that he/she just helped launch, which is usually not the case, so now the person in the vessel at the dock has to wait for the other person to come back from parking the tow vehicle anyways...!!