how do you know if there's water in there?

Excited to get my new (used) Tige in the water this spring. During my test drive, the guy I bought it from was tooling around the lake and explained that he was trying to get the water to drain out. I've had a little jet boat before and I know that water can get inside, and I test drove the Tige after it had rained, and some got in it. How do you drain the water? (aside from bilge), where does the water collect? I'm going to leave it in the water for probably a week at a time. Any suggestions?

Brian,

I'm not sure about the Tige layout, but wherever the engine is, is usually where you have water collect. For Direct Drive water collects in the center. For a V-drive water collects in the back.

A word of advice (which is worth exactly what you paid for it). If you are going to leave your boat in the water for a week at a time then you should probaby cover the boat between uses and make sure you have a working bilge pump with unobstructed bilge lines. Also check that you have a strong fully charged battery .

Anyway hope this helps.


Regards,

-Bo

Brian,

I also purchased a new Tige in November. Mine is a 2001 22i R leftover. Like you, I can't wait to go play with my new toy. This is a big change for me because I've owned SN and MC's for the last 20 years or so. My wife laughs at me because I'm so anxious to get on the water here in Pittsburgh.

Paul

Brian,

Congrats on your new Tige'. As with any inboard or V-drive, be sure the shaft packing is not leaking before you let your boat sit in the water(gasp) for extended periods. You don't mention what year your Tige' is or if it is a V-drive or direct drive. If it's a V-drive 2001 or newer, it should be equipped with a non-leaking PSS shaft seal. Otherwise it will have the flax packing that needs to be checked periodically. Don't overtighten the shaft seal or you can score the drive shaft.

Hope that helps.

Matt

sounds like the guy driving thought he was in an outboard...in an outbaord you can get it on plane and pull the plug in the transom to drain water

thanks guys. The Boat is a 1993 model. I got it at a good price. I'm in Onratio Canada, and we've currently got 3+ feet of snow in most areas, so spring is still a few weeks away. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are plugs (bolts) under the swim platform that can be undone to allow any water collected in the hull to drain. ? When it's out of the water, I'm guessing that I should pull these for a bit and let it drain? It's winterized right now, so when it's time to prep it for summer I'll get them to really check things over as far as shaft packing and so on goes.

thanks again
b

Besides covering your boat when leaving in the water for extended periods, you might consider getting a solar panel to put on your battery to make sure it stays charged in case your auto-bilge has to run due to rain. Nothing like a dead battery when you're ready to hit the water.

Brian

I'm in Cambridge also..Keep me in mind if you want to meet in the spring/summer. I live on Puslinch Lake and have a cottage on Belwood (near Fergus)

Congrats on the boat purchase

Mike

cool. I took a lesson at Mclintocks, and rode behind the Nauti. It's a great wake. i tried to get them o sell it to me, but they wouldn't. Correspondence with them was like ppulling teeth. Neil Brown teaches there in the summer. Hopefully I'll take a lesson from him.
b