Why I should stop browsing Craigslist: 2003 Sea-Doo GTX Supercharged

As is typical for our type of person I keep looking at Craigslist even when I have no need or time for a project. Yesterday that bit me in the butt. Browsing the boats for sale, there was a 2003 Sea-Doo GTX Supercharged without trailer listed for $200. I know nothing about jet skis and have no need for one but have always enjoyed riding them given the chance and also know that a modern-ish 4-stroke ski is worth more than $200 even in parts. I emailed the seller my phone number and they texted me back. We worked out a time for me to come look at the ski, and I asked about title. He offered to go get a duplicate since he lost the original, and I offered to pay for his fees and time. Already this is not your typical $200 abandoned jet ski story.

The scheduled time approached, and I hooked up my utility trailer and threw some cribbing and straps in the back. I texted him to make sure we were still on, and headed the whopping 5 miles up the road to get it. I knew the area was nice, but holy crap. His driveway is a short road really, shared with about five other houses, and passes over a beautiful deep ravine cut in shale walls with a waterfall. You pass over a broad concrete and steel bridge to go over the ravine. The road transitions to gravel and here is a beautiful stone and shake timber frame house surrounded by natural landscaping and low stone walls. The jet ski is already hanging from straps supported by the forks of a front end loader equipped tractor. Yeah, this is not your typical $200 abandoned jet ski.

Turns out he's the original owner and has had problems keeping it out of limp home mode ever since some friends of his accidentally rolled it trying to climb back on the side. I did not expect that - I assumed it would have a lunched engine or something else terrible. Not to say it was pretty. The foot wells were full of muck and leaves and the whole thing was covered in lichen and mildew. He helped me get it set on the trailer using his tractor (awesome!) and we shot the E36 M3 for a while as I worked on getting it supported and strapped down. His story is a lot like mine: got a good deal on an amazing property (5 acres in one of the nicest outer ring suburbs of Columbus!) and has managed to hang on to it while the area around him appreciates. Neither one of us could ever afford or justify buying what we've got now.

Anyway, I got it secured and I realized I should pay him - handed him the $200 plus $50 for his time and title fees. Then I realized the title needed notarized. Well, I'm going to have to trust him and it seems like a safe risk. I put my information on the title and he said he would mail it to me when he gets it notarized in the next few days.

The trip home I stayed on side streets which was a good thing as my weight balance was way off. The trailer was knocking and bumping but at 35mph the steering was fine. At home in all its glory:

Life, uh uh uh, finds a way:

Cool story to go with the score galore! Pretty unlikely that it ever saw salt water, something I always consider. 

I started checking things over, and found a bunch of stuff in the front trunk: two anchors, a water toy, and what initially looked like some nice life vests:

Yeah, no. The life vests are all mouse chewed and smell horrific. I started out by emptying the trunk and even empty it's lovely:

I spent some quality time on that with a shopvac then workd on the foot wells. The foot wells were so full of muck that I used my gutter cleaning tools to get the bulk out of it:

I went to power wash it and of course it was throwing massive amounts of disgusting muck into my shop so I needed to disconnect the trailer from the van and put it into the grass. Remember the weight distribution problem? Yeah, I tested unhooking it while leaving the safety chains and the tongue shot up to the limit. Being brilliant, I tested it and decided I could handle the weight. Sure, but combined with the general challenges of rolling a trailer around by hand, I couldn't get it where I wanted so I had to let the trailer down which squashed my license plate. It'll straighten out.

So, I got it hitched back up to the van and scooted the ski forward enough to get some weight on the tongue, and then got it into the grass. I was then able to get some quality time on it with the pressure washer. I soaked it down with diluted simple green and let that sit while I got the pressure washer hooked up. It was so satisfying that I shot a video:

I only had about 15 minutes to actually pressure wash it as I had to pick up the kids from school. But the results were pretty astonishing. I need to get some better soap and spend some time with a scrub brush as well, but damn, this almost looks like a boat someone would want to ride!

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

Cool story to go with the score galore! Pretty unlikely that it ever saw salt water, something I always consider. 

Thanks! Yeah, it was used on reservoirs and lake Erie. We're far enough from salt water that it's definitely the exception that a boat here has seen it.

As far as plans and next steps, I'm going to clean it up as best as I can then deep dive into what's wrong with it.

He said he was also chasing a persistent small leak and I thought it might be the off power steering assist as it's a known issue on these models. There are delete kits you can buy that have seals and block off plates to eliminate the leaks. Well, what did I find in the front trunk?!

Yep, that's components for a delete kit. I'm not sure if the seals are reusable given the mouse infestation but the metal is still good and looks undamaged. Also, I'm going to visit a cousin this next week and he said he's owed some favors by an upholstery shop and to bring the seats to get them recovered. Wow, things are lining up OK!

I will probably end up further into this thing than I planned. But so far it's a blast. The only issue I've noticed so far is that this thing is SO HEAVY. 800 pound dry weight which just amazes me. Fortunately I have a low rise 2-post lift so if I manage to find a decent deal on a jet ski trailer I can use it to transfer the ski to the new trailer. Or the rolling stand, whatever I end up using.

Are these gel-coat like a boat?   Is so a polish and wax will have that looking good as new.

Our SAR group had a couple of those. Comfortable 100 kmh on flat water. And a lot of fun going up river during the freshet so long as you do not hit a log or submerged Rock. Climbs rapids like you are going downhill.

Wow, even in that condition, that was a steal. I was shopping these when they were new, and if I recall correctly, they were like eleven grand with a trailer. That was the absolute top machine at the time. Have fun with the project. 
 

In reply to akylekoz :

Yes, I think they're a gel-coat. I need to get a buffer so I can polish it up nice. New tools are fun.

@bearmtnmartin: Neat, that's good to know. The performance must be just nuts with the supercharger and small hull of a jet ski. There are a few places I think it would be fun to run it just for exploring, given the shallow draft compared to a boat.

@woody: Thanks!

gonna tear ass down the olentangy?

That's awesome and glad I haven't been checking Craigslist recently. I'm a notary so if you ever need something done let me know.

In reply to dculberson :

I may even still have a brochure on these things. I'll check the archives.

(*milk crate in the attic).

That was a steal.

Whatever you do, don't look up how to make one of these into a badass fishing rig.

I've had a bunch of other things to work on so won't get to this again for another week or so. But I did do the requisite "sit on it and pretend it runs" last night. It was fast.

@Patrick: that would be awesome until I hit some tree stumps. Alum creek is the most likely but I might take it downtown where the scioto is large enough. 
 

@evan: good to know thanks for the offer of help! Now you've done it and I'll be texting you for help all the time

@brett: now you have me curious and I'm totally going to look

The notarized title showed up in todays mail.  Awesome. I need to get it transferred into my name but I'm going to be out of town this week. So next week it is. I always hate waiting on titles because if lost they open such a big can of worms. 

While I was out of town my cousins tenant reupholstered the seats and it looks much better!

and then I got a response to my "want to buy jet ski trailer" ad and today I picked this up:

it's in great shape but needs new bunks. A set of new brackets for the bunks came with it. I paid more for the trailer than for the ski but everything else I found was either hideously overpriced, in horrendous condition, or both. Or came with a jet ski which would probably make me go literally insane to add to the pile of stuff I have. 
 

Now to try to get the thing running! As is usual I'm being pulled in a thousand directions but I hope to get some time this month to poke at it. 

What a great deal on that thing!  I haven't been on one in years but they do make me lol when ripping over the water!   Have fun!

That was a fantastic deal. I own 2 of them. (I paid a LOT more for mine and thought I got a good deal!) l.  They are great skis- the supercharger is a game changer.  Yes, 60 mph is easy

Watching for updates!

Have you seen Toyman's build?

Thanks guys! Yes I saw Toymans build and the idea definitely occurred to me but for now I'm keen on getting it ridable as a pwc. It seems pretty nice now that I've halfway cleaned it up so pulling it apart would seem like a shame. 

I got a couple hours to work on things over the last week. Turns out the bunk mounting kit I got with the trailer was massively oversized (made for 3x3 trailer frame and this is 2x2). So, I ordered some hardware from Amazon, and it came in and was undersized for this application. The U bolts were so spindly I was worried they would break under load. I headed to Menards and all they had in the proper size was zinc plated, not galvanized, but I was so sick of false starts that I decided to just paint it. The trailer frame is mild steel so it's no worse than the rest of the trailer to use ungalvanized hardware.

With that, I put together some uprights out of Unistrut and painted the uprights and hardware:

And then got the bunks covered in carpet and mounted. After a false start there where I mounted the brackets backwards so they were too far apart, I flipped them around and they fit just right:

Now came the sketchiest part, picking the 'ski up off the utility trailer and setting it on the pwc trailer. Fortunately I have a two post lift and am dumb enough to use it for off label purposes. I watched a few videos on lifting PWC and they always pick them up by the rub rail or by slings under it. I don't have any slings but did a test and the lift can easily reach the rub rail on the ski. I carefully centered the ski in the lift bay and propped the utility trailer up on jack stands (I didn't want any rolling away, tipping, or other surprises when I was lifting this thing!):

I figured as long as I was not in the way, the worst that could happen would be a broken jet ski. I tested it while it was just an inch above the utility trailer and it was stable, solid, and seemed safe. So I raised it up and pulled the trailer out by hand, resulting in a flying jet ski:

And then, I put the PWC trailer in place under it by hand, spent a lot of time lowering and raising the ski and recentering and moving the trailer around, then finally sent it.

For some reason I don't have a pic of it resting on the trailer. But rest on it it did, and with a roughly appropriate tongue weight. I strapped it down and moved it back into the other bay, and everything went smoothly. Drama free! I figured if there was drama it would happen quickly and with little recourse.

Now I can work on it more easily and once I get it running, launch and retrieve it. Hope I come up with time for that!

How is this progressing? 

I've been idly debating getting a PWC and making it into a bad-ass fishing rig instead of building a solo skiff. 

Ive been super busy with other projects so haven't done any more poking. I think I'll get to cleaning inside (it's pretty smelly under the hood) and checking mechanics over in a week or two. I'm chomping at the bit but have to be patient.