The Glade 4.0

For the past several years, every time Oonagh and I go to the shore, we inevitably come back talking about potentially owning a waverunner.

As we are just back from a 5 day vacation to the Jersey shore and this year being no different than many of the last few, we are once again considering looking into ownership.

We are in the very early stages of this process as we intend to gather as much information before making a purchase. Cost to purchase, to maintain, training required, licensing, safety...Everything. We don't plan on doing this without all the infoz gathered beforehand so we can be educated about it.

Anyone here have any experience with them? Anything at all would be appreciated.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

Waverunners are fun, but what you can do with them is extremely limited...and in my opinion, you'll get bored with them fast...which is why there are sooooo many available from people getting rid of them.

I would personally forget the waverunner and get a small 18 or 19 foot bowrider boat. You can find some good deals toward the end of the boating season with regard to people wanting to get rid of them before they have to pay to winterize/store their boats. Believe it or not, craigslist is a great place to find some nice deals. I've actually been watching for a while and have seen more than a few too good to pass up boats available...unfortunately I don't have the funds as of now.

While boats are obviously larger, they are MUCH more fun and you can do soooooo much more with them. A nice little 18 or 19 footer would allow for tubing and skiing as well as just all around fun.

I can also point you in a nice direction for some nice places to take it around norristown as my father frequently puts his boat in up there.

Also, not sure of the actual stats, but in the papers down here, you hear of more issues with people getting hurt/dying in jet ski/waverunner related instances.

Start yourself with a nice boaters safety course...you'll learn alot and it'll help prevent you from being one of the MANY idiots out there on the water with no clue what they're doing.

One last thing though....boats are expensive to maintain. You do have the fuel costs , winterization, painting/waxing, upkeep, tags, etc. There's a common joke....

B.O.A.T. = Break Out Another Thousand

In my opinion though, they're well worth it if you plan on using it alot.

Feel free to ask more questions.

The two happiest days of a boat owners life is the day he buys it and the day he sells it.

Oh, I'd love a Waverunner.

See now, this doesn't make sense to me. I can't imagine ever getting bored with it. Every time we head to the shore I wish that I could spend my time out on the water somehow. I envy every person I see zooming around on the bay or out on the ocean. There is a nautical part of me that seems to have never been tapped and I just want to be out on the water. Whether it be zooming about or just casually touring the bay, I just want to be out there.

Usage, I don't imagine would be a problem. We are only 90ish miles from the shore and have a house that we could make a pit stop at right across from the actual beach town proper. (Somers Point across from Ocean City, NJ) So weekend day trips are always a possibility. I would also be interested in knowing if there are any other locations in our immediate area where waverunners are taken out. Not sure if I have ever seen anyone out on the Schuylkill, but perhaps one of the local lakes (Nockamixon, perhaps?)

Judging from the usage that I do believe Oonagh and I would get out of it, I can definitely see it being worth the cost if we can get one for a reasonable price.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

Have you considered a JetLev?

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Yes...

...Until I saw the pricetag of $99,500

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

Where will you store it?

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In time, this too shall pass.

As we are considering moving in the near future:

If it were to come to pass and we are still in our current house, we can make room in our garage.

Should this happen after we have a new house, chances are we will have more room as the intent of our impending new house purchase is something larger than what we currently own. Likely the garage, I would assume.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

Speaking of safety, there was a jetski/boat accident out here in CA just last weekend. Not that you can't die in a boat, of course.

But, yeah the boredom thing would seem to be an issue. How long can you speed across the water, with no opportunity to get up, sit, stand, walk around (cast a line?!). I don't think they do much casual "touring about the bay." Do those things even go less then 30 knots or whatever?! Always seems like they just have an on/off button.

I'd go for a boat, too, sounds like it has much more opportunity for family fun. Are you thinking of getting a 2-person one? Where would your young'un sit? Or, would you leave someone on shore all the time?

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

A boat of any kind is a big investment. Rent a pair first, get an idea of what it is like multiple times before you take the plunge and buy. If you still can see yourself going out on the water every weekend, or every day of a week long vacation and then coming home and still looking forward to the next weekend or vacation, then maybe you should take the plunge.

Understand that a jet ski/ waverunner is a gateway drug into boating...you will eventually get another boat.

Also remember what boat stands for...Bust Out Another Thousand.

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Women are from Hoboken, men are from Trenton. ~ Jimmy Kimmel

My parents have 2 skidoo's. They are a blast, and will definitely pull someone on a tube ( they are 2-3 person models), will do 60 according to the speedometers.

But I agree, rent before you buy, and remember that all watercraft take maintenance and will eventually break down on ya.

One of our old coworkers posted on FB yesterday:

Money cannot buy happiness..are you sure because money can buy a waverunner - have you ever seen someone look sad on a waverunner?

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

That's a Daniel Tosh joke, FYI.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

Yeah, saw that. Coincidence, though. Wifey and I have been tossing this idea around for a long while and having just gotten back from the shore this happened to be fresh on my mind.

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

How much experience do you have on waverunners? Do you guys rent them when you go to the shore every year?

None yet, though I am certain that if this idea gets any real steam behind it, we will likely rent to try it out before we make a final plunge. (Pun intended)

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.