i am new to this jet ski stuff. last year was my first year.. i was wondering has anyone ever gone on multi-day trips? i love camping/backpacking.. and was wondering if it was possible to say go down the mississippi(or some other river), camping each night next to the river.. not even sure if there is enough camping sites along it.. know any other river you can do this?

the only problem i see is making sure someone else is welling to drive down and pick you and the ski up... knowing where you can fill up the ski at.. and the camp sites.. would take some planning, but possible.. maybe?

thanks for the input...

Just a few idea to consider.

-Two tow vehicles, one with an empty trailer left, and parking paid for at the pickup site. Use the other one to drop off the loaded skis, etc.

-Check your local laws on camping, places, etc... Talk to your local park service, they should get you some info.

-Pack everything in trashbags. Bring an extra roll of trashbags.

-Remove your front compartment buckets. Way, way, way, way more room.

-Consider your gas stops, and get contacts.

-Watch the weather service before you leave.

-Take a GPS, and 2 seperate forms of communication for each ski, (cell, cb, gmrs, cell). Have planned channels and call times mapped out.

-File your float plan with a friend (or the right authority) and check in when you are all happy and safe back.

-Take a good camera, but take some of those disposables to keep on the outside of the ski so that you can snap those cool one-of-a-kind shots.

-Consider how to carry a cooler on the skis and how to carry the food.

i saw a couple of guys this weekend on XLT's with PVC cooler racks (homemade) on the back..they looked nice, one guy was riding 2 up and there looked to be plenty of room...

There is a company out louisana that makes cooler racks.
www.coolcuisin.com I think something like that. I have one for my FX-140 works great things don't even get shaken up.

hey thanks for that.. i was looking and i could pack my backpack water proof enough and strap that to the back of my seat i would think.. if not i could pack the front area with everything..

has anyone actaully gone on a trip like this?

thanks again...

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Originally posted by Prophet:
has anyone actaully gone on a trip like this?

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Not yet, but we're planning one in a couple of months. Last year, we put in on the Cape Fear River 48 miles above Wilmington, NC, rode down to Wilmington (going through one lock), played around, had lunch and rode back all in the same day.

Our plan this year is to put in 72 miles above Wilmington, ride down on a Friday (having to go through 2 locks this time), go out and play in the intracoastal waterway and ocean on Saturday, then return home Saturday afternoon. Of course we won't be camping. There are hotels along the waterfront in Wilmington. There's a marina there, too, so that solves our fuel problem. We each strap a 5 gal. can of gas to the back since we all have 2 strokes.

We check out our skis thoroughly before going, we take water to drink, snacks, sunscreen, etc. Our biggest concern is that we travel in numbers, with a tow rope, because the Cape Fear is a very remote river with no civilization along that 72 mile stretch, nor marina service of any kind. And cellular phones don't work in much of that area.

Planning is the key, as well as traveling with an absolute minimum of one other ski. We will be taking a minimum of 3 skis on our trip.

If you can find a friend or friends to make a trip with you, plan one and go. They are memorable.

I've been on several over nighters and several state tours. Although I would like to try what you want to, I've always car camped. Often setting up tents, riding a river, or lake, or salt area, spending the night, then driving (car with ski on trailer) to another campsite and doing it all over again for several days. For camping like you want, a three seater with lots of storage is needed. The problem with that is; I don't like three seaters ... they're not fast enough!

Profit, you should do your river trip thing. I did one last year on the missouri. did a lot of planing for it though. i agree with mark c. do have a float plan and comm on board, and make sure ya know where your gonna gas up. i did my trip with me and my girl on one ski. had a great time. went from omaha to souix city. 105 miles one way. had a great time. another thing to consider would be to get a chart of the river your going on. i got one from the corp of engineers, only bout $12 or so. has mile markers, landmarks etc. just a little extra insurance for where your at. wish i could have figured out how to camp on my ski but i didn't. just couldn't figure out how to carry my tent and sleepin bags and grill on board. thought about a ski trailor, but nah, to much trouble. opted for just stayin at a hotel in souix city. left the ski at the public marina 4 blocks away. worked good. to bad i counldn't figure how to carry my gear cause there are many cool places along the missouri with nice sandy beachs to camp on. also be carefull on the river. its fine in the channels that the corp maintains, but i went up above souix city 20 miles to where the missori is not maintained. just like lewis and clark saw. way cool, however, found out i don't read rivers well. found two sand bars. one while floating, which was of no conciquence, and one while cruisin, yikes, lucky it was a short sand bar and i just skimed over it. could have been stuck real fast. not quite what i wanted to do with my fx140 that had 12 hours on it. but what the heck, if ya aint gonna use it ya might as well not bother. nothing ventured, nothin gained. have fun man. jim

thanks for the info.. i am going to start looking around the mid-west for a place to go.. biggest problem seems on the mississippi is the ***s.. i am new to the area(about 7 months) and know of two ***s already.. plus i was in the mississippi once north of st cloud and the river is nasty..

i love camping.. so i want to figure something out.. thanks again for the tips... they have all been saved...

Prophet, how do you think we feel about the mississippi here in MO. We get all your crap from up there and I'm sure we add plenty for the people down south. I too would like to do an over nighter, but after hitting something in the river and putting a hole on my ski, it makes you think twice.

Some of us old dogs have done it another way. For the past several years five of us have made week-long trips on places like the Arkansas, Tennessee, Tombigbie, tried the Hudson down from Albany but didn't make it, Chespeak, Pearl River and other misc lakes like George, Ozarks, most all the lakes in North and South Carolina. I mention the several places to make the point that logistics is a nightmare and when we take the week off we don't want to be bothered with stuff like planning. The old folks way: 1)We had built a trailer that holds 6 units. i.e., We have 5 riders and a spare unit.2) We hire a driver. Typically you can find a retired professional for $100 a day plus all expenses in the finest hotels and resturants that we can find. Split 5 ways the individual cost is modest. The driver puts us in, say Mobil Bay, with our destination being the Teneesee up the Tombigbie. The driver chases us on parallel highways and we ride until we run out of gas or find a marina. Failing the marina, we locate a ramp and call the driver to come load us. We then go fuel and back in, or put in further upstream at the next ramp after the next gas stop. End of day, call driver on cel and take us to nearest hotel. Drop trailer and units and driver is designated driver at best resturant we can find. Next morning start over. Repeat as necessary. Sometimes we just ride a lake a day and put in and take out same place. Driver waits. Next day drive to another lake and repeat as necessary. Typical range is 60 miles before fueling. Last year we did make it from Memphis down to Helena, Ak on one tank of fuel. My adivce, don't camp on the Mississippi. Arkansas river was most likely camping and Tombigbie was pure "deliverance".
Other incidential: We are adding 4th axle to the trailer and upgrading tongue to 10,000 lb. Our previous tongue weight was 1,200 lbs on heavy duty Ford Excursion tow vehicle. With a little "general" planning you can hit nice towns and nice resturants. (And where is spell check on this page?) Happy trails...Go for it.

thanks GRamp.. sounds like alot of fun.. my problem is i am poor as dirt camping is a fun and cheap get away for me... got the ski and a 01 sunfire that has to pull it trust me already had to redo front and back brakes on the car.. who would have guessed? haha.. worth it to ride though..

have fun...

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Originally posted by carimz:
I did one last year on the missouri.
105 miles one way.

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Jim, the FX-140 is a pretty fuel efficient machine. Did you go the complete 105 miles on one tank? I bet your ski would do that.

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Originally posted by Yamaha760:
I too would like to do an over nighter, but after hitting something in the river and putting a hole on my ski, it makes you think twice.

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I have stood several times on the steps at the Arch, and also on the riverfront in New Orleans, and watched all the logs and debri float down the Mississippi. I bet that could be a hazardous ride.

hi again, fallsrider, nope didn't have the courage to go the 105 with one tank of gas. best me and the girlfriend can remember, we thought that we'd have made it, but would have been running on fumes. i didn't want to chance that on a river that was runnin at least 5mph. i also was doin my river trip solo, and there weren't many people on the river on the friday i went up, like might have passed 4 boats the whole way. i do think i'd have made it like i say, but just didn't think it was a good day to test how far i could go. also. i have got low fuel enough on a lake to get my low fuel warning BUZZER to go off. man what a bummer, real loud. i read of no way to turn it off short of puttin gas in it. didn't want to come into the souix city marina with that goin off, everyone would have been complainin and rightfully so. read your notes on the river logs too, yikes, i've hit me a few too, no holes though. ya really gotta watch where your goin on the river. and still, i've hit two, both were submerged right below the surface.

Some friends of mine are talking about a trip from Detroit to Mackinaw.(about 250 to 300 miles) Wifes will follow along on shore with Motorhome and 4 place trailer.I am not 100% convinced yet.

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Originally posted by jy:
Some friends of mine are talking about a trip from Detroit to Mackinaw.(about 250 to 300 miles)

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Man, you should do it. Mackinac is a beautiful place.

Just pulled the FX140 manual out, it states 1.59 hrs max at full throttle, so I would assume about 80 miles running wide open. From my short (18 hrs ) of experience on mine, I would think running around 30-40 you could get 120 miles without a problem, with the 18.5 gallon fuel tank..

Anyone know of a charity ride from somewhere on the Osage river to the Missouri and then the Mississippi to the Arch at St. Louis? I used to see it on the news and it sounds like it would be a fun day...

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Originally posted by tstolze:
I would think running around 30-40 you could get 120 miles without a problem, with the 18.5 gallon fuel tank..

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That's what we do....cruise around 35 or so according to the dreamo. It stretches the fuel out much further, something that's real important when you have a 2-stroke. Also, I don't want the scenery to go by too much faster. I enjoy it when I can take a little time to look around.