Scarab 215 ID Questions

[Need A Vacation]

I have a few questions regarding the 2018/2019 Scarab 215 ID, as we are seriously considering it. We would be stepping up from a i/o.

How does the boat do with the base 150hp motors? Pulling a skier? Getting on plane? Top Speed? With a near full boat, 6 adults, 2-4 teens?

Is the wake tower worth the money in regards to possible resale down the road? We currently don’t wakeboard, just ski, tube, and possibly kneeboard. Just not sure its worth the ~$3600 for us.

How does this boat do on the single axle trailer? I know a tandem axle does ride better down the road, but at ~3500lbs loaded, it is needed? What is the single axle trailer rated for weight wise? Just seems to be marginal if mainly trailering.

What is better for keeping the boat dry, the separate bow & cockpit covers, or the trailering cover? Chances are we won’t actually trailer with the cover on, just want the best coverage and less chance of any rain entering the boat when stored. And at times, when anchored overnight in the water.

Is the bow filler cushion worth the money? Some days we are out tubing and skiing, other days we are hanging out either in the shallow water, or anchored and swimming/floating. We would get the versa seating for the rear, which converts to a sun deck.

Does the stock radio have preamp outputs? From what I can tell per the specs, it does have a remote mounted in the swim platform. I’m not sure the optional stereo is worth the price.

How does the 215 handle larger lakes? While we normally are on smaller lakes, we do take the boat out on Lake Charlevoix in Northern Michigan which can get a little rougher. And have even went out into Lake Michigan as well from Lake Charlevoix.

Hopefully I remembered all the questions.

TY!!!

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

Twin 150s or single. Twins should move that boat well a single probably not. If its a single 150 you need a trial run with some weight in it. And it looks
Iike it should handle rough water if you are stuck far from shore scarab builds a decent hull. That’s my biased opion I own a wellcraft same company As far as the tower shade is nice and folding tops suck go for the tower if it provides some shade. If your just talking the racks your adding a bunch of pipe to be in your way if you don’t need them. We stand a lot they do give you something to hold on to.

Id pop for the radio options you can afford now seems like radio always becomes less important to me the more I think about it and a great radio is never on the list later on, there never really worth the money they cost but who cares when your talk about a new boat you’ve lost sense of reality when you buy a new boat so what’s a few more Benjamin’s for a radio right. Its funny the radio in my new boat probably cost half as much as I sold my old truck for. And I put a lot of hours on that truck with a crappy radio, I laugh when I look at my new boats radio and think abythat truck.

I doubt trailerable covers will hold up have a custom made cover that fits right covers the whole boat and not scuffing your paint.

More trailer is always better than less, your less likely to have a blowout as well blowouts on trailers can really damage a boat and trailer.

We used our front cushions a lot at first but eventually they landed in the attic an upholstery shop can make them for you later if they are not available from the dealer when you want them.

 

[Need A Vacation]

Ty for the reply!!!

The 215 is twin motors, so 2-150s, 2-200s, or 2-250hp are the options...

I have learned there is a required rebuild of the superchargers every ~2-300hrs, at ~$1200 for both.

I was definitely leaning toward the tandem axle... To me the boat at ~3100lbs just seems right at the point you should have a tandem if trailering a fair amount... A single axle is probably plenty if only trailer to launch in the spring, and take the boat out in the fall.

TY again!!!

 

[wahlejim]

If you are going to spend money on extras, go with more HP.

Skip radio upgrades, with bluetooth speaker technology nowadays, you can get great sounding speakers linked together for stereo sound (see UE Megaboom) that you can take with you everywhere, not just on the boat. (The megaboom is waterproof as well. Mine has gone swimming a couple of times and works great still.)

If you don't wakeboard, skip the tower. That is a lot of money for a bunch of pipe.

 

[Need A Vacation]

TY Jim!!!

We are leaning towards the 200s over the 150s.

Suppose to do a lake test this w/e, as we have never been on a jet boat and want to make sure it fits us vs an i/o.

 

[jkust]

My take given the time I spend on the water. If you are set on a jet, get the largest engines and skip the half measure. I have waverunners, each has a single supercharged engine and they use what can only be described as near illegal amounts of gas. Shocking fuel usage for just our light to medium usage without any towing. I don't care about cost but I get sick to death of the constant filing up and topping off but wouldn't trade lower performance for less fill ups.

.Be prepared then for using a substantial amount more fuel than your single v6 i/o. Supercharged engines use substantially more gas than NA engines but of course supercharged engines have enormous untapped power that isn't being used over NA engines. On a waverunner you may get 65 out of an NA engine and that same exact model with the supercharged engine will get you well over 80mph with bolt on kits that are widely available ...just to understand how fantastically more potential a supercharged engine contains in the big picture. What tends to happen is someone with a NA machine will explain how little difference there is between the supercharged version but the reason is because of coast guard regs holding back the massive potential that doesn't exist on NA engines.

Here, almost everyone owns between 2 and 5 boats on lifts on their shore. The jet boats are the rarely used boat as compared to the prop boats. They are fun and a great novelty, just not as your only boat. The bummer about Rotax is their darn supercharger maintenance schedule whereas the Yamaha engines have a supercharge maintenance schedule of never. At least over the years, rotax has lengthened the time from rebuild to rebuild as it used to be I believe 100 hours not long ago...
As for the filler cushion, get it. It stays in our boat and only leaves when it's time for winter storage and is much appreciated. What you may end up realizing is that upholstery in the color you need becomes hard to get as the stock gets sold and a few years pass by....which is the same situation for all boat parts as the models change.

The tower is really your preference. We just don't need it and it causes boat lift challenges, so don't have one but I see every beat up old bowrider has a tower added onto it lately so seems a lot of people like them so much so that they paid to add one one.

Keeping going, my previous boat was 18.5 feet and about 3100lbs dry and had a single axle trailer. It was great because I could manually move it around the garage by hand and then got the current boat which requires a tandem and is nearly impossible to move by hand now. Had many a blow out on the single axle over the years and yeah, that gets dicey.

My take, don't let the fun novelty of the jet skew your vision and at least make sure you test some prop boats as well. Nothing funner than a modern jet boat....great to visit, just don't want to live there.

 

[Need A Vacation]

Jkust,

TY!!!

it is my understanding that late ‘18s, and all ‘19s should have a new supercharger that is maintenance free.

I know the single vs tandem pluses and minuses, but just wasn’t sure what the weight rating was. If what I have also just recently come across, the single axle is rated at 5k lbs.

It’s not so much the fun factor of why we are leaning toward a jet, but the advantage of traveling in shallower water without banging a prop (yes, caution is still needed to prevent sucking stuff up), easier winterizing, no lower unit maintenance, etc. But there is the disadvantage of the low speed handling, slightly better fuel efficiency, etc.

I have a copy of the FWs, Glastron, and Scarab PIGs, and per the ratings the fuel usage isn’t that much more at a cruising speed of ~30mph. All boats (H210, GTS205/207/225, 215 ID) all seem to be in the ~8-10gph range at ~30mph for the motors we would consider.

 

[jkust]

Jkust,

TY!!!

it is my understanding that late ‘18s, and all ‘19s should have a new supercharger that is maintenance free.

I know the single vs tandem pluses and minuses, but just wasn’t sure what the weight rating was. If what I have also just recently come across, the single axle is rated at 5k lbs.

It’s not so much the fun factor of why we are leaning toward a jet, but the advantage of traveling in shallower water without banging a prop (yes, caution is still needed to prevent sucking stuff up), easier winterizing, no lower unit maintenance, etc. But there is the disadvantage of the low speed handling, slightly better fuel efficiency, etc.

I have a copy of the FWs, Glastron, and Scarab PIGs, and per the ratings the fuel usage isn’t that much more at a cruising speed of ~30mph. All boats (H210, GTS205/207/225, 215 ID) all seem to be in the ~8-10gph range at ~30mph for the motors we would consider.

Good points....it's a little bit of a paradox about the shallow water prowess of jet boats. Yes they have a shallower draft than an I/o and outboard trimmed all the way up but they are a big, massively powerful vacuum that causes its own set of problems. Even on my waverunners, I am going very slow when in shallow water because I've seen first hand the catastrophic results of people not realizing the difference between a shallow draft and the reality of jets.

On a shallow lake, yeah, I'd have some interest in a jet out of necessity but just use it cautiously.
On that fuel usage thing...I suppose it depends how much you are at cruise and how much you are testing the limits. With a waverunner, you easily and constantly are testing the limits because maneuvering 850lbs is pretty simple versus a boat full of people in a jet powered bowrider where the kids want you to hammer it, and the wife is winded out for the day and so you have to balance. We tend to take it easy in the bowrider wit a lot of very slow puttering and the kids won't even come with hardly ever because of it. That's where the waverunners come in.

 

[Need A Vacation]

Jkust,

The shallow advantage I am looking at is when you’re trimmed up ~1/2 way or a little more (checking the depth as you are moving) , and even though you’ve been through the same channel numerous times, todays path you just happen to catch a rock that happens to stick up some..

Generally when we head into the real shallow areas like a sandbar to hang out or near shore to anchor for the night, I’m usually shutting the motor off and hopping out to walk the boat in the rest of the way by about waist deep of water (~34-36”).

I have rode a jet ski a few times, and yes, they have a way of making you squeeze that go fast lever way to much!!! Hopefully having the family in the jet boat would help control that desire if we go that route.