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Jet Ski Fans Find More to Love With Faster, Cleaner, Greener 4-Stroke Engines

July 08, 2008 - NAPLES — They get a bad rap, personal watercrafts, or as they are commonly known, Jet Skis.

To a passionate paddler or a remote woodswalker, that makes perfect sense. To many people, Jet Skis scream: Loud, rambunctious, noisy, obnoxious.

This is why they are banned on more than 60 lakes in populated areas of Maine, and why the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld those bans this spring.

However, at RAD Jet Ski Rental on Naples' Long Lake, most folks rent the four-stroke engine Jet Skis -- personal watercraft with environmentally kind engines that are not only cleaner, they're quieter.

Whatever the reason, they're still the go-to summer toy for many.

"The four strokes are faster. Our new machines have a bigger engine. You tell the ones in their 20s that, that's what they want. They want to go out and do 360 (degree turns)," said Dotty Mason, co-owner of RAD Jet Ski Rental.

Jet Skiing is more like downhill skiing than Nordic skiing. There is no reflective time to take in the beauty of the trail -- rather, you become it.

And even for someone who prefers paddling a deserted, slow-moving river, holy moly, are they fun.

Not since screaming down Sunday River's steepest black diamond trail on alpine skis have I enjoyed such a James-Bond-like thrill. A Jet Ski makes the landscape surreal, the scenery ridiculously calm behind the fast flash of flying lakewater at your feet.

Mostly, we rode a four-stroke Jet Ski alone to isolated parts of Long Lake on a Wednesday after it rained. Only a half-dozen boats were out on the 5,000-acre lake, and no other Jet Skis.

Moore said RAD's four-stroke personal watercrafts can go about 55 to 62 miles per hour.

For reporting purposes, on this wide open lake, we verified that.

Mason said the four strokes are the top rental choice from her 13-machine Jet Ski fleet, which will rent out many days in the heat of the summer.

Four-stroke engines do not mix the gas and oil, so they run quieter and cleaner, whereas with two-stroke engines, the oil and gas burn at the same time, creating more pollution.

And for those in Maine who don't like the noise of a Jet Ski, four-stroke machines don't scream; they hum.

With a less obtrusive presence, four-stroke Jet Skis may help keep this wild trend going. In fact, even inflated gas prices don't appear to be keeping people from pursuing Jet Ski fun.

After eight years, Long Beach Marina in Sebago is not offering Jet Ski rentals, citing high gas prices. But elsewhere in southern Maine, Jet Ski excitement is expected to be strong.

For nine years, personal watercraft have been a popular item on Milton Three Ponds, where Everett's Cove Marina and Ice Cream rents them.

Susan Everett said the four-stroke machines she rents are popular because they are "quieter, smoother and have a little more 'oomph.' "

In Naples at RAD Jet Ski Rental, business is going strong this year. Customers pay for gas when they rent for more than an hour, but machines are still being rented.

"For the last three years, we've held the same price. We're trying to do that this year, even though we lose $5 per rental because of the gas prices," said owner Richard Mason, who charges $75 to $300 for rentals.

For those willing to pay to play, the reason most ride Jet Skis is pretty simple.

"Our four-strokes are faster, because they have bigger motors. They're newer," said Jake Moore, RAD Jet Ski Rental manager.

"You tell people they're faster, and they go for the four-strokes."

That thrill probably will never go out of style.

By DEIRDRE FLEMING, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, July 6, 2008


Lakes: Brandy Pond, Long Lake, Sebago Lake
Regions: Sebago


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