DownbeatDave

Ever since I got my Speedster a month ago, I started getting a weird rash on the inside of each forearm occasionally. I finally tracked it to when I rest my arms on the hull while leaniing into the engine compartment. Even just a minute or two of exposure is enough to get the rash.

I've never had any reaction to anything like this before. The rash is really sensitive and painful but goes away in about 4 hours.

I've had stray fiberglass strands poke into my hand while reaching around inside the hull (attaching the oil filler hose for example), and they're obnoxious, but I don't see how I could be picking something up from the gel coat. There's layers and layers of wax on it, so maybe I'm allergic to the wax.

Any ideas?

My batteries have a half-life of about 2 days, so after I inspected my batteries I found they needed topping up with water. Since I had to remove the batteries to do this without making a mess, I decided to upgrade the batteries to a single 12-volt since I was in there anyway.

I read the upgrade instructions at:

http://www.angelfire...conversion.html

but there's not mention of how to reconnect the battery cables. Since the batteries are disconnected now, I don't remember how they were originally connected, but I think they were connected in parallel. I think this means that each red battery cable is supposed to carry 6 volts on it. I can't really connect both 6-volt red (positive) cables together and connect up to a 12-volt battery, can I?

What am I misunderstanding?

As a beginner speedster owner, I don't know the limitations of the boat. What are some cool maneuvers that can be done with a speedster? Is there any danger to either passengers or to the boat by doing it? I am afraid of breaking something, and it would help to know what others have experienced. If you have any photos or links, that would also be helpful.

I have two extra connections for attaching home water hoses: one just aft (a couple of inches) of the gas filler cap, and the other just aft of the oil filler cap. Each of these hose connections have a screw-on cap connected with a chain. And the connection has a hose that tees into the flush hose from the stern connector on each corresponding side of the boat.

What are these for? The Operators Guide (Owner's manual) makes no mention of them. If I take the screw-on cap off during flushing (from the stern), water pours out of the connectors and right into the blower vents.

I'm guessing that it's a way to keep the boat in the water and still flush the engines. This would be especially helpful if the boat was floating in sea water and that using the top connectors allowed flushing with fresh water. Sound plausible?

Since I want to keep my boat in the water for an extended period of time, I was worried about the water seepage through the original equipment rubber flapper scupper valve. I discovered there's a SeaDoo recall giving an upgrade to a ball valve positive seal.

The scupper Kit Part # is 295500637. The campaign # for the recall is 97-1. It covers '96 & '97 Sportsters, Challengers, and Speedsters. Go to any dealer and give them the VIN number of the boat, and they'll either give you the part or install it for you (your choice), no charge.