Capt Steve

I know this is a month old thread, but I just saw it.

Coast Guard regulations require that you have the following on board at all times.

1. A USCG approved life jacket for everyone on board. Either Type I, II, or III. Boats longer than 16' also need at least one Type IV throwable floatation device.
2. Since you have an enclosed engine space, you are required to have at least one fire extinguisher that is USCG approved. You are also required to have a functional blower exhaust system.
3. Boats longer than 16' must have at least 3 flares that are current. Flares have an expiration date stamped on them. All boats must have flares if operating at night.
4. You should have a sound making device that can be heard at least one mile away. A whistle, air horn, or electric horn.

Some states require additional equipment, and you should check with your state.

The oil light is controlled by a sensor in the oil tank and refers to the level of oil in the tank. There is no sensor that tells if the engine is getting oil. I would suspect that the sensor in the oil tank is either bad or has a loose connection.

The biggest issue you will have is the Merc. engine. There are not many dealers that work on sport boat merc's. Most Sea Doo dealers don't work on them and most Mercury dealers don't work on sport boats only outboards. Parts are also sometimes hard to find. Make sure either you can fix it yourself or you have a shop close by that will work on them. Even finding the service manual can be a problem. Most Sea Doo manuals do not cover the Merc engines, they refer you to a Mercury manual.

My 2001 Sportster had stress cracks around the cooler behind the rear facing seat. I had them repaired using oem gel cote. You can't even tell they were there.

Stress cracks are not a really big problem. All boats, even the mega yachts that I work on get them. The problem is that gel cote is hard and brittle and boats flex. As long as the crack is only in the gel cote, and not in the underlying fiberglass, it is purely cosmetic. The only way to stop them is to stop the flexing. This is not always practical to do.