Our
Fleet of Jet Boats
At Len’s Sportfishing Adventures
we utilize first class modern Jet Boats for our guiding
operations. There are many different types of these boats
ranging from flat hull bottoms for extremely shallow water
to deeper degree hulls found the bigger boats that can handle
the big white water and choppy water conditions better.
You are probably asking what exactly is a jet boat.
There are some very distinct differences from a regular
propeller driven lake or ocean boat and a specially designed
river jet boat. The first difference is hull degrees, the
river boats tend to have shallower hull drafts for river
use. These tend to be from 10 to 14 degrees. All our boats
are constructed of heavy gauge welded aluminum; this is
a great material for boats as it allows us to beach the
boats on gravel bars and rocks without any damage to the
hull. The other advantage is aluminum is much lighter and
stronger than other materials of equal thickness. Most of
our boats have 1/4 to 3/8 inch bottoms with some having
an extra aluminum, steel or heavy plastic material added
on the bottom for extreme shallower and rocky river use.
These boats also have heavily reinforced hulls which help
prevent denting, just in case of impacts from some sort
of submerged obstacle..
 The
size of boats that we use range from 19 to 26 foot
in length, all of the boats we use have covered
tops with side curtains to stop the wind and rain when the
weather is not very good, these boats also have heaters
very similar to a car. All the boats that we use will seat
4 people comfortably with a bit of extra room in the bigger
boats. The smaller boats have a definite advantage in that
they can travel in much shallower water than the larger
boats and that they more agile when it comes to tight turns
and sudden maneuvers that are needed on some of the smaller
rivers we operate on.
 Propulsion
is by a jet pump which is attached to the inside of the
boat near the transom. There is an opening on the bottom
of the hull where the pump is bolted to. From the motor
to the pump there is a drive shaft which turns a impeller
and draws water from the opening and then discharging it
from a narrow nozzle on the transom of the boat. This provides
thrust in order for the boat to move forward, very similar
principle as a jet plane. Most of the boats are powered
with 5.7 to 8.1 liter gas motors even diesel, these motors
are very similar to car motors but designed to run at higher
rpm for extended times.
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