Adamanda's KRC Jet Ski Page
On 14th September 1997 we had our first taste of jet skiing, on a trip to a
lake near Reading organised by KRC rep Adrian Learner.
Preparation
Amanda is communicating many
things in this photo:
- Hypothermia - "I'm cold now, and you want me to get in the
water?"
- Excitement - she's really looking forward to having a go on a
vehicle where it doesn't matter if you crash!
- Discomfort - the rental wetsuit's still wet from the last user
- Disbelief - "is this really the smallest helmet they have?"
- Vanity - "does my bum look big in this?" :-)
Launch
Getting on isn't too difficult: just build up a bit of speed and haul yourself
into a kneeling position. The most common mistake is to have too little
speed, when the ski will just topple over as you try to get on. Fortunately,
dragging along behind the ski like this isn't an unpleasant experience for
girls or boys :-)
The Early Days
The first little while is spent kneeling on the ski to get a feel of the
balance, acceleration, turning etc. It's inevitable that you'll fall
off a few times but it doesn't matter - these skis just chug around in a slow
circle so it's easy to catch them. Other skis have a lanyard between wrist and
killswitch so the ski stops when you part company. At the slow speeds we were
doing, and with the limited time available, it was best to keep hold of the
bars when toppling off, for speedier remounts.
In this picture Amanda demonstrates the important of a correctly-fitting
helmet. Following a crash her vision is now almost completely obscured. She
still rode the ski better than I did though :-)
So Why Do They Call Them "Stand-Ups"?
Obviously the way forward is to learn to stand up on the things. We tried
standing up a few times but spent a lot more time in the water than we did
with the kneeling position, and in view of the fact that we just had a half
hour on the rental machines I thought it would be better to spend it kneeling
on the ski than swimming around the lake.
It was still fantastic fun and enough to get us firmly hooked on
the sport after just one outing.
Steering the Wrong ... er, Right ... er, Wrong Way
On a motorcycle you turn by countersteering, a technique which involves
turning the bars in the "wrong" direction (e.g. push on the left bar to
go left). The same applies to a bicycle at speed, but because there's less
weight the effect is less noticeable. On a jetski you turn the bars left to go
left. For some reason I found it very hard to get the hang of and often found
myself going the wrong way in turns! Other jetskiing bikers I've spoken to
have had the same trouble, but apparently you get used to it quite quickly
...
An Important Point To Note
Be aware that the old lorry tyres shown stylishly adorning the fronts of the
rental jetskis here are not supplied with new jetskis and must be
purchased separately if required.
Getting on isn't too difficult: just build up a bit of speed and haul yourself
into a kneeling position. The most common mistake is to have too little
speed, when the ski will just topple over as you try to get on. Fortunately,
dragging along behind the ski like this isn't an unpleasant experience for
girls or boys :-)
The first little while is spent kneeling on the ski to get a feel of the
balance, acceleration, turning etc. It's inevitable that you'll fall
off a few times but it doesn't matter - these skis just chug around in a slow
circle so it's easy to catch them. Other skis have a lanyard between wrist and
killswitch so the ski stops when you part company. At the slow speeds we were
doing, and with the limited time available, it was best to keep hold of the
bars when toppling off, for speedier remounts.
Obviously the way forward is to learn to stand up on the things. We tried
standing up a few times but spent a lot more time in the water than we did
with the kneeling position, and in view of the fact that we just had a half
hour on the rental machines I thought it would be better to spend it kneeling
on the ski than swimming around the lake.