I sat my butt on one for the first time a few weeks ago on the Colorado River when the weather was still hot. I was in Laughlin and rented a jet ski, a model probably the equivalent of a Ford Taurus at a car rental place. Not super a pro design or super sleek. They wouldn’t rent those to people. Mine was a very stable, very floaty jet ski with blue and white designs.
Now, I am an athletic person who has done a fair amount of water sports; surfing, boogie-boarding, single ski water-skiing, snow boarding, snow skiing, tubing, etc. So it’s surprising, especially to me, that at age 44, I had never been on a jet ski. I mean, my friend’s father actually invented the Wet Bike, a predecessor Jet Ski product. But I got on and started jet skiing away!
I was actually quite astonished and delighted at how free I felt on the thing. With just a pull of my right index finger on the throttle, I was up and away; I could go from here to there in just a matter of a few hair-blowing seconds. I could get from our river-camp site to the dam about a mile up the river in a few minutes short cutting lines and angles atop the water. I loved the feeling of moving through large amounts of space at my finger’s whim.
The Colorado, despite the 105-degree air temperature that day, was chilly to say the least. And yet, when I would throttle up my jet ski, say up to 40 miles per hour or so, the hot wind would blow against my face at such a force that tears formed from the sides of my eyes. It was exhilarating.
I really enjoyed jet skiing. It was about time!