Scrubbs
New Member
I was heavily into quad riding, until health aspects made me switch to the dark side. Or at least what I THOUGHT was the dark side. Turns out this is better than I thought it would be. The following is just a news guys perspective........
A certain aspect of me does miss the RZR4 already, but the new endeavor is something totally different, and I must admit, in a good way. I'll run through my thoughts (feel free to hit the back button anytime) on the new sport of Personal Water Craft, known from here -on-in as the PWC.
This is my new baby.....
I'll start with the CONS as I see them
That's pretty much it for the CONS I guess, at least from my point of view. Others may have some that I missed, or chose to ignore as they were not that important. Now let me go onto the PROS of a PWC. Some may say this is just a sales job to sucker others in, but I don't think so.
The PROS as I see them
Those are the Pro's and Con's as I see them at this point. Maybe it will change, who knows..... One other thing I should add, and I am not sure which category it falls under, is that the ...... uh ......... women participants seem to be dressed a whole lot skimpier....... Good if the wife is not around, but BAAAAD if she is.
So here is the account of the first weekends rides.
I picked up the new GTX 155 (155hp) machine a few days ago, and it just so happened that the wife and kids were gone for a few days. I went out Friday after work and unloaded the machine at a quite boat launch on the local lake. I removed the cover and backed the trailer into the water, then promptly pulled it back out when I realized the dealer had told me the plugs were not in from the last demo ride (me). Popped those suckers in and put it back in the water. Unhooked, and moved the Sea Doo over to the shore, parked the truck (stupid short trailer can't be seen from the mirrors of the truck) and hopped back onto the PWC. I idled out from the shoreline and started going across the lake. Started out by doing some gentle turns and realized VERY quickly that unlike a quad, you have to keep the throttle going in the SHARP corners. Pretty much the faster you want to turn, the heavier on the throttle.
These things can pretty much spin on a dime, often back onto their own wake if you want them to. Takes a bit of getting used to, and the movement is much different. Imagine doing a turn on a quad and all of a sudden the ground HEAVES up on you mid turn! This is called "an unforeseen wake from a big ass boat" you never noticed and is now playing havoc with you. Takes a bit of getting used too. Now, throw in some rogue waves, and it makes for a real fun time. Not being sarcastic here, its really quite fun.
Once you get you "sea legs". Up until then its a bit terrifying.........
Once I had the controls down pat, and had a bit of confidence that the machine was quite stable, I started touring around the lake. Now, often on quads we get to see animals, and I thought I wouldn't see much from here on forward, but I was wrong. That first night alone, I gently cruised past 7 deer and two moose drinking at the waters edge. They didn't seem to be afraid of the PWC idling past them. If I had better sea legs I would have stopped and gotten a few pictures, but at this time, both hands were firmly grasping the handle bars.
Nope, not nervous at all! (as a side note I am past that nervous stage now)
After a two hour cruise around the shore line of the lake, nerves were cooled down, and the speed and sharp turns were starting to come out. I had read up on a trick called the submarine, where you floor it in a direction, let off the throttle, hit the brake, and when the nose dives down, pin the throttle and watch the LARGE wall of water come over the handle bars. This looked like a really awesome trick, until I realized that the LARGE wall of water went somewhere.
Namely..... into your lap.
Now the trick was fun, but it took a bit to get used to the fact that the water was cool, and the PWC didn't actually want to sink! Once I was wet, I wasn't getting any wetter...... The overall stability of these PWC's is quite amazing. At one point I actually had quite a bit of water floating in the footwell area, but a simple burst of speed and a sharp corner threw most of the water out.
Saturday and Sundays three trips were much the same, met another guy from a job that had a similar PWC (a 215hp instead of a 155) and spent some time playing around practicing high speed turns and braking.
Monday I left with the boss and his wife for a trip to Dinosaur Lake, situated at the base of the WAC Bennett Dam in Hudson Hope. Rather that writing a bunch about it, I will post the pictures he and his wife were kind enough to share with me after the trip.
The bottom side of the WAC Bennett Dam
The Spill Way (would have been SOOOO cool if it had been flowing like they have been recently)
Cruising the Shore Line cliffs
No trails needed, just make a turn when you want to. Or lots of them!!
Nosed up the the last Island before the dam. Boating past this point is not allowed.
Playing around while the boss eats lunch
Would I say this is better than quading?
Nope, but it is a different fun on a WHOLE different level.
A certain aspect of me does miss the RZR4 already, but the new endeavor is something totally different, and I must admit, in a good way. I'll run through my thoughts (feel free to hit the back button anytime) on the new sport of Personal Water Craft, known from here -on-in as the PWC.
This is my new baby.....
I'll start with the CONS as I see them
Quad riding means that in order to extend the season, I had to drive down south to the Fraser Valley (12 hours south of where I live in Northern British Columbia Canada). If I want to extend the PWC season, I think I have to drive to California or Miami. Not that that would be a bad thing, as I have seen some awesome video on YouTube of Miami to the Bimini Islands. (Look it up, its worth it)
I get the fact that all my views will now be from the ground, never again (unless I rent or borrow a quad) will I be able to climb to a 8,735 Vista and feel the thrill of that.
Limited lakes in the area, one could get bored easily, I hope not though.......
SUNSCREEN! DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!!!!
That's pretty much it for the CONS I guess, at least from my point of view. Others may have some that I missed, or chose to ignore as they were not that important. Now let me go onto the PROS of a PWC. Some may say this is just a sales job to sucker others in, but I don't think so.
The PROS as I see them
Waking up in the morning and throwing on a pair of shorts, a Tshirt and a pair of sandels to hook up the trailer to the truck, you realize that other than a Life Jacket and a pair of shades, thats ALL your going to need for the day. No helmets, no rain gear to keep the mud off, just what your wearing.
After trailering to the site, undo two easy straps and a hook in the front (after you get in the water (NEVER BEFORE)) and off you go. These straps should never be coated in mud either, as most boat launches are on decent graveled or paved roads.
See the condition of cleanliness your machine is in right now, sparkling in the sun? Guess what? Its going to look like that at the end of the day. No $60.00 car washes after a 2 hour mudbog. If it does get dirty (HAHAHA HA HA) a simple trick called "submarining it" gets it all clean again. You get clean as well. :lmao:
Bugs. Pretty much a thing of the past, as there doesn't seem to be a lot, at least compared to quad riding.
Those are the Pro's and Con's as I see them at this point. Maybe it will change, who knows..... One other thing I should add, and I am not sure which category it falls under, is that the ...... uh ......... women participants seem to be dressed a whole lot skimpier....... Good if the wife is not around, but BAAAAD if she is.
So here is the account of the first weekends rides.
I picked up the new GTX 155 (155hp) machine a few days ago, and it just so happened that the wife and kids were gone for a few days. I went out Friday after work and unloaded the machine at a quite boat launch on the local lake. I removed the cover and backed the trailer into the water, then promptly pulled it back out when I realized the dealer had told me the plugs were not in from the last demo ride (me). Popped those suckers in and put it back in the water. Unhooked, and moved the Sea Doo over to the shore, parked the truck (stupid short trailer can't be seen from the mirrors of the truck) and hopped back onto the PWC. I idled out from the shoreline and started going across the lake. Started out by doing some gentle turns and realized VERY quickly that unlike a quad, you have to keep the throttle going in the SHARP corners. Pretty much the faster you want to turn, the heavier on the throttle.
These things can pretty much spin on a dime, often back onto their own wake if you want them to. Takes a bit of getting used to, and the movement is much different. Imagine doing a turn on a quad and all of a sudden the ground HEAVES up on you mid turn! This is called "an unforeseen wake from a big ass boat" you never noticed and is now playing havoc with you. Takes a bit of getting used too. Now, throw in some rogue waves, and it makes for a real fun time. Not being sarcastic here, its really quite fun.
Once you get you "sea legs". Up until then its a bit terrifying.........
Once I had the controls down pat, and had a bit of confidence that the machine was quite stable, I started touring around the lake. Now, often on quads we get to see animals, and I thought I wouldn't see much from here on forward, but I was wrong. That first night alone, I gently cruised past 7 deer and two moose drinking at the waters edge. They didn't seem to be afraid of the PWC idling past them. If I had better sea legs I would have stopped and gotten a few pictures, but at this time, both hands were firmly grasping the handle bars.
Nope, not nervous at all!
(as a side note I am past that nervous stage now)After a two hour cruise around the shore line of the lake, nerves were cooled down, and the speed and sharp turns were starting to come out. I had read up on a trick called the submarine, where you floor it in a direction, let off the throttle, hit the brake, and when the nose dives down, pin the throttle and watch the LARGE wall of water come over the handle bars. This looked like a really awesome trick, until I realized that the LARGE wall of water went somewhere.
Namely..... into your lap.
Now the trick was fun, but it took a bit to get used to the fact that the water was cool, and the PWC didn't actually want to sink! Once I was wet, I wasn't getting any wetter...... The overall stability of these PWC's is quite amazing. At one point I actually had quite a bit of water floating in the footwell area, but a simple burst of speed and a sharp corner threw most of the water out.
Saturday and Sundays three trips were much the same, met another guy from a job that had a similar PWC (a 215hp instead of a 155) and spent some time playing around practicing high speed turns and braking.
Monday I left with the boss and his wife for a trip to Dinosaur Lake, situated at the base of the WAC Bennett Dam in Hudson Hope. Rather that writing a bunch about it, I will post the pictures he and his wife were kind enough to share with me after the trip.
The bottom side of the WAC Bennett Dam
The Spill Way (would have been SOOOO cool if it had been flowing like they have been recently)
Cruising the Shore Line cliffs
No trails needed, just make a turn when you want to. Or lots of them!!
Nosed up the the last Island before the dam. Boating past this point is not allowed.
Playing around while the boss eats lunch
Would I say this is better than quading?
Nope, but it is a different fun on a WHOLE different level.
