Riding Shotgun - Motorsports in the Blood

[Ultra]

Touring around... Catching Ultra air!

(From the third weekend in June of 2003)
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Myself and two friends of mine like to jetski.  We each have our own really top notch ski's this year and have pushed the limit of where we take the boats compared to most others in our area.  We never see other skis out on the coast of NE Lower peninsula of Michigan. Everyone rides inland lakes and look at us like we are nuts when we tell them we ride on Lake Huron. Wimps. Never anybody to race in the big lake. The forthcoming Mackinac trip should change that.

My friend Brian, riding on his Kawasaki 1200 STX-R, me on my Ultra 150, the worlds fastest production personal watercraft, toured around together 80 miles round trip on Saturday and 55 more miles today. Saturday we launched at Rockport, north of Alpena and went into Presque Isle harbor on Lake Huron and checked out  the Antique Wooden boat show. We also found some real isolated sand dunes in Thompson's Harbor State Park on our way up to Rogers City. Between all that and jumping wakes of 4 different freighters in otherwise relatively calm waters it was a nice, beautiful, easy riding day.

Today, different story, we had my buddy Tommy on his XP with us as well and when we first went out from Alpena into the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary we knew it was not going to be an easy touring type of day. Oh no, today was for much hardier souls as the 8 to 12 foot rollers were for hi-flying hijincs of the first order.  The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary got it's title because of all the shipwrecks in the bay.  It is said to have the largest concentration of shipwrecks anywhere in the globe.  The winds in Thunder Bay have been measured at over 100 miles an hour.  Those winds combined with the limestone shoals of Thunder Bay have given the place a unique history in mariners lore.  We were out to make a bit of our own personal history that day. The wind was coming in from the southeast and the waves were just rolling right.

In the water
In the air
On the throttle
Off the throttle
Off your feet
Thump your seat...
Lather, rinse, repeat.

Having traveled 15 miles SE along the coast directly into the waves, we made it all the way to Negwegon State Park. 8 miles of undeveleped shoreline, no camping. Stopped, stretched and checked out the beach. Rested, we rode back to Alpena.  Going with the wind into the backs of the waves on the ski creates perfect conditions for what are known as "peelers."  Peelers are waves that crash over the top of the boat and peel your attire off and your eyes open.  We were facing some of biggest, baddest, ugliest peelers of my life that day. Massive peelers, I was peeled, goggles gone, wetsuit rolled right up my arms and legs, at least 20 times. Upon getting back into Alpena, we refueled our skis and fed ourselves some lunch.  Then we went back out in perfect jumping conditions. We stayed a little closer to Alpena on our second trip out but kept ourselves occupied with massive leaps into the air off of perfect jumping waves for the rest of the afternoon.   I still managed to put about 55 miles on the ski today. I am getting tanned really dark! I ate gallons of water in the face and down the wetsuit today.   I am anxious for this weekends ride to Mackinac.

[Rich]

I've consistently thought that the one motorized contraption my life is missing is that of the jetski variety....maybe next summer....I think my boys would really dig it....yes, dear, they're for the boys..............

[porridgehead]

Never got into the jetskis, but I am well versed in peelers. Many years spent windsurfing will do that to you. The times I have tried jetskis I've always come back bruised, burned, stiff, sore and grinning the stoopit grin of a 12-year-old rattling around in a middle-aged body. Nice story, Ultra, it makes me want to go out on the water on a windy November afternoon and beat the tar out of myself.