Some of the best times I have in the summertime are riding my jetski. One of my best friends, who also has a ski, go out almost everyday in the summer. We would sometimes even wake up around six o’clock in the morning just to ride the glossy surf at Sandy Hook.
There was one great day I had on the skiIt was around seven in the morning when I heard my phone ring. It was my buddy Jared waking me up to tell me to meet him at the Channel Club Marina to go out on our jetskis. I told him I would meet him there in about a half-hour. When I got to the marina Jared told me the swells at Sandy Hook were about five foot, which makes for nice wave jumping. We got our skis all ready; we filled them up with oil and gas, checked the spark plugs, and checked the engine. Finally, we were ready to head out to the ocean for a day of fun.
We made our way out down the Navesink River, passing McCloone’s and The Quay in Seabright doing around sixty miles per hour. Man, that’s the best feeling around. We then headed under the Sandy Hook Bridge, and I could already feel the swells beneath my ski. It was early morning, so all the fishing boats from Highlands were heading out with us. The early morning fog was just lifting too, so that made for some nice scenic views of all the little islands and coves that make up Sandy Hook. We entered the channel that leads right into the ocean and just flew the rest of the way to our destination.
As we came around the northern most tip of the Hook we clearly saw that the waves were pretty huge, especially for jetski riding. We both raced to the first big wave we saw, hit it head on, and must have launched at least six feet into the air, which was nothing compared to the air that would come later. About an hour went by and both of our gas tanks were running a little low. We decided to head back toward the Sandy Hook Bridge to get gas at a place called Bahrs in Highlands, which is also a restaurant.
So we jetted back toward the bridge and filled our jetskis up to the brim with gas. Immediately after, we bolted right back to where the waves were. As soon as we returned to our favorite riding spot we started jumping the waves again. This time around, we were getting as high as about ten feet in the air. About an hour into our second run at the Hook, Jared remembered something, something important.
He opened up the little compartment on his ski and took out his waterproof camera. We took several dozen pictures that entire day. My favorite one was one Jared took of me. It was a picture of me launching off of a wave at about forty miles per hour, getting about eight feet in the air, and jumping off of the jetski. That awesome shot is hanging on my bedroom wall right now.
After taking a good beating from the waves, which definitely wears you out, we would just chill for about a half-hour on the beach. Then, getting bored of just sitting there, we went right back out into the surf. We spent the whole day at the Hook. We must have filled our gas tanks up at least three or four times throughout the course of the day.
Around five o’clock in the afternoon we felt it was time to start heading back to the marina. We headed into the channel, and to make a great day perfect saw the Sea Streak ferry returning from the city. This boat goes about fifty-five miles per hour and puts out a huge wake, which is perfect for jumping. Just to keep up with that boat takes up a lot of energy, but once you go off the lip of its wake its likewell nothing, because there is no other felling like it. We followed the ferry all the way inland until it docked in
