STAFF REVIEW: JET SKI EXPERIENCE IN BRIGHTON
On the 12th of July, Willow and I jumped in a taxi and headed off to Brighton Marina, where Lagoon Watersports and their team were expecting our arrival! As we walked through the Marina, we admired the dozens of magnificent boats creating such a beautiful sight for the many restaurants surrounding the water. Tucked down amongst the boats was a petite white hut, with a big sign reading ‘Lagoon Watersports’! Immediately the excitement struck, and we found ourselves speed walking down the ramp.
On our speedy walk to the hut, we encountered a problem in the form of a big metal gate. However, this scary gate was softened due to an unexpected, polite door bell. Then, as if by magic, Joe, our instructor, walked out of the hut and let us in. Joe was very welcoming and showed us to the wet-suit and buoyancy aid room. Once we were suited and booted, we were off to find our jet skis! It wasn’t hard to spot the dazzling red and black jet skis perched up on their floats. They were named Tom and Jerry, and were obviously treated like royalty (or were bought yesterday - but I highly doubt that!)
Joe went through the safety instructions and controls, before showing us the hand gestures he will make, meaning ‘Kill the engine’ and ‘Come to the powerboat’. The simple controls meant that before we knew it, we were off! Joe led us out of the marina on his red powerboat. Even when going at the moderate speed, you could feel the jet ski had a lot more to give, and was waiting for us to pull on the throttle.
I saw the opening between the Marina walls, and Joe found his powerboat’s throttle very quickly. We zoomed out into the sea. Neither Willow nor I were scared to go as fast as physically possible. After all, we were there to test the speed and capabilities of the equipment! Joe led us along the seafront and did not hold back. I found it incredibly fun driving over the waves that had come from the powerboat and Willow’s jet skis. This made my machine zoom up into the air and crash back down onto the sea. It was hard to know how much air was between the jet ski and sea, because for a fierce ride, the landings were smooth.
A unique quality in Joe which you don’t always find in Water Sports staff is the fact he signalled us over to tell us we didn’t appear to be going fast enough! This surprised me, as I felt like I was. He said that the Jet Skis should comfortably get up to 33mph, and so this time he was going to go faster to give us a longer stretch, and see what power these machines really have. At this point, Willow and I opened the storage compartment on our jet skis and got out the snazzy purple and black goggles provided to protect our eyes from the sea water. Joe’s few motivating words were all the encouragement we needed, and Willow proudly reached 37mph. This was much to my annoyance, as I couldn’t get past 34…
When the experience came to an end, we followed the powerboat back into the Marina and pulled up on the dock, where we were assisted off.
The experience was great fun, and for anyone looking for an adrenaline filled day, I would 100% recommend Jet Skiing with Lagoon Watersports. A massive thank you to the whole team for having us!
