 Over the Ledge at Phantoms
North Shore, Oahu
Photos by Ed Suzuki
The day had come to take out the Powerski Jetboard into some sizeable source. We had been warming up at Rocky Point the days before and even though I was still sore over the gash in my rail from being runover by Crazy Joe the day before, we were ready. Gathered on the beach was Team Powerski with Bob Montgomery & Jim Habig, Team Maui (Ed Suzuki, Nelson Armitage, Kai Suzuki), Powerski Kauai consisting of Michael Schmidt who had flown over to ride and pick up his first board. Training in the lineup was none other than Brian Keaulana, Noah Johnson and a host of serious watermen. First out was of course inventor, Bob Montgomery and Bruddah Nelson. For only his third time on the craft, Nelson did extremely well picking off a couple for himself. It was Bob, who had been dreaming of this day for some time and has put in the hours on the Jetboard, that began charging into the sets.
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| The ease in which Bob powered into the sets was apparent. It took patience waiting for the larger sets vs. catching everything that came in. Without the many hours of experience, Nelson tired out and I got my shot at powering into the sets. I had ridden on smaller days in Mexico, but it was nothing like big beautiful Hawaiian juice. As most of the boards are rigged for "goofy footers", I was strapless but the board handled great and I was able to catch the waves from any angle; from behind over the top, from the side or even approaching from the front. There was power to catch the wave, turn off the motor or power through the section. |
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