Keith, since the fishing is shoddy and you are bored and staring at the computer (not unlike myself) and seeing as how we share an affinity for cool boats, I figured I would put up some boat porno to geek out on.
The wife and I took a little trip to New Zealand back in January. Our collective "to-do" list for the trip was fairly long although, my contributions were fairly modest; 1) catch brown trout, 2) ride the Shotover jet boat.
First, before I get too deep, a disclaimer. This is by no means an endorsement of the depicted activities. Generally, I tend to despise "motored sports" and usually more personal interaction with the challenges that I seek out in my recreational life. Most of what I like to do doesn't involve a throttle and a gas tank and takes place in locales where such things are not only inappropriate, but abhorred by most that frequent them. Additionally, typical "tourist type" activities also tend to make me shudder.
That having been said, occasionally I participate in such activities, and at least in this case, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Every once in a while, burning some dead dinosaurs and feeling a little rumble is pretty stinkin fun.
The Shotover river runs through the narrow Shotover Canyon a few miles outside of Queenstown, New Zealand. Located on the South Island, Queenstown is sort of an epicenter of "extreme sports." The country claims to have invented jet boats, bungy jumping, para-sailing, and currently host a wide range of "extreme activities," available at ease to the masses. In general, the whole country has a pretty cool "caveat emptor" perspective that seems to eschew the liability concerns that we Americans are overly hung up on.
During an afternoon in Queenstown on our way south to trout mecca, we took a side trip to catch a ride on the Shotover jet boat.
The boat. Driven by two 375 horse power engines that push twin Hamilton 212's, the boat seats up to 14 people and a pilot.
The hull design was unlike any I had seen before. Two intakes sat on either side a flat steel strike plate of sorts that ran the length of the hull. The underside of the hull, on either side of the strike plate tapered up to the chines at roughly an 8-10 degree angle, giving the hull sort of a rocker shape and most certainly effect.
The cockpit. Gas is on the floor, two handles on drivers left drop the buckets, not sure what all the buttons and lights on the dash are for or why the yellow one went off after each 360.
Enough talking, check out the rest of the pics. The ride was fun. 30 minutes down and then back up the canyon. A bunch of 360's and a bit of a history talk...as if anyone was listening. Highly recommended if you are into this sorta thing and happen to pass through.
After the ride, I tried to bribe the pilot into letting me drive. No dice. Maybe next time.
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