“Darling, I don’t know why I go to extremes” – Billy Joel
Rhode Island run (6/22/13, 7:41:51AM) at EveryTrail
EveryTrail –
Just like my snowmobile, I love to ride my jetski, – from sun up to sun down. I never get enough, and when people ride with me they sometimes get caught in the crossfire. Some return to ride again and some don’t…but always the trips are an adventure and always I believe that when completed a person can really feel a sense of having done something that most haven’t, or wouldn’t do.
The Rhode Island run was one of those trips. I wouldn’t say it was a leisurely trip, as time was a serious factor with 20 skis. That was how many showed up on Saturday morning. With 20 skis and varying degrees of rider experience/capability, everything takes time – launching, food, gas, and travel.
We finally left Orient Point at approx 8:45 and I decided to head to Block Island first. It wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped but the ride was good. We gassed up at Champlain’s Marina and some of us had breakfast there while others went to the Oar Restaurant a little further up the channel. If you want an impressive day trip, tie up at Champlain’s and head into town. Spend the day and head back. But that was not the plan for us. We headed to Newport from Block. Again, the conditions weren’t great but they weren’t terrible. Heading into the harbor is always rough as there are tide rips, but once you enter you have the thrill of arriving as you pass Fort McHenry and see the welcome to Newport sign. There are a few gas stations here. We gassed at Newport Yacht club and the dock master let us tie up for a few hours in a very well protected area. Into town for ice cream and coffee and we had to think about heading out pretty quickly, as time was ticking and the wind was picking up. Ideally, this would’ve been the perfect place to stop and make this an overnight trip, but we had people who had to be back so it wasn’t an option. My suggestion would be to make this a 2 day trip and rent mopeds and see the area. It’s a cool spot as I have spent time here when on my boat. At any rate, with an already tired crew it was time to do the longest leg, Newport to Watch Hill, RI. Heading out of the harbor was rough and the wind had picked up so that the trip to Watch Hill was snotty the whole way, and by the time we got to the Avondale Marina gas station in Westerly it was closed. This put a sense of urgency into the trip, as we would not have made it back to Orient Point without refueling. We couldn’t hang out in Watch Hill, a disappointment, and we headed to Mystic River for gas. Fortunately they were open until 8pm, but unfortunately a guy broke down so we had to head back to Watch Hill and retrieve him. Time was ticking. Figuring it would be a long trip back towing a ski the crew headed back with 2 of the guys familiar with the last leg while 3 of us did the towing. Fortunately the LI Sound was pretty clam and we were able to average 25 mph towing. The tow ski ran out of gas so we had to tow 2 skis, but everyone made it back safely and it was another trip in the books. 147 miles round trip, 8hrs 30 mins moving time and 4hrs 15 mins stopped time. I was already thinking of my next trip, while I think some guys were thinking about losing my number. But it’s funny, once they recover and realize they did something so unique they start asking about the next trip too. See you on July 20 for the Potomac River Run…..
Side Notes:. One ski broke down early in the trip, near Gardiner’s Island, and 3 people towed him back and then met us in Newport. You can never predict the Ocean so you can never really predict travel time. We had a contingency plan that if the ocean became too rough or fog rolled in we would spend the night at Block or Newport, regardless of commitments. Jason turned me on to the Gaia App, which I use for tracking the times and distance. Well worth the money, as is the Navionics Nautical Charts in case you need to get a fix and get compass readings.
My thoughts on my RXT-X. Now that I have logged over 110 hours on my ski, I can’t say there is much I don’t like about it. It handles well and has been reliable. A lot of people have the ski with suspension and love it so maybe that will be the future. My biggest beef with the Seadoo RXT X is that there is no trip odometer. The other real big complaint is the supercharger rebuild. I was told that it would be after 200 hours but had to do the $700 job after 100 hours. Now supposedly it is OK for another 200 hours….
