Big search going in the Solent

[rgarside]

Ok, so, he went very close to the ship (in order to touch it, for fun?), accidentally pulled his kill-cord as he reached out, then swirled through the ship’s wake briefly. Then got back on his ’ski, and most likely (we don’t see, as the video ends) restarted it and carried on with his day. It may not have been his smartest move, but nor does it seem like the near-death experience the police are trying to portray it as, and it certainly has nothing to do with “crossing the bow wave” as mentioned in their caption.

Bear in mind those stand-up jetskis are not all that buoyant, they will not support the rider’s weight when not moving, so being in the water next to it is absolutely business as usual, not “an accident” any more than a capsized high-performance dinghy is. You get one knee on the back as you’re pressing the start button, gun the engine before it has time to sink under you, and haul yourself up as it takes off. I have much more respect for the skill required to ride that kind than I do the big fat fully-buoyant two-seaters that any idiot can drive.

(Yes, many years ago I used to ride a borrowed jetski occasionally ?)

I‘m not condoning riding within touching distance of shipping, it was pretty stupid, I just think the police are stretching a bit in what they’re presenting the footage as.

Pete

I have noticed that some ships have a large rotating thing at the back [a propeller, is that right?] and sometimes if the ship is not fully loaded they do break the surface - mind you, they only seem to do about 70 RPM so you could probably dodge between the blades on a PWC.

 

[Stemar]

I have noticed that some ships have a large rotating thing at the back [a propeller, is that right?] and sometimes if the ship is not fully loaded they do break the surface - mind you, they only seem to do about 70 RPM so you could probably dodge between the blades on a PWC.

That reminds me of Terry Pratchett's comment about mushrooms. "All mushrooms are edible, but some only once"

In the case of the present unfortunate, there's no evidence he was guilty of anything but being unlucky, and some evidence of responsibility, since he seemed to be wearing the kill cord.