So I launched my RXP-X out of Oceanside, and rode south in the Ocean towards a fishing spot just south of La Jolla. La Jolla is a major breeding ground for Great White sharks, and it also is the home to many predator fish (and just big ocean fish in general).So after about 80 minutes of open ocean riding, I get to the fishing spot where I found my buddy on his boat fishing. I tie up the SeaDoo to his boat, get on his boat and fish for a couple hours with him.Later in the day, the sun was starting to go down and I had to get back to Oceanside before night time. I started heading back, put the trim up on the SeaDoo and take off. I am clipping along at maybe 35-40 MPH in the ocean (was a pretty rough day) and I start coming across this massive kelp patty. Before I know it I start losing speed and steam starts coming out the jet exhaust.Then the motor died.I am about 1 mile off the coast, in the wild Pacific ocean, with a dead motor and not a boat in sight.It is starting to get dark now, so I do what I had to do. I took of my lifevest, got off the Jetski into the dark water, and had to swim up under the jet ski, covered in floating kelp patty - and reach up into the intake grate and pull the kelp out. There was SO MUCH Kelp sucked in there that I had to go back under multiple times. I couldn't see anything, could only feel.Just as I got my last grip of kelp out of the intake, something 'rubbery' slid up against my calf. I bolted out of the water back onto the Seadoo. This whole ordeal took about 10 minutes, but thank God the Seadoo started right up after that and I ended riding safely back to the harbor just after sundown.It wasn't scary at the time, but when I look back on it I get freaked out a bit.Story #2For the 4th of July, I took my girl out on the same Seadoo for the firework show in Oceanside.I met my buddy about a 1/2 mile out in the ocean, outside the harbor, and tethered to his boat. He was also with his girlfriend, and all four of us watched this amazing firework show on the bow of his boat.The fireworks show lasted into the night, but I thought I was legal to ride my Seadoo at night back to the harbor because I had green and red glowsticks on the Seadoo and on my lifejacket. Apparantly this isn't legal.So the firework show ends, we un-tether the boat from the Seadoo, and my girl and I (now wife) started heading back to the Harbor.As we get closer to the inlet to the harbor, we notice there are countless boats all trying to get in at once, so I figured it was unsafe, being on a Seadoo, to try to battle the boats coming in.So I did something even more unsafe.I decided it will be fun to ride the Seadoo, with my wife, to the end of the pier in Oceanside. The pier is maybe 3/4 of a mile from the Harbor Entrance.The water appeared to be lit well enough from the pier lighting, and I thought it would be a cool experience for her and I.So we start riding out to the pier (remember, it's around 10PM at this point, so it is very dark). And I am pretty comfortable doing so because I ride this area so much.But the ocean is a different animal at night.So about 10 minutes into this ride, we are getting close to the pier. I decide this is starting to get sketchy so I turn around and start heading back.But before I knew it, I start becoming disoriented in the water, and I lose my bearings. Now I am starting to feel the rollers from the surf zone. I start throttling into it, but the rollers are really messing up the balance of the Seadoo (the RXP-X starts to get more top heavy with two riders on, and it is a bit more difficult to ride).I am on the back of the Seadoo, my girl is in front of me, and I have my arms wrapping around her and am controlling the Seadoo that way.Anyways before I knew it we were really starting to get sucked into the surf zone and I am seeing white water. One second I am facing the beach, the next I am facing the rollers. Then a few seconds later, I look over, and I am only 10 feet from the rock jetti which runs parallel to the pier (the pier and the jetti are about 400 meters apart).So now I am panic mode and just after I see the jetti, a massive roller is coming towards us and the water is starting to break. Knowing I was in trouble, I decided to do the only thing I could think of: just throttle down, head for the wave and use the 265-HP of the RXP-X and get out of this pickle.Well, we hit the wave head on, full power and LAUNCH into the air. I have only been this high in the air on a Seadoo twice in my life, and it is terrifying. Since the wave rolls underneath you, you feel like you come straight down into the ocean.When we hit, it hit so hard that it felt like the fiberglass hull cracked. My body was full of adrenaline and I knew we were in a bad spot. Even worst, I put my fiance in this position and I felt awful about it.Going back a bit: When we launched off this massive roller wave, no joke, while we were in mid-air, we got lit up by a spotlight from a US Coast Guard vessel. While the light was on us, I remember looking down and see all kinds of sealife in the water below us. The spotlight light was reflecting/glimmering off these fish in the water just below the surface. After we landed, I thought the Seadoo had become disabled but it was still sputtering. I did a quick physical check on my fiance and she was OK.Next thing I know the Coast Guard is on the loudspeaker ordering us into the harbor. We had to follow them in, and once we got to the docks, Oceanside Police Department was waiting for us. I was a little surprised how many Cops showed up for this little incident, considering it was 4th of July and all....you would think they had bigger things to do, but I digress.Cops wrote me a ticket for unsafe boating (no proper lights) or something to that effect, it was like $465. I was just happy my girl was safe.While we were 'detained' on the docks, I asked the Coast Guard guys if they saw the massive jump in the ocean, and they all just laughed together. Enough said.
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