Jet skiing in the 80s in SEQ

Back in the day the only types of jet skies were the ones kawasaki would build as they had the patent on the jet pump and until that patent ran out no other company could legaly build and sell a jet ski.

The two skies in the pics are-the red one a 550 and the white a 440 converted and inhanced to a 550,there were no sit down jet skies back than until the x2 was released.

The first pic is where we would lauch on beach days at snapper rocks before it was changed and you could back up to the beach at the car park and either push the trailer down or carry or drag the skies to the waters edge.

Many a time we would put one of the guys into a wip on a single water ski into the rocks just off the beach area into snappper and we would have to lift the rope up so it wouldn't catch on the rocks or we would go flying into the rocks.

From there we would use the waves at green mount point,all the way to bilinga beach.

Many a time the skies would be put through there paces going off the beach into 8 to 12 foot surf to handle the barrels and step wave faces that seemed so far down.

There was nothing like making a barrel that a non motorised surf board could not keep up with and come out the other end un scathed.

At green mount we would tow in one of us either on a surf board or a single ski into the surf,obviuosly the single water ski only worked on big waves and took a lot to keep the ski going on a wave.

These are from back than.


This is where we would launch at snapper rocks.



The right hander against snapper rocks.



Green mount point at Coolangatta on the gold coast.







we used to get five people on one ski sometimes as a bit of fun.



We used to tow a surf board,knee board,tyre tub and get up on a single ski behind the 550 as it had a higher presher jet pump,this was at somer set dam.

I cant believe how much air you got off those waves! That is insane LOL How could you see if someone was on the other side so you didnt land on them? Looks like a lot of fun though

Things were different back then with in the surfing fraternity and there wasn’t any one that close.

That’s not a lot of air,one wave at old woman island sent the ski much higher and snapped my steering pole and dam near broke my leg when I hit the water,then I did it again at Mooloolaba beach some months later on???

Had to limp back from old woman that day with very little steering and couldn’t stand up with out heaps of pain for a few days.

A bit of fun i had with the ski was when we use to race up rapids in the freshwater streams when in flood and jump up small water falls, if your do it right you can get the ski up to one meter off the water with no wave to do it.

Needless to say over the three years of my jet skiing,the costs of crank shafts,impellors,pistons,epoxy resin with glass and starter motors was more then the cost of the ski in the first place, but we were all like that, go hard have a ball and don’t include any one else with the injuries and breakages.

Our skies and us suffered, not any one else though!