By Matthew Fallow                

Recent rains meant some rivers finally had good flows in and around Sydney. Friday afternoon, and I was preparing my boat for the impromptu trip on the Nepean. Not having used the boat for a while I took it down to the ramp into our local waterway just north of Sydney and did the usual test run and checks. The internet is a wonderful thing, I was able to dial up and view the rain radar, seeing I would have a couple of rain free hours between downpours. So with Steve Kain on board as crew we headed up the Brisbane waters towards Narara Creek. This small creek had a huge flow going as we made our way up stream negotiating the many tight bends and occasional fallen tree. It was here that I fitted my white water cover over the rear of the boat and forgoed my usual bow rope in favour of a 35 foot bow rope.

Saturday rolled around and a licorice all sorts of boats turned up at the Windsor boat ramp on South Creek, just off the Hawkesbury River.

Ryan Phillips and Yogi – 8ft two seater, 80hp Yamaha Jet

Matthew, Mark "Boofy" Gyles & friend, Steve "Rockhard" Kain – Hamilton 151mk2, Chev 6.2l/212

Wayne Springer and his sons – Hamilton 152, Chev 350 EFI, 3 stage.

Paul Mullans and friend – Chev 350, 3 stage

Wayne "eggbeater" Sahlman – 10ft Alloy Tinny with 20hp outboard Jet

Our first excursion was a quick look up the Grose River with our eclectic mix of Jet boat variants! Ryan in his tiny "Wacky Racer" climbed up the small ledges and negotiated the tight conditions with ease, although coming down it did look a little daunting as they literally dropped over one ledge about 2 feet high. This is a very small boat where occupants sit shoulder to shoulder in go cart seats with feet tucked away up in the nose. The Wacky Racer will get on the plane with two on board in its own length and about face during a spin with consummate ease. Wayne in his outboard jet crawled up the rapids at a snails pace, all the while comfortably on the plane and making short work of the whole situation. Their complete lack of protection from swamping (an open 10 ft tinny!) was evident as they too dropped of a ledge and ploughed the nose in hard before exiting a hole. The outboard jet is powered by a modest 20hp motor and can be converted back to a prop driven unit in minutes. Wayne "eggbeater" Sahlman has a very unique (and multi purpose!!) self bailing system should he get into trouble, he has a construction workers hard hat tethered to a lanyard!

We then headed up the Hawkesbury towards the Nepean/Yarramundi section of this river. Many small tight chutes were encountered in between large ponds. Wayne demonstrated the ease at which the outboard jet will plane in next to no water and boated up a very steep tricky section of the river. With a good 2 hours already on the engine clock and much entertainment and amazement provided by our jet boat hybrids (or inbreeds) we were ready to head home.