Fly boarding tryout
In 2018 we had another IMT edition which went to Holland. A mens trip where we had planned to try to flyboard with a great organistaion: Flyboard Nederland. The instructor had patience, explained thoroughly and did his at most best to make our experience a success. Fly boarding was already long time on the bucket list of Tom and thus ideal to tick that box on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
We each had 20 minutes to give it a try, and the instructor told us that 9 out of 10 succeed in moving above the water. You start at the side with putting on the board. You only need your swimsuit as a life jacket is provided by the organisation. The board is attached with a big hose to a jet ski. It’s via the jet ski that the fly board gets the power you push you above the water. When the board is attached to your feet, you have to lie on our belly in the water. The jet ski operator will then give power and you will be pushed forward to the place where the real work can start.
The first exercise is to try to stand up while fully under water. It’s all about balance, and you have to obtain that with your feet and mainly with your toes. Once you succeed to stand up in the water, the operator mentor will increase the water pressure and you will gently raise out of the water. Probably falling at once.
With some exercise you should be able to come fully out of the water. Everybody of our group of friends was able to be above the water for at least 10 seconds. So don’t be afraid that you would not be able to do so. Most likely you would succeed as well.
As you get more successful, you go higher and higher. This feeling is very scary according to me. I’m almost 2 meter tall, then add 1 meter above the water, it makes that your head and eyes are approximately 3 meters above the water. For me that felt scary high, and yes, sometimes you will fall, and that might hurt a bit when you get on the water. However, most of the times, the jet ski operator sees that you will lose balance and reduces power, so you go in the water with your feet first. We had a very good supervisor and he really give us great tips.
Check out the video below of how it could look when you go for this challenge 🙂