The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft, je
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The driver's workspace The diesels sit snugly under the grandstand The raised hatch and protective platform All their skippers must hold a commercial maritime qualification and on joining the company they undergo a three-week induction course and on-the-job training before going solo. "This is important, especially when doing reverse turns," says Dean. "We train the skippers to read the water, travel across the waves and look for a spot to do the turn down the wave, never up or into it, as the risk of a roll-over is increased if you trip a wave. "They must be familiar with the rules and regulations, have a proven ability with people and, above all, be able to listen and read the conditions to ensure safety comes first," says Dean. Needless to say, he has an excellent relationship with the harbourmaster. and travelling at speeds up to 50 knots, gives passengers an awesome sense of speed as they clip across the wave tops. "Just chucking a seven tonne loaded vessel into a reverse spin at 40 knots exerts some awesome G-forces on to passengers. We do a number of spins – six to eight, depending on the group – plus about five power stops, which brings about the wet bits. This, with the speed recovery and harbour travel, gives an exciting jet boat experience," said Dean. Before we step on board, staff member Moniquea Frear gives us a safety briefing with plenty of humour, while not detracting from the serious importance of learning the skipper's warning signals for turns and stops, the need to hang on firmly while bracing your feet and how to put on our inflatable life vest. Loading is a mix of where passengers might like to sit, weight distribution and ensuring everyone understands the skipper's instructions. Once the boat is loaded, the skipper takes his position in the driver's seat, as the layout is similar to a car, with the small helm and bucket controls to the left and the throttle on the floor. All the engine instruments are easy to see from the helm. Clearly the ability to train mariners to be jet boat drivers is not a lost cause, as some river folk might suggest. There is a big difference between operating a jet boat on our rivers, where you might also have control of the river use, to operating as a high-speed vessel on one of New Zealand's busiest waterways. The harbourmaster's rules require a speed limit of five knots on leaving the dock and 12 knots within the inner harbour. "Once we're clear, we have two areas, one off the bays and another above the Harbour Bridge, where we can play," says Dean. 46 NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2012 Both of the companies operating jet boats on the harbour appear to apply similar skipper training and operating standards, with the harbourmaster keeping a watchful eye on both to ensure any complaints are easily identifiable, so issues can be addressed before they become serious. These new marine or open-water tourist jet boats are extremely robust in construction, the seating layout pays attention to passenger comfort and there is good use of safety rails. The tiered grandstand seating provides everyone with an uninterrupted view, ensuring many have new designer hairstyles when they return. Having two operators has kept both competitive and sharp in service and pricing. Business is good, although Auckland's weather can be a bit testy at times. But when it's good business is great, says Paul. The fixed grins on the faces of returning passengers only confirm that Auckland Adventure Jet has just about all the ingredients for a successful tourism business. ■ Length 8.2m Beam 2.8m Draft 450mm Construction 5083 marine alloy Engines 2 x Volvo D4 supercharged marine diesels Power 2 x 223kW Propulsion Speed Service speed Hamilton HJ213 waterjets 55 knots 40 knots Deadweight 4.5 tonnes Service weight laden Passengers 7 tonnes 24 Builder Kwikkraft Designer Scott Robson specifications