My sister-in-law’s family owns a few toys. Two personal watercrafts, a boat, a couple four-wheelers; and I had the opportunity to try for myself their wave runners on a recent weekend. Excited, like the only time I got to test drive the Barbie Jeep, I straddled the wave runner at Deer Creek Reservoir, life jacket cinched tight, and anxiously listened to my brother’s advice and rules.

The last time I went wave running was on a date as a teenager. We went out to Utah Lake and I gunned it and my date and I went flying off the back and the toy landed belly up. With little confidence and a poor track record, I puttered out toward the buoys that mark the slow zone versus the fast zone. Things were all right. I had not crashed into anyone yet. I did not see anyone screaming from nearby boats at me. And I was still dry. I was doing OK. I puttered a little past the buoys but did not want to challenge my recent luck. I decided it would be fun to go back and get my boyfriend, Kiyan, for a little support and ride double for a bit. And you know, double rhymes with trouble.
    
I took the front, he stayed in back and we made our way out into the reservoir. There is a simple mathematical equation for what happened on the water: 2novice drivers* (choppy wake) + narrow jet ski =  jet ski disaster ’08 (a.k.a two cold amateurs and a tipped jet ski). We tossed to the left, then to the right, then the left all the way out to the buoys, each time over correcting our tip.  Picking up speed we began to actually enjoy ourselves. It was just as we gained confidence that we began to tip to one side, I leaned left, Kiyan leaned right, and we tumbled into the water, wave runners on its side. Perhaps I should take that up in couples therapy, “Doctor Psych, when I leaned to the right, he leaned to the left! Does that mean our relationship is doomed?”
The tumble was not that distastrous to the machine, myself or my love life. But it certainly killed my confidence once again in my ability to operate any kind of machinery.
    
Are some people just born with the inability to drive or did my disability stem from my Barbie Jeepless childhood? Maybe one day scientists will study the correlation of Barbie Jeeps in childhood and machinery ineptness as adults. But maybe I will never know and perhaps it does not really matter. What is important is that I had fun with my boyfriend, family and friends, and tried something new.

IF YOU GO:

Deer Creek State Park: Deer Creek is in Midway, up Provo Canyon. Picnicking, camping, restrooms, and drinking water are among the amenities. 

For more on safety and other tips for a great time on your personal watercraft, click here. 

For more on Deer Creek and other water destination, click here.