A boring March day at the Middle River anchorage, Ft Lauderdale; nothing going on. Oh, wait! There was this guy came by hovered and waved’¦ Hummm, looks like fun.
Photo by Stephanie Peterson
s/y “Brilliant”
Moody 425

In answer to a query to the cruising community about just what are seeing here, we received multiple responses:

It’s Zainojet! They are a rental company in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and soon Orlando that rent these pretty amazing devices. They had a pontoon support boat and a jetski chase boat and were providing instruction to new flyers when they came by our anchorage. In the photo you can see the red pump that is free floating, the `flyer’ drags the unit behind. They spent four or five hours in the middle river the day we saw them.
Their website has more information, including pricing (ouch!) http://www.zainojet.com
Stephanie Peterson

There is a pump floating in the water.
Susan Leaf

Attached to a jet ski exit port via the tube. Jet ski is behind the water spray
Have seen it close up in Chicago
Thanks
Steve Gryglas

By now you must have dozens of responses about how the strange “Bug” operates. It was widely publicized in the boating press and on TV about a year ago. A powerful pump either on a float or onshore supplies water at high pressure through a long hose, visible in the picture, to a pair of nozzles attached to a harness strapped to the operator. The operator manipulates the intensity and direction of the jets to control his flight. Sort of like the James Bond “flying belt” of 30 years ago except that the water jet has a flight duration much
longer than the 15 seconds of the “flying belt.” Obviously the flight path is limited by the length of the hose. It’s just for fun. Not commuting.
Larry Z

There is a pump that remains in the water – you can see it at the bottom of the picture to the left of the vertical hose.
The pumps continuously supplies high pressure water up the flexible hose to provide the “lift”.
Just saw one in Harbour Island, Bahamas a week ago.
Curtis

It’s Zainojet! They are a rental company in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and soon Orlando that rent these pretty amazing devices. They had a pontoon support boat and a jetski chase boat and were providing instruction to new flyers when they came by our anchorage. In the photo you can see the red pump that is free floating, the `flyer’ drags the unit behind. They spent four or five hours in the middle river the day we saw them.
Their website has more information, including pricing (ouch!) http://www.zainojet.com
Stephanie Peterson