Oftentimes, our most impactful childhood memories shape our lives in ways we could never have imagined. A kid who loved the smell of his grandmother’s biscuits may end up starting a bakery, a girl who falls in love with a single novel may pursue a career in writing, or a chance encounter with a sport may turn into a lifelong hobby. Here at The Watercraft Journal, we embrace any opportunity to see kids enjoying their family’s watercraft activities. So, when we came across a recent video from Adam Szyfman on Facebook, we seized the chance to interview him for a story.
The video, which has been shared in several watercraft Facebook groups, shows Adam taking his son, Max, to his first day of school on their Sea-Doo. Max is starting third grade, and based on footage from their Facebook post, along with their other videos on YouTube and Facebook, it’s clear he’s developing a love for jet skis through his bond with his dad.
We reached out to Adam and Max for an exclusive interview to learn more about their unique experience.
WCJ: What inspired you to take your son to school on a jet ski for his first day? How did the idea come about?
Adam: We have been taking the Sea-Doo to school the first week of school and last week of school for 6 years now. We are fortunate to live on the water and when realizing his Elementary School at the time was across the street from the lagoon we came up with the idea. I asked Max if he would go to school by jet ski and without hesitation he loved the idea.
WCJ: How did your son react when you first told him you’d be dropping him off at school on your Sea-Doo?
Adam: Max was absolutely stoked. What kid wouldn’t want to attend school by Sea-Doo? Any opportunity to go out on the skis Max is totally excited about so going to school was just another opportunity to ride and a cherry on top.
WCJ: Can you walk us through the logistics? How did you manage to bring your son all the way to school on the water? Also, what safety measures do you take while making such an unconventional trip?
Adam: While attending Avalon Elementary School in Pre-K3 and Pre K4 it was less than a mile trip and was all in a no wake zone. We were grateful for the owner of one of the houses across the street granting us permission to park there.
Now that Max is in Stone Harbor Elementary school (grades Kindergarten-4th grade the trip is approximately 5 miles. The time to get there is tide dependent. Mid to high tide it’s a 15 minute ride and in low tide can be a 30 minute ride. We park at the Reed’s which is a boutique hotel and restaurant in downtown stone harbor then walk about a block to Wawa (for breakfast sandwiches of course). Then right across the street is his school.
The real logistics are making sure that Max does not get wet. This would be immediate grounds for divorce lol. We try and choose a day where the tides are mid to high and usually in the early morning the water is glass if not pretty flat. The Sea-Doo rides to school are very weather dependent. On the trips to school we do not go crazy on the turns as the object is to stay relatively dry. We keep the crazy wet and wild turns for our other adventures not involving school trips.
Of course we are wearing life jackets as required by coast guard law. We also make sure the Max’s backpack is in the storage compartment nice and dry in the front of the ski. We always have safety devices on board like fire extinguishers, ropes, etc.
WCJ: What was the best part of the experience for you?
Adam: We are so fortunate to live on the water and have all of our toys in our backyard. We are uniquely blessed to live in an area of not only New Jersey but the world with all sorts of marsh trails and wetlands that interconnect and are always finding new windy ways to get to new destinations and old. Plotting and planning GPS routes and finding new marsh trails is something I can now pass on to my son Max as he has found so much interest in this which is not only a great GPS skill but a ton of fun. If high tide is early we got the surfing Pig in Wildwood which by Sea-Doo we always take the long way. If it’s high tide in the afternoon we can make our way to H&H Seafood in cape May or head over to the Deauville in Strathmere. Mid to high tide allows us to take the long windy trails back by the Parkway and explore.
WCJ: Do you think this will become a regular thing, or was it just for a special occasion?
Adam: Max and I have set a goal to do this the first and last week of school and so far has been 6 years going on strong.
WCJ: How do you hope this experience impacted your relationship with your son and his view of adventure or fun?
Adam: Max is always looking forward to our wave runner adventures. He will never say no to a trip and loves exploring new marsh trails, terrain and destinations. As he got older it is pretty cool being able to go on longer and longer rides and seeing his reaction to some of the new to him trails is so enjoyable. It makes me never take these opportunities and time together for granted. On our longer trips Max always has a great story for mom or our neighbors of something that happened. For example when we lead groups that are not familiar with the trails Max keeps tally of who crashed into the sea grass off the trail and we had to rescue with a rope. Or there are the times where we have got stuck at lower high tides and had to push out of the mud. We have sure made a lot of memories on the Sea-Doo together and plan on making a lot more.
We have lived here year round in Avalon, NJ for over 10 years now and have been studying the march trails since 2004 when I first started coming down here just weekends in the summer. Our friends and neighbors here are only summer residents and mostly weekends so when it’s high tide during the day on a weekend we get lots of requests to go on group rides. As Max and I know all the trails (which are easy to get lost on) I think Max loves being the line leader and really enjoys showing everyone what our unique landscape has to offer. Sometimes we are leading groups of 6-10 skis in marsh trails that are maybe 1-2 feet wider than the ski. He is always up for adventure as well.
WCJ: Now we wanted to ask a few questions for Max. What did people at your school think when they heard that your dad brought you to school on a jet ski? Did any of your friends or teachers ask you about it?
Max: They were all very surprised when they heard about it. They have never heard of anyone going to school on a jet ski before.
WCJ: I’ve seen that you have gone on quite a few cool jet ski adventures with your dad, like your 90-mile trip to pick up a watermelon! Do you have any favorite memories out on the water?
Max: The 90 mile trip was probably my favorite. We did all the trails from Ocean City to Cape May in about 6-7 hours. Our last stop was our favorite seafood place on the water, H&H Seafood in Cape May, NJ. We always try to bring some sort of large fruit or vegetable home for Mommy and this time we were able to bring the giant watermelon.
WCJ: What was the best part of this experience for you?
Max: I like going on jet ski adventures so going to school is another cool ride we get to go on but this time to school.
WCJ: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us about your jet ski adventure?
Max: It is a great time hanging out with my dad.
Checkout the first day of school video and watermelon videos from Adam and Max here, as well as their other videos on their YouTube channel!
