Valentine’s Day is usually reserved for candlelit dinners and bouquets of roses. But in the world of personal watercraft, love looks a little different. It looks like a gallon of SPF 50, a steady hand on a dock line, and the monumental patience required to listen to a thirty-minute dissertation on the benefits of a new intake grate.
Personal watercraft riders are passionate people. We tinker. We upgrade. We obsess over small details that most people would never notice. We check oil levels. We research impellers. We listen closely for changes in tone that only we can hear.
We pour time into these machines because they give us something back — freedom, adrenaline, clarity.
But behind most riders is someone else quietly making space for that passion.
They tolerate the weather app refreshes during dinner.
They nod and agree — again — while we explain why this hull design really is different from the one we had three years ago.
While we’re out carving glass or chasing swells, they’re often the ones managing the chaos on the shore. They are the masters of the “truck and trailer dance,” backing down a crowded ramp with nerves of steel while we wait in the water. They are the ones who hold the dock line in the baking sun, ensuring the hull doesn’t kiss the concrete while we run back to the rig because we forgot the lanyard (again).
They’re the ones who adjust weekend plans around event schedules. Who understand why a forecast shift matters. Who don’t question why the garage light is still on an hour after we said we’d be inside.
They’re the ones who pack the cooler, remember the registration papers, and make sure our phone has a full charge.
They’re the one who overlooks the new sponsons sitting on the dining room table or the fact that the garage has slowly been overtaken by jugs of race fuel and fiberglass repair kits. They understand that for us, a “quick oil change” is a three-hour spiritual retreat, and they don’t roll their eyes (too hard) when we start talking about pitch angles and impeller diameters for the tenth time that week.
They know this isn’t just a machine.
It’s freedom. It’s dopamine. It’s peace and adrenaline and adventure and relaxation all rolled into one squeeze of the throttle.
And they get it — not because they’re interested in torque specs or pump geometry — but because they get us.
On Valentine’s Day, it’s easy to make jokes about parts budgets and upgrade lists. But long after the engine cools and the trailer is parked, the person who held the dock line is still there.
Still listening.
Still encouraging.
Still saying, “Go ride. I’ve got this.”
That kind of support deserves more than a quick thank you shouted over the wind.
So today, while you’re checking fluid levels and watching the forecast, take a minute to recognize the person who keeps your passion afloat.
After all, the ride is always better when you have someone worth coming back to shore for.
– Jessica
