N3vrSat1sfied
Military Member
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
I met with Kevin Bruins at his house. Upon arrival, he introduced himself. We went into his shop where we loaded his Ski onto his trailer. Before heading out to the launch, we discussed the area and the conditions; he showed me the webcam, where he told me that the height of the waves were over 8 ft tall because the marker on the break wall was that height and the water was crashing over it. He closed up his shop and we both got into our vehicles and left for the boat launch.
Kevin and I arrived at the boat launch. We launched our watercrafts into the water and continued to put on our attire: Kevin informed me that his friend was “5 minutes” behind us and asked if I wanted to wait. I replied “yeah, that’s fine”- there was no point in having his friend ride out solo to find us if he was so close.
(stil taking from the helmet cam right before we headed out)
After waiting for the friend, Kevin said “let’s go”. I agreed, saying “alright” as he was the one familiar with the area; I was following his lead. The two of us rode away from the boat launch. Kevin was in the lead as we headed West, toward the surf of Lake Michigan, into Macatawa Bay.
Kevin was still in the lead with me behind a few hundred yards. I had ski troubles and was bogging down (no acceleration), causing me to struggle to keep up with Kevin while navigating through the rough water in Macatawa Bay. I continued struggling through trying to gain his attention… still too far ahead.
Kevin left the channel and headed to the right (North). My ski was still acting up and with this condition I was being over powered by the waves; I knew I couldn’t safely proceed further. I rode around at the end of the channel thinking he would look back to ensure that I was still with him, but he proceeded on. I was able to watch him successfully ride about 100 yards North of the break wall, with no signs of physical or mechanical distress. After navigating the waters for several minutes, with a poor running ski, I decided I would head back into the channel in order to avoid the dangers waves that were threatening my riding capabilities at the time. I headed to a beach in the channel on the north side, with the assumption that my riding partner would have noticed that he had not seen me ride out of the channel, and Kevin would have turned in to check on me.
I headed in the channel and safely set my watercraft ashore on the Northeast side of Macatawa Bay on Ottawa Beach. There, I took the hood off of my ski, in hopes of locating the problem. I realized at this time that it was Carburetor-related; my ski had consumed an incredible amount of fuel- I had begun the day with a full tank and after 12-15min had less than ½ a tank
Still on the shore of Ottawa Beach. No signs of Kevin. I tried to ride around in the Bay near the channel to see if I could see him but there was still no sight of Kevin. Had I proceeded out into the Lake I would have, no doubt, been overpowered by the waves and lost control had the fuel not run out first. I decided with my ski in the condition it was I would head back to the ramp all the while continuing to keep an eye for him in the anticipation that he would head back in, in my absence.
I arrived back at the launch. When I pulled in, I met with unknown rider(at the time) at the boat launch who I believed was the friend of Kevin’s; he was launching his ski.We exchanged a short conversation
as I remember it) Doug correct me if I am wrong!
“Hey Kevin is still out there. I tried to get his attention but I couldn’t. My ski seems to have a stuck needle and seat and I lost almost all of my fuel”
“Alright, how’s the surf?”
“It’s huge”
He headed out to go meet Kevin.
I loaded my ski on the hitch-hauler. After strapping down and securing the ski, I changed out of my gear to dry clothes
After loading up, I waited for the return of the other rider, whom I ran into. There was no sign of him, and upon this I decided that he must have met up with Kevin. At this point, I started up my truck and headed home.
I tried calling Kevin several times throughout the day as well as texting him to make sure he came off the water alright. I had no way of contacting the other rider or Kevin’s family as Kevin’s phone number was the only one I had.
I’ll let Doug (teamKarb) tell you the rest of the story from here, since I was no longer there.
Also like I mentioned this link is the most accurate news video:
http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox-17-missing-jet-skier,0,40264.story
I did have my helmet cam filming up until the point when I decided to head back to the launch. The video doesn’t show much other than us riding out and how big the waves were. Ill keep the video private until farther word from the family.
TeamKarb the floor is yours......
Kevin and I arrived at the boat launch. We launched our watercrafts into the water and continued to put on our attire: Kevin informed me that his friend was “5 minutes” behind us and asked if I wanted to wait. I replied “yeah, that’s fine”- there was no point in having his friend ride out solo to find us if he was so close.
(stil taking from the helmet cam right before we headed out)
After waiting for the friend, Kevin said “let’s go”. I agreed, saying “alright” as he was the one familiar with the area; I was following his lead. The two of us rode away from the boat launch. Kevin was in the lead as we headed West, toward the surf of Lake Michigan, into Macatawa Bay.
Kevin was still in the lead with me behind a few hundred yards. I had ski troubles and was bogging down (no acceleration), causing me to struggle to keep up with Kevin while navigating through the rough water in Macatawa Bay. I continued struggling through trying to gain his attention… still too far ahead.
Kevin left the channel and headed to the right (North). My ski was still acting up and with this condition I was being over powered by the waves; I knew I couldn’t safely proceed further. I rode around at the end of the channel thinking he would look back to ensure that I was still with him, but he proceeded on. I was able to watch him successfully ride about 100 yards North of the break wall, with no signs of physical or mechanical distress. After navigating the waters for several minutes, with a poor running ski, I decided I would head back into the channel in order to avoid the dangers waves that were threatening my riding capabilities at the time. I headed to a beach in the channel on the north side, with the assumption that my riding partner would have noticed that he had not seen me ride out of the channel, and Kevin would have turned in to check on me.
I headed in the channel and safely set my watercraft ashore on the Northeast side of Macatawa Bay on Ottawa Beach. There, I took the hood off of my ski, in hopes of locating the problem. I realized at this time that it was Carburetor-related; my ski had consumed an incredible amount of fuel- I had begun the day with a full tank and after 12-15min had less than ½ a tank
Still on the shore of Ottawa Beach. No signs of Kevin. I tried to ride around in the Bay near the channel to see if I could see him but there was still no sight of Kevin. Had I proceeded out into the Lake I would have, no doubt, been overpowered by the waves and lost control had the fuel not run out first. I decided with my ski in the condition it was I would head back to the ramp all the while continuing to keep an eye for him in the anticipation that he would head back in, in my absence.
I arrived back at the launch. When I pulled in, I met with unknown rider(at the time) at the boat launch who I believed was the friend of Kevin’s; he was launching his ski.We exchanged a short conversation
as I remember it) Doug correct me if I am wrong!“Hey Kevin is still out there. I tried to get his attention but I couldn’t. My ski seems to have a stuck needle and seat and I lost almost all of my fuel”
“Alright, how’s the surf?”
“It’s huge”
He headed out to go meet Kevin.
I loaded my ski on the hitch-hauler. After strapping down and securing the ski, I changed out of my gear to dry clothes
After loading up, I waited for the return of the other rider, whom I ran into. There was no sign of him, and upon this I decided that he must have met up with Kevin. At this point, I started up my truck and headed home.
I tried calling Kevin several times throughout the day as well as texting him to make sure he came off the water alright. I had no way of contacting the other rider or Kevin’s family as Kevin’s phone number was the only one I had.
I’ll let Doug (teamKarb) tell you the rest of the story from here, since I was no longer there.
Also like I mentioned this link is the most accurate news video:
http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox-17-missing-jet-skier,0,40264.story
I did have my helmet cam filming up until the point when I decided to head back to the launch. The video doesn’t show much other than us riding out and how big the waves were. Ill keep the video private until farther word from the family.
TeamKarb the floor is yours......
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