Mariah Hovercraft Blog #001
What does hovercrafting mean to me?
It means complete and absolute freedom. I can fly over Port Philip Bay (also called Nairm), I can drive up on the beach and straight over the meadow to my heart’s desires (provided the meadow isn’t made up of huge boulders or a thick forest covered in logs). I can explore the shore, I can explore the mudflats and I can even fly over shallow reeds, reefs and quays without so much as disturbing the inhabitants below. I won’t be churning up sand or water with a propellor and I won’t be creating much of a wake which disturbs the banks or the shore. I’ll be using half the fuel that I would need in a traditional boat of the same size and as hybrid electric or certain high tech Australian inventions come into the mainstream, I’ll be doing my part for the environment just going for a cruise.
We are on the cusp of a hovercrafting revolution. As soon as the noise cancelling tech catches up and makes the crafts quiet and peaceful to drivers, passengers and onlookers alike, there will be no stopping this formerly niche experience of freedom.
Another brilliant aspect of what taking flight on a hovercraft means to me is the drifting aspect. Not many of us have had the opportunity to drive on a race track and drift in a car (not many of us in Australia, as all folks who live in snow countries know exactly what drifting/sliding on snow or ice feel like). It is quite the feeling. The nose of your vehicle is pointing one way, but you are drifting laterally and hoping your wheels will engage onto the road before you drift off into the bush. This happens on a hovercraft every time you turn! As you engage the steering wheel which turns the rudders, your hovercraft will turn sideways but will continue in the same direction until you rev the throttle to get sufficient thrust to now travel in the direction your nose is pointing. Next turn you get to do it all over again! What a freeing drifting thrill!
Check out our youtube channel funride videos to see the drifts in action at https://www.youtube.com/@mariahhov
