FlowRider is a kind of wave machine created by Wave Loch in the early 1990's. A fast-moving sheet of water, about 3 inches deep, gives you the opportunity to surf or boogie-board surrounded by dry land. Or as we will see shortly, way out at sea, miles away from anything resembling land.
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Between Wave Loch Inc, and FlowRider Inc, there are more than 180 of these wave machines installed world-wide. Most of them are located at resorts, water parks, and so on. Eight of them are currently installed on cruise ships, with more on the way. This diary is mostly about FlowRider at sea, as that's what I'm most familiar with.
Royal Caribbean installed the first of its wave machines on the ship Freedom of the Seas, which entered service in 2006. There are three Freedom-class ships (the others being Independence of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas), and each of them has a FlowRider as part of the original build. These rides proved to be so popular that when Royal Caribbean built its even bigger Oasis-class ships (Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas for now, and two more on the way over the next couple of years), each of these new breed of ships had two FlowRiders installed. Recently, one of the older and smaller Voyager-class ships, Navigator of the Seas, was retrofitted to add a FlowRider, which wasn't part of the original design when Navigator was launched in 2000.
Next month, the cruise line will launch the first Quantum-class ship, Quantum of the Seas. Anthem of the Seas and Ovation of the seas will follow in the next couple of years. In size somewhere between Freedom-class and Oasis-class, each Quantum-class ship will also have one FlowRider. No question, RC and its customers seem to be very committed to these water machines.
How about some pictures? I shot all of the photos which follow, and the people depicted are just random people. The color balance is off for the first couple of pictures, but then gets fixed.
My partner and I were passengers on Independence of the Seas in September 2009, for two weeks cruising the Mediterranean. Watching the FlowRider quickly became one of our favorite forms of entertainment. It's easy to find, at the back end of the ship, on the Sports deck.
(Yeah, the big golf ball, which conveniently hides radar equipment, is next to the mini-putt golf course on board. These ships are BIG).
If you turn around from about that position above, you get to see where the ship has been...
There's no charge to ride, but you do have to sign a waiver, be in reasonable shape, and dress appropriately. Women in particular are advised to wear a full top; any loose and/or skimpy clothing can easily be ripped off by the strong water flow. There are numerous accounts of this, though we never saw it happen personally.
It's fun to watch the transition people go through, from early in the cruise, to later on when they become more experienced. Of course, newbies are joining the fun all the way through, even to the last day.
There are generally two staff members attending the FlowRider at all times. When you are a newbie, you will get a literally hand-held introduction and instructions.
You're going to fall down eventually. Newbies fall quickly; as experience is gained, the ride lasts longer. Generally, when you wipe out, your turn is over and you get back in line for your next turn. Sometimes, depending on the crowd and other factors, the staffer will encourage you to get on your feet quickly and have another try right away instead of going to the back of the line for the sake of just a few seconds.
The ship's video staff will drop by occasionally. Clips are then shown in various venues on board, on the ship's internal TV service, and in the end-of-cruise DVD they try very hard to sell you. Check out the 2009 camera technology (snicker)!
Sometimes the sports staff will take to the water to demo or just show off. The people at the railing immediately above the staffer's head are in the line waiting for their turn. On days at sea, and later in the cruise, this line can actually be very long.
The younger, athletic types are often crowd-pleasers for the people watching from the sidelines.
When you wipe out, if you're lucky you're at the side of the machine at the time, in slower-moving water, and can get on your feet quickly. If you're in the center of the flow, the rushing water will push you up the slope to the back. There are reports now and then of people breaking a wrist, or worse, crashing into the back. You do have to be careful.
The FlowRider has posted times for either surfing, or boogie-boarding. (You can also book an hour for a group session, a dozen or so people at a time, for private instruction, but that's not cheap...more than $60 per person in a group for an hour, last time I checked). On the Oasis-class ships, which have two machines each, they often have surfing on one machine, and boarding on the other. And they still do non-stop business during most of the opening hours.
Young (basically, early teens and up) and old alike are welcome aboard.
Here's a gentleman who, later in the cruise, was doing tricks. He did a complete 360 rollover, and maintained control. In more recent times, tricks are discouraged, for legal reasons as a result of people being injured. Such is life.
Very rarely did we see a staffer and a passenger riding simultaneously. A penny for his thoughts...
If a mechanical problem stops the water flow, this is your chance to improvise.
And hey, FlowRider isn't for everybody. Some think it's for the birds.
TOP COMMENTS
October 21, 2014
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From GideonAB:
In Superpole's diary "Tom Frank's Take on Krugman's RS Article", BenderRodriguez comments on 2010, 2014, and 2016.
From Crashing Vor:
In a story as sad as Jed Lewison's "Mitch McConnell knows enthusiasm isn't free!", it's surprising to find a comment as hilarious as jqjacobs'
From elenacarlena:
Please see nuclear winter solstice's comment, in jpmassar's diary "Really? Really?? They Just Sandblasted a Michael Brown Mural". In discussing the police removing a Michael Brown mural, she mentioned that banks in her town are now forbidding hoodies and sunglasses. I mentioned that obviously this is anti-black, or what the banks think is what black people wear (I'm mostly white, and I wear a hoodie all the time during cool, changeable fall/spring weather). She responded, in the comment I cite here, that the whites in her town wear trees to the bank. I clicked on the video link she provided, and it's true! A white man tried to rob the bank "camouflaged" as a tree! This is one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen. Clearly, banks should forbid tree outfits, not hoodies.
From your diarist lotac:
In Azazello's diary "Connect! Unite! Act! SLC, SF & Seattle Meet-up Info -- Mexican Music?", navajo gives us some morning color in this comment and the thread that follows.
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October 20, 2014
Enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt™ below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!
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