“Everyone knows me around here as the bloke who bobs up and down on water,” local Chris Rogers said.

Right, so he’s not the second coming. Has he sprouted fins? Or developed jet shoes? Okay, let’s back it up. The key to Chris’ weirdness is a gizmo called the AquaSkipper.

“It’s basically a hydroplane, like one of the old Manly ferries,” he said.

“It sits up on skis, so it doesn’t float and doesn’t sink. Essentially, it’s flying underwater.”

The AquaSkipper is like a cross between a bike and a pogo stick.

Apparently the device enjoyed 1970s fad-dom in Sweden, before being relegated to the rank of those zany gliders lunatics launch off piers. It was given a lifeline in 2003 when inventor Shane Chen rebooted it for the American market.

“I saw it a few years ago on [Channel 7’s] Beyond Tomorrow. I’m a paragliding instructor and aircraft engineer, so it’s right up my alley,” Chris said.

“I was at a conference in Manila with all these rich guys when one of them said “I’ve got an AquaSkipper but it’s useless to my family because we don’t know how to ride it”. I asked “Do you want to sell it?” and got it for about $250.”

The maiden Forster voyage raised some eyebrows.

Chris likens the AquaSkipper’s swimming motion to that of a porpoise. The machine’s flex and kick rely on the rider’s bobbing motion, so there’s no room for shyness.

“There were plenty of people at Forster Keys looking out their back windows at me,” Chris said.

“It was a big effort to learn how to ride because there were no videos or websites to show me how. I failed and failed and sank and sank before I nailed it.”

Chris’ 15-year-old son Matthew welcomed the new arrival, confident it wouldn’t be his replacement.

“My dad goes on it more because he’s better at it, but it’s a good way to get popular around here,” he said.

“My mates always want to use it, and sometimes I let them have a go.”

Family negotiations are more delicate.

“Once you have a go you don’t want to give it back, so we figure out like three goes each.”

For Chris, the AquaSkipper has been the key to some long-overdue recognition.

“Yeah, everyone knows me now,” he said.

“I’ve lived here for ten years. I’ll go to a party and someone will ask “So, did you just move here?” and I’ll tell them I’m the bobbing up and down guy and they’ll say “Oh yeah, that’s you”.”