Reminds me of 4856.

Double Hover. Very large amounts of Dark Gray and Brown.

Oh huh, I think my family had this at some point. I recognize all of the most notable parts - the rubber bumper, the shark motifs, "dock 13"... Gonna have to tag this set accordingly!

@MCLegoboy said:
"Double Hover!

Double Hover all the way across the sky!"

That jet ski looks more like it’s flying than hovering. Not that there’s much difference between the two. Both involve throwing yourself at the ground and missing.

Those are some great faces on the minifigs, hugely expressive without being overly cartoony

I always found this to have an interesting set design. The little jet ski can dock with either the hovercraft or the dock building and it can be launched from either with rubber bands. The hovercraft is quite similar to the Batman one from a few years later.

2004 sets have such a distinct vibe, with lego having judt made the jump to new colors. They're quite on display here.

After the bright green and blue background of Town sets, I thought the darker skyscraper filled backfround of World City sets were a bit claustrophobic. Just like the real life I guess...

Didn't have this set, but I liked looking at it in the catalogue, so there's that.

I remember the comic featuring this set in LEGO Club magazine! The hovercraft and its criminal pilot were caught in a vortex generated by a special Coast Guard device made from a road drill and neon green dish.

Very timely now that 60505 has been revealed!

One of those few odd 2004 sets to still use the old greys and browns. Some of those seem even quite rare!

There was an odd image in a Club Magazine in January 2004 falsely implying the black/yellow minifig had a tattoo arm print...
Given arm printing was just introduced a year earlier with Boba Fett, it seemed not too unlikely. I wonder if a prototype existed that actually had arm printing and got cut due to costs.

Anyways a very interesting set. Shady crook hideouts weren't exactly common for the Town/City setting prior to 2010. The only thing similar that comes to mind is 6563.
Also I think the grumpy/bad captain is still a concept unique to this set.

I have used the heck out of the Captain's torso over these last 21 years. I actually bought three off Bricklink some years back - it's very useful! The minifig is right up there on the "Best World City Fig" list IMO.

@Binnekamp said:
"I always found this to have an interesting set design. The little jet ski can dock with either the hovercraft or the dock building and it can be launched from either with rubber bands."

"The cops are onto us!"
"Shoot 'em with the jetski!"

World City had its own atmosphere, a very interesting set.

When I got this set, I thought that the line down the side of https://brickset.com/minifigs/wc010/hovercraft-pilot-male-blue-jacket-black-legs-black-police-hat-beard's face was a printing error. Called to get a replacement, but then the replacement had the same line. It still seems weird to me that his face is supposed to look like that.

Bought one of this set :)
Today is a good day

Reminds me of this 7780-1

@TheOtherMike said:
"When I got this set, I thought that the line down the side of https://brickset.com/minifigs/wc010/hovercraft-pilot-male-blue-jacket-black-legs-black-police-hat-beard's face was a printing error. Called to get a replacement, but then the replacement had the same line. It still seems weird to me that his face is supposed to look like that."

I would assume it's supposed to be a facial scar, but the weak design does make it look more like a streak of random color.

Something I just thought of: Is this hovercraft full of eels?