Kite Surfing is one of those things I have been wanting to try for a long time. I see a lot of it in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the bay or out on the coast when I bike there. It looks so fun! But the local water is just way too cold for a wimp like me. Or maybe I was just intimidated.

When I first anchored at Clifton Harbor a few weeks ago, I noticed there were kite surfers all over the place. I turns out Union Island is the premier spot for it in the Caribbean thanks to the protective reef and flat shallow water it creates, perfected by unobstructed, reliable onshore trade wind and a wonderful sandy beach. For hours I watched the pros zip up and down right in front of JACE and do there jumps and tricks. So when the window of 10 days between Matt’s visit and my Christmas trip opened up, I decided the time had finally come – no more excuses.

On Sunday, after clearing in, I walk over to the kite surf school and inquire. It’s a cool wooden building with a nice deck right on a sandy strip: the perfect launch point. The people are super friendly and the whole setup feels quite professional.

There I meet Maarten from the Netherlands, who teaches kite surfing at home all summer and spends the winter here as an instructor as well. He’s a cool guy and I sign up for lessons with him, starting Monday. This is him, btw, “warming up to teach me” 🙂

Lesson #1 takes place on the shallow sandbank right off the school beach. First some quick theory on wind directions and power zones (depending on where the kite flies, it develops very different amounts of pull, or “power”). Then we go through and set up the gear: the kite (which is much bigger on the ground than when you see it flying), the lines and control bar, the harness, impact vest and helmet. Then we are in the water and before I know it I have this beast attached to me and pulling on me with surprising force.

Thanks to my sailing experience and engineering training (aerodynamic flow on a wing) I get it relatively quickly. That said, controlling the kite is a lot more difficult than you think. Most of the time we now spend “body dragging”, letting the kite drag you downwind while on your stomach in the water. It is fun and when letting the kite enter the “power zone” it pulls you right out of the water with only your feet skimming the surface. Wow! After a while I can even steer the direction the kits drags me into based on the commands from Maarten. “You are ready for the board!”.

Adding the board into the mix makes a big difference. A lot to coordinate. But with his help I get comfortable and at the end of the lesson attempt, unsuccessfully, my first “water start”, i.e. trying to let the kite pull me onto the board. Well, tomorrow!

Lesson #2 on Tuesday and #3 on Wednesday take place in a different spot with deeper but very flat (no waves) water. By now the drill is more familiar, we pump up the kite, attach lines, gear up, and launch. Today’s lesson ends up being the hardest of the three. We spend the entire 2.5 hours practicing water starts. Although Maarten assures me I am a quick learner, I get a bit frustrated with the lack of progress. It looks so easy when the pros do it but there is a lot going on and all at the same time: Kite movement, judging wind speed and kite power, body position in the water and then rolling onto the board while looking at the kite and immediately steering it back up and down again for a second power surge to get to full speed. And all of that in 2-3 seconds.

I do ok and manage to get onto the board fairly well and manage my first two rides standing on the board. But I also have some spectacular crashes, sometimes me, sometimes the kite, and often both. I get yanked and catapulted over my board and a few times relatively high and far before crashing into the water. Now I know why a helmet and “impact vest” are required. I swallow a lot of water and cough and spit between attempts. I guess screaming like on a rollercoaster just before crashing into the sea does not exactly help. All afternoon I have water running out of my sinuses the moment I bend down. Funny!

Lesson #3 brings the breakthrough. Same place and same drill but by now muscle memory kicks in and I get onto the board much more consistently and have quite a few really nice long 60-100m runs in both directions and even manage to stop in a controlled manner (i.e. don’t get launched off my board) and immediately do a new water start in the opposite direction. Maarten is happy with my progress and, today, so am I!

Next up are upwind riding and turns (called “transitions”) and a bit of self-rescue training. Maarten says two more lessons and I am good to go on my own. I don’t have time for that now as I need to head back to Grenada tomorrow. But maybe the next time I come through here in January? I’d certainly would love to do it. I think I might be getting hooked on kite surfing.

For a change in evening program for me, I invite Maarten and the other instructors onto JACE for a sundowner and it turns into a fun and interesting evening. These young folks (literally the age of our kids) are living their sport in a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, following the kite boarding season around the world. And I learn that this kite surf school that I randomly picked is owned and run by one of the sport’s all-time legends, Jeremie Tornet, and is considered one of the best schools globally. Little did I know!