Short stint at Kitesurfing near the lagoon in Tarifa
I rented a kiteboard from Kite Obsession for 15 euros a day, which was very reasonable since another company on the beach was expecting 24 euros just for 2 hours and double that amount for the whole day. So off I went to the beach expecting a good, long, rewarding session of kiteboarding… Things never quite work out how you plan them!.
I unpacked my Flysurfer kite out of its bag, unraveled some of its lines and then got Lucy to secure the bar (by sitting on it), while I opened up the kite to secure it with sand. Before I knew it the strong Tarifa wind powered up the kite and dragged the bar from under her! In hindsight it was a silly thing to do, at twice the size of our landboard kites it’s a very powerful kite indeed. Lucy didn’t come off lightly; she now has a graze down her shin from one of the lines and a bruise on her thigh. It could have been much worse!
After this Lucy didn’t want me to fly this monster of a kite in these strong Tarifa winds, preferring me to get a lesson and hire an inflatable kite that looked more stable. It wasn’t the kite’s fault though; Flysurfer kites are stable when used correctly, so I pushed on.
Lucy stood well back while I laid out the kite to secure it with sand. At which time I notice a rip in the back of the kite! I haven’t a clue when this happened, maybe last time I used it or maybe when it was in the garage. Either way it wasn’t going to stop me, I had hired a board and I was going to use it. So I got some duck tape from the van and patched up the rip.
Then after unraveling the lines I noticed they were in a tangle. So much of a tangle in fact that it took around 2 hours to sort and required me to untie some of the lines and re-attach them according to the complicated Flysurfer bridle instructions.
So by around 6pm I was ready to get on the water. I did a quick body drag to make sure the kite was all working ok and to make sure my technique was up to scratch. Then off I went onto the water to do my water start. I didn’t dive the kite enough to get the power I needed to get going, before I knew it the kite was at the edge of the wind window when it folded up and fell towards the water. Once on the water it felt like a stone, the air wasn’t staying in it, it looked like my repair wasn’t sufficient. It just wouldn’t re-launch after that and it ended up full of water.
So that was that. The kite is now in for professional repair at Dock 11 and I should be back on the water in the next few days.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:43 am
i’ve always wanted to do that. i’m a pretty decent wakeboarder and stuff, it looks like it would be so awesome.