Intro into Kitesurfing in La Ventana

So looking back at it I didn't actually have 12 days to work with. I really only had 10 as the first and last days with the car would be non kite days. I had one no wind day and two days where I needed to deal with boat issues. I also had one day with both my kites in the shop. whew.

That left me with six kiting days. Looks like I am going to need to stay in Mexico to work on this stuff.....

Return to La Ventana

I went back to La Ventana to Baja Joe's where I had done my ground school lesson a few weeks ago. I talked with Mary the very sweet girl who was running the place and worked out a deal to be able to use the showers etc for the next 10 days. I found Craig who taught me the first lesson and dove in headfirst for more.

Day 1

The first day would be my first water lesson. This was body drags and self rescue. Overall it's just silly fun. You fly the kite and it rockets you along, over and sometimes under the water. (It all depends on your ability to fly the kite) this session ended with a planned self rescue. I guess the eventually I will need the self rescue skill.

Hopefully not too often though...


Day 2

The second day was a bit more humbling. This was the first time trying to get up on the board. In reality it's just a major brain overload as you get to feel everything working together for the first time. First challenge is just getting the board onto your feet. Until you do it, you don't think about the fact that the kite is still trying to drag you around as you bob around out there. All the little movements you make can affect the kite, which in turn can affect the pull on you. So if you forget the kite too long it will either crash or start dragging you in the direction and speed of it's choosing. Unfortunately kites aren't super smart or caring and so the dragging part can involve various combinations of dragging, flying through the air or dragging under water or all of the above. Needless to say you don't forget about flying the kite more than once or twice...

Now you have the board on your feet and it's time to try and stand up. There are a lot of mistakes you can make. Some you learn slowly and some very quickly.

Leaning too far back is bad. It took me a long time to figure that one out. When you lean too far back you tend to fall back into the water as soon as the kite slows it's pull. You just plop back down into the water and have to start over. Imagine falling backwards off a dock. Unfortunately sometimes when you "plop" you lose control of the kite. It's more that you are worried about breathing. It can also be hard to see the kite when your head is under water..

.So leaning too far forward is bad too. I learned that one very quickly. When you plop backwards there is at least a chance that you can control the kite. When you fall forward as a beginner all hell tends to break loose. First you fall on your face and land on your bar and lines that you control the kite with. As you thrash around trying to get up into your ready position your kite has free rein to do whatever it feels like.

Now refer to the first tries of putting the board on the feet. It goes like this "Unfortunately kites aren't super smart or caring and so the dragging part can involve various combinations of dragging, flying through the air or dragging under water or all of the above"

Ok Falling forward is worse than falling back therefore my problem with sitting too far back on day one. "Once bitten twice shy"...

I eventually got up for a second or two but that was it. I was tired, sore and a little frustrated. At this point it was time to call it a day. Time to go home, lick my wounds and get ready to try again.

Day 3

Day Three was lots of fun. It was the first time using my own gear and not having an instructor around to give me helpful hints. I managed to get up on my board and even got a few short (very short) rides!! I was now at the point where I could stand up but I was slow getting my second power stroke with the kite so I would settle back into the water before building enough momentum to keep going. I took a break for lunch and then disaster struck. Actually it was just some bad luck and I had a gear failure in one of the air bladders that help to hold the shape of the kite. Unfortunately the kite can't fly without this so I was DOA. All I could do was send my kite off to the repair man and cry in my beer while everyone else enjoyed the good conditions.

Day 4

Tricky conditions served some hard lessons The wind was very gusty and variable on this one. You would just get settled in and the wind would just stop. I barely even got up today because the kite kept crashing. I guess it was just a good water launch practice session. After a few hours even the really good guys got fed up with it and there was only a few kites out on the bay.


Day 5

Good solid windy day. I flew my small 9m kite cause it was too windy for the big kite. Unfortunately it left me a little under powered. I really had to work the kite to keep going. Since I am still a beginner it doesn't always work out for me. A bit of riding and a bit of crashing. I think with a 12m kite I would have done much better but I don't own one of those.

Day 6

Same wind and problems as yesterday although I am getting better at flying the kite and am getting longer rides out of it. Right at the end though I really blew it. I was trying to get one last ride in before coming in through the surf to the beach. It didn't work out for me at all. I crashed my kite and the surf proceeded to chew on it for 10 to 15 minutes while I got myself to the beach. Thankfully someone pulled it out for me before it got really torn up but it still needed repairs. damn. I really seem to be hard on my gear...

I was dead on the water till the kites got repaired. Rico is a great kite repair guy right at Baja Joe's where I was hanging out so at least I could get them fixed locally. Unfortunately for me, I would have to give the car back before the kites would be ready.

All in all it was a sucessful adventure. I am at the point where I am getting up consistently one way and getting decent rides out of it. I am just about to start working on riding to the right. I am pretty good at water starts and am used to a fair amount of wind wave action. I think the next 3 or 4 sessions will see big improvements if I can get the right size kite....

NEXT....

Don't laugh but I managed to catch a cold. It's true!! I think the next few days till New Years will be pretty mellow. Then it's off to the islands. The kiting is on pause for a bit and it's time to do some travelling again.