Kite Bytes

One of the other tings that I purchased the other day when I randomly splurged on buying a bunch of equipment was the Naish DVD, “The Complete Kiteboarding Guide” This DVD kicks ass and I highly recommend it. Ron and I have watched the 4 hours of instruction and footage multiple times. We are still struggling with a number of concept including the de-power straps and chicken loop. While the DVD instruction is good, we are still learning the equipment and jargon. The magazines are good from that and we probably have 5 issues of Kiteboarding Magazine floating around the apartment and not just in the bathroom.

The ‘Any Given Sundays’ volleyball crew was back out at Spanish Banks today and Ron brought the practice Kite again. A friend-of-a-friend Dave brought his skimboard down and he and Ron managed somewhat successfully to merge skimboarding and practice kite-kiteboarding

Dave got a couple of decent runs in but basically they spent a lot of time in 3″ inches of muddy sand water. I gave the kite a few spins and we got a few friends and girlfriends to give it a try too. Everybody who tries the practice kite out loves it — smiles all around but probably none bigger than mine or Ron’s.

I woke up today and the wind was up. It was kind of rainy and nasty but I thought that this would be a good time to see what the practice kite was like in heavy wind. We live in Vancouver and it rains a lot in April and May so you can’t be too picky as to when you go out. Ron was sailing today so I headed to Spanish Banks on my own at about 10:30 AM wearing flip flops, shorts and a hoody. I hadn’t shaven in a few days and was a little groggy from Friday night’s festivities. The wind was likely 8-10 knots when I got to the beach and there were some whitecaps on the water. There was nobody on the beach and I had no trouble getting the tiny practice kite in the air. I had a great time, the wind picked up and I was getting my ass dragged around the beach. I was looping the practice kite and making huge heel tracks down the sand. I had to take breaks every 10 minutes or so because my arms are tired. I’m not in great shape but I do work out get a good amount of exercise. Regardless, I was exhausted but very excited. I packed up the kite and went to AirTime Board Sports.

After chatting with Chris, and Philippe from AirTime, I decided to buy some gear. I picked up a used Naish X4 12m kite, a used Rob Mulder twin tipped board, a Da-Kine seated harness, and a Neilpryde life jacket. I’m out of money but I’m I’ve committed to the sport. I left the gear hidden in the stairwell for Ron to stumble on when he gets home after sailing. He’s gonna crap his pants.

We went to Spanish Banks West beach today for some volleyball. We have a regular crew that goes to the beach and I bring down my volleyball net and lines and set-up a court. Volleyball is very popular in Vancouver and there are probably 75-100 public beach volleyball courts between Kits Beach and the end of Spanish Banks. We go to the last set of volleyball courts on the beach because its away from the ‘hardcore’ players and families that go to the more popular beaches. When the tide is out, the sand banks, (hence the name) stretch out for a kilometer out into the ocean. Skimboarding is very popular here. In fact, Ron and I live pretty much next door to PD’s HotShop, a popular skate and skimboarding store. They even make custom mountain boards… sweet.

Ron brought the practice kite to the beach and we ripped that around a bunch crashing it into the water, the sand etc. Safety is a huge concern in the sport and we made sure that we were way out on the banks, far away from other people. The practice kite has got us hooked and we spent the day switching between volleyball and ripping the practice kite around.

Ron got back from Hawaii and has just picked up a 3 meter practice kite from AirTime Board Sports. While he was there, he lined up some kiteboarding lessons with Hawaiian Water Sports in Kailua. He got all rigged up and ready to go and the wind died. He had committed to spending $300 bones in lessons and the bloody wind died. Bad luck

Ron has gone to Waikiki, Hawaii for 5 days - that lucky bastard

Yesterday Ron went to our local kiteboarding shop. I like the sounds of that… ‘our local kiteboarding shop.’ There is one shop, that I’m aware of, in Vancouver that specializes in kiteboarding gear called AirTime Board Sports at the corner of 4th and Alma. Ron and I live about a 10-15 minute walk east on 4th and the shop is on the way to Spanish Banks — further down 4th — so we have to pass it every time we go to the beach. Anyway, Ron brought back a couple of old issues of ‘Kiteboarding Magazine‘ and they have now replaced Maxim and Scientific American for bathroom reading. The magazines are sweet and provide a lot of information for beginners. It actually seems like beginners are welcome in the sport which strikes me as odd compared to past experiences with ‘extreme sports.’ From what I have read so far, kiteboarding is an ‘extreme sport.’ I am not an extreme kind of guy - I’m a pretty big guy (6′1, 215 lbs) and agile is not a word often associated with me. My roommate Ron is not really an extreme guy either but is an avid sailor and participates in many races and regattas around Vancouver.

My business partner John, on the other hand is more of an extremes sports kind of guy. He likes mountaineering and ice climbing and things like that and volunteers his time with North Shore Rescue, helping people in trouble on the North Shore Mountains of Vancouver. He has expressed interest in kiteboarding too.

My roommate Ron has been talking about kiteboarding for a few weeks now and how cool it is. Neither of us have ever attempted kiteboarding nor do we have any friends that do it. Our only real exposure to the sport has been watching guys rip it up at Spanish Banks. We typically play volleyball every Sunday at Spanish Banks West and each year there seems to be a few more kiteboarders going into the water. This year has been different already. For the past few years there have been 1 or 2 kiteboarders on windy days but a couple of Sundays ago there were between 5 and 10 kiteboarders setting up their kites on the beach.

It is apparent that the sport is taking off and Ron is amped about it. What are we getting ourselves into?