George, Fuat, their girlfriends and I all went down to Dewey Beach in Delaware. They're into kiteboarding, and wanted to show me what it's about. It promised to be a brand new experience for me, since all I know are climbing, snowboarding and a bunch of other, mostly non-beach things. Click the title above or here to check out the photo essay.
We get into the state park area of Dewey Beach, Delaware. George, a reserved engineer, abruptly sticks his head out of the car and howls: ITS WINDY! ITS WINDEEEEY! His fiance Mariko is riding shotgun. She turns to me with a slightly exasperated look. "Yes, he only gets like that about kiteboarding".
We get our gear out and find an empty spot. George lays out his kite and get out the pump to inflate it from the central rib out. Meanwhile, Fuat has disappeared, running somewhere up the beach, trying to get an idea of how windy it really is. If you haven't figured it out by now: we need lots of moving air. No wind, no kiteboarding.
George gets into his wetsuit and harnesses in. Fuat explains to me later how it's done, when it's my turn. "First the chicken loop goes on the hook on your harness. Then the donkey dick [yes, you heard that right] locks it in place. Then you clip the leash to you wherever. The attachment will always be between your harness and the lines of the kite. If you pull the safety [a sort of "eject eject eject" handle if the wind is too strong and you're out of control] the chicken loop will come undone. You'll de-power the kite but won't lose it, since you're attached to the lines".
George gets in the water and "parks" the kite at the edge of the power window. It flies there stably, without any user input necessary. The 'safety' is the small black plastic device on the white cord going up from George's harness.
Flying a kite... If the wind is coming from behind you, a hemisphere in front of is the "power window". The edges of the power window are the "parking zone", where the kite stays up in the air, but exerts no pull on you. The center of the window has all the force - and kiteboarding requires dipping the kite in regularly into the centre of the hemisphere, powering up, and letting it go back to the parking zone...
George getting successfully in the water and having a good run. [Ed. I'm hoping to get closer, wide-angle action shots after getting a waterproof enclosure for my camera.]
Fuat getting further out from the pack.
An old geezer shows young George and Fuat how it's done. The geezer and G had a bit of a run in, nearly colliding or tangling their kite lines or something.
Fuat shows Tina how to fly the trainer kite. The trainer's a smaller version of the real kite, which can pull you off your feet and throw you dozens of feet in the air, if not more. Learning how to use the kite, "park" it, dive it into the "power window" to get moving - This are the crucial first steps before harnessing in to the real thing.
The tide's gone out and there's not enough wind left to ride. But there is just enough to fool around!
Self-portrait. Because no-one ever takes pictures of the photographer.
