Tuesday, December 15, 2009

15 Dec 09 Kite boarding lessons with JD

Shore bird coffee kletch.
Another crowded beach.
You can tell by the fact that this guy is above water that this is not JD

Justin the instructor does know what he's doing.

Proof that the demon kite exists!

Here's JD about to enter the salt water hydraulic flush of doom.

At 51 it is an unusual feeling to be a rooky at something again. The up side to being a 51 year old male is that once you reach 50 it is okay to take lessons. The rule states in the 'mans handbook' that no lessons shall be taken in anything before the age of 50. At 51 it's okay. In fact when Susie & I were lost in La Paz the other day I even consented to stopping and asking for directions. Fortunately for me we couldn't find anyone that spoke English. So that man's hand book rule has yet to be breached.

How do you describe kite boarding? Well it is a cool as all get out to watch someone that knows what they're doing - fluid, graceful, plenty of flight time. It really is as nifty as it looks on the television. The reality of learning the sport is not quite the same fluid, graceful, plenty of flight time spectre that you see. This is a very foreign environment from anything I've ever done before. The only thing fluid about learning is the sea water being hyper charged down your nose from being drug through the water like a water skier who forgot to let go of the rope. There is absolutely nothing graceful about being drug across the beach by a great big kite that you could only dream about as a kid. I remember thinking as a boy if only I had a bigger kite it would go higher and when it crashed it would come down across 2 or 3 power lines instead of the usual 1 powerline which doesn't seem to cause much carnage. And I'm sure I'll get plenty of flight time just as soon as that asshole kite quits dragging me head first through the water like a German U boat about to dive.

The kite boarding instructor is one of those cool kids who has his act together and has the patience of a saint. He assures me that I'm right on track with my progress. A little white lie I am sure. Anyway, we'll keep you posted on the progress with the demon kite and my manhood.

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