Finally Up and Riding on Water

Just spent 7 days in South Padre Island learning to kite water. I must say it was some of the best money I ever spent. That place is magical. I took a couple lessons a year ago at home but never really followed through. This year I decided I wasn't going to get anywhere unless I got a little more serious. A few experienced friends of mine invited me to share a house with them on the island. Couldn't pass up the offer. They were able to give me a lot of good pointers that made learning easier. Free of charge to boot!:D
I don't have any board skills to begin with, so learning a board is challenging for me. We kited 5 out of 6 days. Exhausting. Everything is a struggle at first for a newbie. First 3 days was the most challenging but progress was made. It wasn't until the 4th and 5th days that things really started to click. By day 4 I was up and riding short distances. On day 5 I was riding long tacks and starting to go up wind. Everything really started to make sense on day 5. Wish I could've stayed another week. Can I say I'm really confident yet? No, but the progress I made in one week was unbelievable. Being down there in optimal conditions and doing it everyday was a game changer for me. It was so nice not having to worry about deep water or having to stay up wind. Having smooth wind and flat water made everything that much easier. My first rides will never be forgotten Hopefully I can keep the progression going this summer.

Quote: Originally posted by jeffnyc

That's awesome, cheddar! I keep seeing a lot of folks recommending South Padre, sounds like a perfect place to learn. Hatteras is the more obvious spot over here, but I haven't been to Texas in a long time... Are you going to be able to kite on your ice lake (if it ever thaws?) Did you find your kite skills carried over? I'm going to assume for me the board stuff will be the easy part, but it does seem like a lot to juggle at once. Did you practice self rescues at all? Did you try body dragging, or use go right for the water starts? Did you try riding anything other than twin tip; surfboard, skimboard, rubber raft? I will 100% be dragging my nieces and nephews around on pool toys and/or wakeboard when I get going :D

OBX is actually a little closer for me but slightly cooler. Non the less, both are exceptional places to learn. Only negative I can see in Padre is the fact that it's a side or off shore wind on the Laguna Madre side most of the time. On shore on the gulf side if you like waves. Off shore wind on the flats is not such a big deal considering its shallow for miles. Have a malfunction and you can walk back. I did lots of walking, lol.
I dove right into doing board starts and riding since I already learned self rescue/body dragging in my previous lessons. Already being good at flying a kite made learning water so much easier. The only board I used was my 160x44 door. Smaller board will come a little later when I get some proficiency under my belt.

well done cheddar . I see your update progression at FB. maybe some video could be nice to share . just saying LOL .

Good to know you put another extension to your kitting skill with more serious approach and have a nice spot to kitesurf , dand i am jealous for the flat water and steady wind. For me if it were a good wind there is a raging wave and strong current ready to punish my mistake .

Like you , i were on and off to kitesurf for several year for the reason that i want take it slowly assuming that my kitelandbording skill can carried over . then i realize i come back to the water start ,edging and face planting each time i go out .

Nope it won't crack to next step until you put 100% commitment and more water time . so end of last year almost 100% water time .

Now more confident , almost no faceplanting but still struggling to find the right pace to ride more consistent .

Quote: Originally posted by zero gee

Awesome job! Good news is eventually you won't need all those kites. Most guys get away with a 6, 10, 14 quiver for example with a high wind board and light wind board or foilboard. I have a 2 kite quiver. My big kite is a 9m. When guys are having fun on their 12m to 15m kites and TT boards, I'm having fun on that 9. My small kite is a 6m. Tons of overlap on the 2 kites. My only board is a 5'2 stubby nosed surfboard. Ride it in all conditions. Strapped and unstrapped. One bar. Will use line extensions for marginal winds. Guys with the bigger kites do better in marginal conditions. If they are working their kites, I'm done. Plan to add a foilboard soon. Enjoy the water sessions!

Thanks gee! My quiver is indeed overkill. I enjoy using my LEI's in winter as well. That's where the smaller sizes get the most use. Wind was different every day we were there. I used a 17m twice, 12m twice, and an 8 meter on the last day. For learning, I seemed to enjoy the 12m range the best. 8 meter winds were too twitchy for this new guy and the 17m was just god aweful slow.
I'm sure that will change once I get more experience.

Yup. Getting the most from the kites bottom end requires skill and finesse. Getting more on the top end needs balls.

I think its important for a beginner to have enough power to start. That way they can concentrate on getting up on the board and riding away rather than trying to keep the kite in the air or having to fly the kite aggressively for the water start.

South Padre and the OBX are some of the best beginner spots in NA. Most every newbie that we take to the OBX has their break through day there. Some easy ocean side days for first timers on the ocean too.

Quote: Originally posted by markite

nice to follow your progression. it is good to put back to back days together somewhere with good conditions. I have a small number of friends that have long time kite skills but no board/water skills and they just don't get the chance to put too many days together to learn. With them only getting out on some weekends the chances of getting wind and then too light or too strong is always the problem so they get stuck spending a day getting to the same place they were last time and frustrated. Once you get it then the progression is steady - hope it's a good summer (no spring sucks so far)

I'm going to spring for another wetsuit so I can get out sooner before I lose what I've learned. Without the proper skin I lose a couple months of prime wind. Our largest inland lake is now open while lakes North of us are still frozen. We just got 24 inches of snow over the weekend. Freaky April. Winter doesn't want to go away here.

Nicely played! Expansion into a whole other side to this thing. I bet this whole new chapter has been exciting for you!

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

That's awesome. No better feeling than progression in any aspect of this sport. I would love to spend a week or two learning to kite surf. That was a nice long run on the video. Did you try any toeside?

Didn't try riding toeside. I tried doing some transitions but still too new to pull it off. My door board has all 4 fins on one side. Toeside might be a little difficult with that board. Dunno. At the end of a run, I would simply cradle back and do a water start in the other direction. Much more time is needed for sure. It's a strange new world to me. It's very humbling learning a new discipline. So far this has been the most difficult of the disciplines for me to learn.

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

Nicely played! Expansion into a whole other side to this thing. I bet this whole new chapter has been exciting for you!

Yes it's quite exciting and scary at the same time. Crashing is very forgiving compared to ice, haha. I've had my fair share of water up my nose already. All part of the learning curve :D

Nice one didn't I tell you it'd be fun?

Next up -- jumps!

Quote: Originally posted by Kamikuza

Nice one didn't I tell you it'd be fun? Next up -- jumps!

Yes Kami, you were right:D. The fun factor didn't really kick in until I started getting some consistent rides. Up to that point it seemed like all work and no play. I'm finally starting to get rewarded for my efforts.

Quote: Originally posted by markite

It's always interesting watching friends when I'm coaching them - over and over I see the same things and I find that I need to assure them that what they are doing is very common and not to be frustrated thinking they aren't getting it etc. Often standing from shore and watching, or off to the side in the water watching I can pick out small things that are slightly off; could be the angle of the board direction, could be the way the kite is positioned, could be the way the kite is worked, could be body position and the way the board is weighted - all things things are often very small and individually might be a couple of percent off where they should be but collectively all the small things are enough to keep you from going. So that being said, when you are riding, the more you can start to relax and play with small changes as you ride to see what happens you will find you get a lot more ah ha moments on the learning curve.

Very true Mark. Day's 1 & 2 I floundered about in the water by myself. I knew what I needed to do but it just wasn't clicking. Day 3 my friends were determined to get me up and riding.
They came out with me to watch my water starts. Told me what I was doing wrong and suggested corrections. That made all the difference in the world. They also told me that what I was doing wrong is what every beginner does. Very encouraging pointing out that it wasn't just me. Getting my front foot and board pointed down wind at the start to build speed and get on plane was a big hurtle for me. Being able to know how much power I needed to get up and ride in control was a lot of trial and error. Sometimes not enough, sometimes too much. It got easier as time went on. Lots of energy expended in the learning curve. Once I could get some sustained rides in, then I could actually concentrate on my body position, weight distribution, kite position, etc. By the last day of the week things really started to click and I could apply my upwind abilities on snow to the water. I have a ways to go but some of my largest hurdles have been taken care of.

Quote: Originally posted by pongnut

Did you go down with the Minnesota (LAKAWA) folks, or another group? I'm going to pull the trigger (yeah, I say that every year) one of these times and get down there for that initiation to kiteboarding - thanks for sharing!

I went there with a few from the twin cities. We basically met up with the LAKAWA group since they were staying a couple houses down from us. We all know each other from occasional meet ups. Mike Kratchowill from LAKAWA and Chad Dobson from Dynamik Kiteboarding both from the twin cities host houses down there every year. Both great groups of riders willing to share their knowledge. Def the ideal environment to learn water. You wouldn't regret it.