Go Fly a Kite
- Details
This article originally published in Spring 2011 issue of Adventure Insider Magazine.
Devyani, the PR rep for The Four Seasons on Exuma, Bahamas, (now Sandals Emerald Bay) dodged the erratic trainer kite I was learning to fly on the white sand bordering the bay. I hadn’t yet learned to control the wind within its broad canvas, and she happened to be in my kite’s path of destruction. After feebly trying to steer the kite anywhere but at the hapless PR rep and screaming because it wasn’t working, the kite caught a huge gust and bore down, sending Devyani tumbling onto the sand. She escaped injury, but I realized then that I might not be the kiteboarding prodigy I’d expected to be. The sport initially appealed to me because as a publicist for The Bahamas, I was always on the lookout for new angles to pitch to writers. When I first heard about Exuma Kitesurfing (pronounced ex-zooma), I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to introduce some adventurous journalists to both the sport and the destination. I’d recently completed a similar trip with a group of novice scuba divers, so I was enjoying my status as the official adventure publicist back at the office. I’m the first to admit that I am more “up for anything” than “capable of anything,” so I was a little worried that despite my new reputation as the adventure guru, I might not be cut out for this new endeavor. Most of the kiteboarders I’d met had a background in a board sport – surfing, wakeboarding, windsurfing or snowboarding. A year earlier, I’d surfed for the first time in Hawaii; however I was far from considering myself a “surfer.” Would the learning curve be too steep?
I brushed doubt aside and decided to go for it. From what I’d read, there’s no better place to learn than The Exuma Islands in The Bahamas, and I’m not saying that just because I used to represent them. Located in the southern Bahamas, Exuma’s water is shallow, warm and crystal clear, the wind and weather conditions are ideal and the instructors are IKO and PASA certified. Exuma is blissfully uncrowded, so jockeying for space and avoiding swimmers and other kiters is not an issue. Most of the time, you have entire bays to yourself to practice. Plus, there’s always a cold Kalik and a buttery Bahamian rock lobster to be consumed at the end of a day on the water. It’s kitesurfing nirvana! Exuma Kitesurfing caters to small groups like ours, so we each received plenty of attentive instruction from Gary Sweeting, who founded the school in 2007. During the off-season, Gary is a graphic designer but as you might expect, his passion is kiteboarding. When I called Gary to plan the trip, he said he could teach anyone with a desire to learn and a moderate level of physical fitness. After taking lessons from him for three days, I couldn’t agree more. All of the other participants, from a seasoned windsurfer to a first-timer just like me, progressed as expected. Luckily, I was the only one who crashed the trainer kite into a beachgoer. On our first day, we spent some quality time with Gary in the classroom, a patio right on the beach. We learned theory, how to determine wind direction and quality and the all-important release technique. At that point, everyone had seen the clip on YouTube where a kiteboarder was lifted by a gust out of the water and into a nearby parking lot. The simple way to avoid a similar fate? Just let go of the bar! The kite deflates the moment you do – a lesson worth committing to memory immediately, just in case.
As for wind conditions, cross-onshore winds are preferable for kiteboarding, especially for beginners in an ocean environment. With offshore winds, you might just be blown away from the shore which, if you’re in The Bahamas, could take you an awfully long time to find land going east. In a lake setting, offshore winds are a much safer bet. After the briefing, Gary set up a small, maneuverable trainer kite on the beach at Emerald Bay and we took turns flying it. Even though I nearly beheaded Devyani, I began to understand the fundamentals of steering, turning and harnessing the wind. The next day, we put our safety and preliminary flying lessons into practice, setting up the actual kite we would fly in the water the next day. I will confess I didn’t realize there was so much set-up involved in kiteboarding. In my imagination, I thought it was a grab-and-go sport - grab your gear, go get in the water and then, voila! You’re kiteboarding. On the contrary, Gary explained all the details including how to ensure all the lines are appropriately attached and untangled, how to attached your harness, how to inflate and deflate the kite, how to launch and re-launch it and how to tie the perfect knots to ensure not only your safety, but the safety of people on the beach. Perhaps for true athletes who are used to prepping gear for a day out, it isn’t much work, but as a novice, I was overwhelmed by details. We spent our final day of lessons with Gary in the water, and I was ready to master the kite flying skills and finally add the board to the equation. My classmate in the gorgeous Exuma water that day was a beautiful blonde writer from North Carolina who was at least 8 inches taller than me. It was high tide when we donned our harnesses and waded out to what amounted to waist deep water for her. At 5’3”, I had trouble keeping my feet planted on the sandy bottom while I was flying the kite, so when I attempted to scoop some wind into my sails, I was lifted up and dragged away. A few times, I scooped too hard and was yanked fully out of the water. If not for the release bar, I may have flown my kite straight to France.
By the end of our course, I almost had kite flying figured out. With a bit more time, I could reasonably expect to add the board and maybe even putter around the scenic shoreline a bit. As it turns out, the students who had previous experience with board sports did catch on faster than I did. After only 3 days of lessons with Exuma Kitesurfing, several were able to stand on the board and cruise a short distance. Even though I didn’t manage to get as far in my lessons, the euphoria each successful kiteboarder felt was contagious. We toasted the group’s achievements with Kaliks and one last lobster dinner at Santana’s Bar & Grill in Williams Town, and the next day we all flew home. Much to Devyani’s relief, I never did return to Exuma Kitesurfing to finish what I’d started. I realized that while I had the desire to look sexy in my carefully selected kiteboarding vest, that wasn’t quite enough to make me into a kiting guru. Without the patience to focus on details, like checking my kite for rips and tears, I would only be a menace to beachgoers everywhere. Perhaps in the future, Gary will let me come back and try again. For now, I’m with Devyani – ducking for cover in the sand dunes. Getting to The Exuma Islands Fly direct from Toronto, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale or Miami into George Town (GGT) or head to Nassau and connect with an interisland carrier like BahamasAir or Sky Bahamas. Where to Stay Exuma Kitesurfing offers accommodations at its beach house as part of certain packages, but if you prefer to stay elsewhere, there are some great options. Club Peace & Plenty | 800.525.2210; peaceandplenty.com Sandals | 888.SANDALS; Sandals.com Grand Isle Villas | 888.472.6310; grandisleresort.com Augusta Bay | 242.336.2251; augustabaybahamas.com When to Go Exuma’s windy season is November through May. The weather ranges from a low of 62 degrees in January to a high of 89 in August. Water temperatures hover at a comfy 77 - 84 degrees.
Angie was born on a superstitious Friday, got her names from the Allman Brothers and Mick Jagger, grew up in the backyard of a Magic Kingdom, cart wheeled at Versailles, laid bricks in South America, interviewed with Trump, bleeds orange and blue, worships the Savior, sings enthusiastically, avoids public speaking and falls asleep when sitting still.
As a publicist, she coordinated press trips, video shoots and events, wrote a press release or two, launched a magical theme park, pitched media until she was blue in the face and met amazing travelers from all over the world.
In 2009 Angie became one of the top 50 out of 20,000 entrants for Queensland’s Best Job in the World. This reminded her of all the places she hadn’t yet visited, reigniting her wanderlust. In 2010, after careful consideration, lots of prayers and years of saving for a rainy day, Angie decided to take her travel show on the road. Follow her adventures at www.angieaway.com or on Twitter at @bigappleangie.
Devyani, the PR rep for The Four Seasons on Exuma, Bahamas, (now Sandals Emerald Bay) dodged the erratic trainer kite I was learning to fly on the white sand bordering the bay. I hadn’t yet learned to control the wind within its broad canvas, and she happened to be in my kite’s path of destruction. After feebly trying to steer the kite anywhere but at the hapless PR rep and screaming because it wasn’t working, the kite caught a huge gust and bore down, sending Devyani tumbling onto the sand. She escaped injury, but I realized then that I might not be the kiteboarding prodigy I’d expected to be. The sport initially appealed to me because as a publicist for The Bahamas, I was always on the lookout for new angles to pitch to writers. When I first heard about Exuma Kitesurfing (pronounced ex-zooma), I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to introduce some adventurous journalists to both the sport and the destination. I’d recently completed a similar trip with a group of novice scuba divers, so I was enjoying my status as the official adventure publicist back at the office. I’m the first to admit that I am more “up for anything” than “capable of anything,” so I was a little worried that despite my new reputation as the adventure guru, I might not be cut out for this new endeavor. Most of the kiteboarders I’d met had a background in a board sport – surfing, wakeboarding, windsurfing or snowboarding. A year earlier, I’d surfed for the first time in Hawaii; however I was far from considering myself a “surfer.” Would the learning curve be too steep?
I brushed doubt aside and decided to go for it. From what I’d read, there’s no better place to learn than The Exuma Islands in The Bahamas, and I’m not saying that just because I used to represent them. Located in the southern Bahamas, Exuma’s water is shallow, warm and crystal clear, the wind and weather conditions are ideal and the instructors are IKO and PASA certified. Exuma is blissfully uncrowded, so jockeying for space and avoiding swimmers and other kiters is not an issue. Most of the time, you have entire bays to yourself to practice. Plus, there’s always a cold Kalik and a buttery Bahamian rock lobster to be consumed at the end of a day on the water. It’s kitesurfing nirvana! Exuma Kitesurfing caters to small groups like ours, so we each received plenty of attentive instruction from Gary Sweeting, who founded the school in 2007. During the off-season, Gary is a graphic designer but as you might expect, his passion is kiteboarding. When I called Gary to plan the trip, he said he could teach anyone with a desire to learn and a moderate level of physical fitness. After taking lessons from him for three days, I couldn’t agree more. All of the other participants, from a seasoned windsurfer to a first-timer just like me, progressed as expected. Luckily, I was the only one who crashed the trainer kite into a beachgoer. On our first day, we spent some quality time with Gary in the classroom, a patio right on the beach. We learned theory, how to determine wind direction and quality and the all-important release technique. At that point, everyone had seen the clip on YouTube where a kiteboarder was lifted by a gust out of the water and into a nearby parking lot. The simple way to avoid a similar fate? Just let go of the bar! The kite deflates the moment you do – a lesson worth committing to memory immediately, just in case.
As for wind conditions, cross-onshore winds are preferable for kiteboarding, especially for beginners in an ocean environment. With offshore winds, you might just be blown away from the shore which, if you’re in The Bahamas, could take you an awfully long time to find land going east. In a lake setting, offshore winds are a much safer bet. After the briefing, Gary set up a small, maneuverable trainer kite on the beach at Emerald Bay and we took turns flying it. Even though I nearly beheaded Devyani, I began to understand the fundamentals of steering, turning and harnessing the wind. The next day, we put our safety and preliminary flying lessons into practice, setting up the actual kite we would fly in the water the next day. I will confess I didn’t realize there was so much set-up involved in kiteboarding. In my imagination, I thought it was a grab-and-go sport - grab your gear, go get in the water and then, voila! You’re kiteboarding. On the contrary, Gary explained all the details including how to ensure all the lines are appropriately attached and untangled, how to attached your harness, how to inflate and deflate the kite, how to launch and re-launch it and how to tie the perfect knots to ensure not only your safety, but the safety of people on the beach. Perhaps for true athletes who are used to prepping gear for a day out, it isn’t much work, but as a novice, I was overwhelmed by details. We spent our final day of lessons with Gary in the water, and I was ready to master the kite flying skills and finally add the board to the equation. My classmate in the gorgeous Exuma water that day was a beautiful blonde writer from North Carolina who was at least 8 inches taller than me. It was high tide when we donned our harnesses and waded out to what amounted to waist deep water for her. At 5’3”, I had trouble keeping my feet planted on the sandy bottom while I was flying the kite, so when I attempted to scoop some wind into my sails, I was lifted up and dragged away. A few times, I scooped too hard and was yanked fully out of the water. If not for the release bar, I may have flown my kite straight to France.
By the end of our course, I almost had kite flying figured out. With a bit more time, I could reasonably expect to add the board and maybe even putter around the scenic shoreline a bit. As it turns out, the students who had previous experience with board sports did catch on faster than I did. After only 3 days of lessons with Exuma Kitesurfing, several were able to stand on the board and cruise a short distance. Even though I didn’t manage to get as far in my lessons, the euphoria each successful kiteboarder felt was contagious. We toasted the group’s achievements with Kaliks and one last lobster dinner at Santana’s Bar & Grill in Williams Town, and the next day we all flew home. Much to Devyani’s relief, I never did return to Exuma Kitesurfing to finish what I’d started. I realized that while I had the desire to look sexy in my carefully selected kiteboarding vest, that wasn’t quite enough to make me into a kiting guru. Without the patience to focus on details, like checking my kite for rips and tears, I would only be a menace to beachgoers everywhere. Perhaps in the future, Gary will let me come back and try again. For now, I’m with Devyani – ducking for cover in the sand dunes. Getting to The Exuma Islands Fly direct from Toronto, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale or Miami into George Town (GGT) or head to Nassau and connect with an interisland carrier like BahamasAir or Sky Bahamas. Where to Stay Exuma Kitesurfing offers accommodations at its beach house as part of certain packages, but if you prefer to stay elsewhere, there are some great options. Club Peace & Plenty | 800.525.2210; peaceandplenty.com Sandals | 888.SANDALS; Sandals.com Grand Isle Villas | 888.472.6310; grandisleresort.com Augusta Bay | 242.336.2251; augustabaybahamas.com When to Go Exuma’s windy season is November through May. The weather ranges from a low of 62 degrees in January to a high of 89 in August. Water temperatures hover at a comfy 77 - 84 degrees.
