Fear & Loathing in Chapin Beach
 I'm standing on Chapin Beach, not far from the spot where, 2 months ago, I self-launched my 12m kite into the greedy kite-eating beach grass. The grass looks scenic, innocently waving it's arms in the breeze, but I know the sharp fangs that are waiting below those tendrils to suck the life out of any kite that gets too close. My faithful kite struggled in vain against these evil spikes of death. It's still out for repair.Should I launch a kite? It's high tide and there is almost no beach left. Some driftwood stands guard at the edge of the beach. I don't want to give in to my fear of killer beach grass. My mouth is dry, my palms sweaty. The dunes are waiting, watching... I windsurf. The grass wins this time but I'll be back. And next time I'm bringing friends. The windsurfing conditions were very good. Windsurfed, Chapin, NE, 10-25, 5.2/ Realwind 85, 32 to 34 temp, Solo. |
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5 comments:
What's wrong with windsurfing? Due to my recurring troubles with my rotator cuff, I have had to give both sports up for a while. It definitely was not enjoyable with the winds blowing here in Florida most of the month of March.
My biggest problem with windsurfing has been increasing tendonitis issues in my forearms. I've been laying off of it for awhile and doing more kiting (much easier on the arms). I'm just starting to mix windsurfing back in and see how my forearms react, still not sure.
Hey Steve,
I’ve skip this session… decided have one day weekend session while my hand elbow healed.
Today (Sunday) was Fogland solo day….But kiting!!! Relatively nice rides and self lunching, as you showed me.
Igor
Wow, sounds like you're breaking new ground at Fogland! These forearm/elbow issues seem to be going around. I hope you get rid of yours quickly.
Steve. Seriously, stop with the self launching and landing. While these are essential skills to learn, even experienced expert kiters avoid using the skills. At some point, it's going to be more than your kite that gets hurt. Ask Frank / Sergey / Sam about the guy, whose name I forget, who recently ended up getting dragged along Nahant beach, stopping with his head just inches from a rock and ended up "only" fracturing an orbit under one of his eyes. If he had been (1) alone and/or (2) dragged 12 inches further, the outcome would have been much worse. I myself had to rescue a self-launcher at the ocean side of Duxbury last fall; he could not get his kite under control while trying to land it, and was in a near-drowing situation in heavy surf.
I'm sorry to sound like a lecturing nanny, but if something bad happens to you, a lot of people will miss you; and it won't be good for the kiting or windsurfing communities.
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