Eco Tourists

Beautiful Skaket Beach Brad, Gabe and I roll the dice that the wind will last long enough for us to do a downwinda from Skaket Beach to Chapin Beach, 10ish miles. It does, just barely. We are excited tourists, gawking at the sights we see along the way. Flocks of birds ascend like a cloud as we kite through miles of waist deep water. Waves are breaking 1 1/2 miles out on the edge of the flats. We thread the interlocking maze of tidal pools on the inside, finding slicks, speed trenches, and endless sand bars to face plant on. Brad has to be home early. He kites with us for awhile then strikes out ahead. Gabe and I explore the seascape, taking our time, alternating between waves and flats, whooping it up like we'd hit the lottery. About 2/3 of the way in, the wind goes light, making us kinda nervous. No more whooping. We book straight past Cold Storage Beach and Corporation Beach, making a beeline for our destination. I can see the Chapin kites in the air from miles away like a beacon guiding us home. We have to sine our kites to stay afloat. It's a relief to pull into Chapin, 3 1/2 hours after we started. We are happy tourists. We had our adventure and nobody got stranded, nobody got hurt. The only sacrifice made was my cellphone which was in a waterproof case that wasn't waterproof. Also, my memory got short circuited. I forgot about the AMC windsurfing potluck that Barbara an I were planning on attending, got home too late. Damn! This downwinder took me to a foriegn country. It took me too long to come back. Bottom Photo- Brad warming up for our journey. Downwinder, Skaket to Chapin, Kitesurfed, NNE, 8-24, 13M Octane/ Mako 150, with Gabe, Brad.