The summer temperatures have been creeping up and with the wind becoming less constant; I have had to get to the beach whenever the winds are up. I have heard stories about kite surfers carrying hand-held wind meters in their cars and keeping one eye on websites like windsofdubai.com while they are in the office in order to know instantly when the winds are up above 15 knots – now I know why!
Thankfully, the lessons are moving into the water from now on so we would be getting some respite from the 45 degrees!
Session 2 – So we are in the water, and I have all the gear on and the kite in the air.For starters Craig shows all the maneuvers as we did in session 1 but in the water, which includes body dragging, an essential technique needed if you lose the board! You will need this as a beginner and will use this maneuver to zigzag and recover the board or return to the beach, which is reassuring because I’m going to lose the board at some point!
We also went through exercises to re-launch the kite from the water because again this is going to happen. There were several different techniques to use depending on how the kite was sitting on the water. I won’t go into detail on each one, but I will say that each requires puppeteer-like skills to feather the lines in order to right the kite and get it airborne again. This seemed somewhat of a tedious task at first but after an hour or so, it does get easier as you learn to understand what lines to pull and when. It’s not the easiest thing to do while bobbing around in the water, but its not impossible and you will just need to practice.
Session 3 – It’s the weekend and the wind is gusting above 20 knots, so I know that this is lesson-3 time and a quick call to Craig fixes up my third lesson. This time we have a location change; an area to the southeast of Dubai Offshore Sailing Club where there are some protected coves providing to flat water areas to try to get up on the board for the first time. This beach and kite surfing beach are the only places where the authorities allow kite surfing in Dubai. Upon arrival, I’m blown away by how many kite surfers are out on the water and chilling on the beach, there must be at least 50 kites around and it’s looking very busy on the water. How on earth am I going to avoid getting into a tangle?! After some reassurance from Craig and some basic rights of way instructions, he leaves me feeling a bit more confident about getting on the water with all these people who seem to be more than capable of tearing around me at speed.
Now with board in one hand, kite in the other and me bobbing up and down in the water, it’s time to attempt this for real. Craig runs me through the juggling act of holding the kite at 12 o’clock with one hand and then gingerly trying to get my feet in the foot straps while holding the board in the center.
We are going left foot first this time, but this is something you have to be ambidextrous at. Left foot first is not my strong leading leg so I feel a bit out of sorts. As soon as I dive the kite into the power to pull myself up onto the board, I am whipped out of the foot straps and thrown in the water; okay, that was just a bit more power than I was used to from session 1 and 2. After composing myself again, I gave it another go and slowly but surely I was getting closer and closer to actually standing on the board. There is a lot of trial and error at this point, not to mention leaving the board behind a few times, but with the body dragging already under my belt, I can retrieve the board and 
return to the beach when I need to. By the end of this session I’m pretty exhausted, but manage to get up and out of the water for about 20 meters. Again, Craig reassures me that I have made good progress and just one more lesson is scheduled.
Session 4 – We are back on Kite Beach and it’s not busy today, so I don’t have to worry too much about getting into a tangle and I can concentrate on getting this done. There was a reasonable wind around 17 knots and 1 ft waves. Once out in the water and holding onto the kite and board, the waves didn’t seem to affect me much and before I know it, I am up on the board, if only at first for a few meters each time. The trick is to maintain power in the kite to keep me up and going forward and it’s just a case of feel and practice! After an hour I have got it sorted; “Yeah!”I manage several runs of around 100 to 150 meters in both directions with the wind. At first it will be a bit tricky to get back to where you started due to the wind, but I’m assured this will get easier with practice and I’m just happy to be flying along the top of the water. It’s a great feeling to have got to this level so quickly but I have to thank Craig for the great tuition and patience. It’s an even better buzz than I thought it would be!
I guess it’s time to think about spending some money on gear now and part with some cash! As I mentioned there are several outlets that sell gear, but you have to know what you need. As Craig also sells Naish gear, I’m compelled to buy it from him. Getting the right gear that you need as a beginner is essential or you’re going to get hurt or frustrated. Sure, there is used gear on websites in Dubai too, but I just feel a whole lot more confident in buying something that has not been repeatedly crashed and could well have seen its day.
It may be hot at the moment but I have endured and can now kitesurf alone!It’s the best water sport I have ever tried and for sure I will need a bit more practicebefore I will be flying through the air like I have seen some people do. But all in all, it was much less hassle than I had anticipated. I urge those of you who have not tried or are tempted to get involved, you will love it!
Published in July 2012
