We have just returned from a fabulous 10 day vacation in beautiful St. Lucia and menial tasks like taking out the garbage couldn’t be more trying at this point. Somehow, some way, I need to make kitesurfing my life. It may be an unattainable goal, but the journey will be well worth it. Anyway, about our trip.
We spent the first five days of our trip in a state of mind unlike anything we have ever experienced. We made a point of doing virtually nothing for 5 days and nearly succeeded. Due to incredible fortune and possibly the grace of people we will never know or meet, we won a raffle from the resort we were married at last year for a 5 night all inclusive stay. Our return trip to Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountain was oddly somewhat better the second time around. Our daily itinerary consisted of waking up to the amazing menagerie of birds on St. Lucia (on the island, frogs reigned aurally at night while birds continued the melee the next morning), eating breakfast and then firmly planting ourselves underneath a palapa on Anse Chastanet beach. Our daily stay at the beach would sometimes be interrupted by snorkeling or by circuit training with the resort’s personal trainer, but a lot of non-decision making made up the majority of the day.
Wilbur displaying his talent at non-decision making
The nights were full tandoori grilled food or gourmet spreads accompanied by a somalier that would greatly enhance the enjoyment of your dinner with a precise decision of wine. There was also always fantastic live music to listen and dance to every night. In short, we lived like royalty for 5 days.
I cried when I saw this room
Here is a video of the room in case you’re interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbkiqdKmV2o
At the end of our stay, we were taken in a sweet Range Rover to our next destination at the southern end of the island – Coconut Bay. It is not fair to compare Coconut Bay to Anse Chastanet or Jade Mountain, it can only suffer. Suffice it to say, we spent a minimal time in the room and maximum time on the kite beach and on the water.
I went to St. Lucia with one kitesurfing goal – learn how to boost. It’s something I have been craving to do but have not felt comfortable trying. At Huguenot, the waves and the current can be intimidating and the last thing I wanted to do was go trolling around like shark bait for my board every time I screwed up while learning to jump. Also, for the past several months, when we actually have had wind in Jax it has been strong enough that I have been unable to fly my 13m kite which had always been my most reliable kite. My 10m (which is now inoperative, read previous post) was always too unresponsive and my 8m is like riding with a bumble bee attached to the end of your lines. I just never could get a situation where I felt comfortable trying something that felt about as natural to me as a lion would feel eating tofu.
Everything came together in St. Lucia. Savannes Bay, where the 2Elements kite shop is located, has it all. It has a large reef break that is several hundred yards off shore. Inside the break is flat water, the break itself has fun waves to ride, and beyond the break are rolling ocean swells. The crew at 2Elements also contributed to my confidence. Knowing that you have four capable guys watching out for you on shore gives you a certain peace of mind. On top of the setting, I had my trusty new ExA Starkite in my arsenal. Everything I could possibly want, and a perfect place to learn things I’ve never tried before.
- 2Elements Kite Center at Savannes Bay, St. Lucia
Our arrival at Savannes Bay was fortuitously timed exactly with the first day of the trade winds. With winds at about 14-18mph, I spent the first day getting used to the launching and landing situation, learning the features of the bay and just getting used to kiting in an unfamiliar area. Due to the shape of the kite beach, a wind with too much north in it caused a tricky launch and land since the land would block the wind, but the problem was easily solved by walking 100 yards east to the point where the wind would fill in. After two long sessions on my first day, I was feeling pretty comfortable with the whole setup.
Testing out the waters
The next day brought flukey winds that didn’t look promising to me. I decided to not pump up my kite until I could assess how others were faring. A father and daughter couple that arrived that day were psyched to ride no matter what, so they rigged up and gave it a try. After I witnessed a lot of kites dropping and Slip ‘n Slide style 200 yard downwinders, I decided that the day would be better off spent drinking fruity rum drinks. It was a good decision.
On day three, it was time for me to fly. The winds were stronger, about 18 -23 mph, and had filled in nicely but my first attempts at jumping were feeble at best and resulted in high speed, downwind skittering. And that was only if I were riding to my left, I was unable to even skitter if I were riding to my right. It was disappointing to say the least and at the end of the day, ramping off a wave was still the only way I could get my board off the water. I ended the day with more fruity rum drinks and wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I was obviously doing something wrong but couldn’t figure out what.
The next day, my husband-in-shining-armor showed me the way to loftier heights. Seeing me struggle yet again, Wilbur rode downwind of me and boosted several jumps right in front of me so I could study what he was doing. I am one of those people that simply cannot convert words into physical actions, but I am a pretty good mimic. After watching Wilbur jump several times, I knew what I was doing wrong. I needed to load the edge of my board harder and be way more aggressive with my kite. Basically, I needed to exaggerate everything.
Wilbur and I riding
On my next attempts, I sent the kite from farther down in the window to farther behind me before I pulled in on the bar but I still wasn’t loading my edge properly so the result was like hooking myself up to some Medieval torture device. The kite was pulling me upwards while the board stayed firmly planted on the water which always ended up with me finally getting my feet wrenched out of the board bindings. It sucked. It hurt my already screwed up feet, especially my fused metatarsal. I needed to learn how to boost properly soon before no amount of fruity rum drinks would make the pain in my feet go away.
And then it just happened. I loaded the edge perfectly, sent the kite behind me, and as I got ready to pull in the bar, my first thought was “Oh crap, this is going to actually work this time”. And then – silence. My board no longer was kicking up spray, the wind stopped whistling past my ears, it was just me and my kite in the air. There is no feeling like it. And all I can say is that it is addicting. For the next three days, I jumped as much as I could. Some were successful, some not so much. But the satisfaction that I got over my fear and accomplished my goal overshadowed the fact that I have not perfected this art. My focus since I started this sport was to build a firm foundation from which I can progress from and I feel like I’ve just added another brick to it.
The views you get while you are riding in St. Lucia are incomparable
St. Lucia was one of the first places I ever tried to kite at. I took lessons there last year from 2Elements when Wilbur and I got married on the island. This year, Chris Haysey at 2Elements said something to me that I will always cherish. After I came back in from riding on a strong wind day he said, “Look at you! Last year you were taking beginner lessons and this year you’ve come back as a kitesurfer, riding in the big wind with the big boys!” Thank you for that, Chris. I am very proud to have been called a kitesurfer.
- St. Lucia will always be one of my most favorite places in the world
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