Norm and Heather and the Running Crowd!

KiteSurfing Adventure:

I went out kite surfing last week at Crescent Beach. The southerly wind was a little stronger than usual so I played on the beach and then did some body dragging in the water first. I was a little apprehensive getting on my board, but thought what the hell! I got out on the water around 6:30pm and had a few 5 seconds bursts on the board, then the kite overflew me and depowered. It ended up upside down and dragging me North. I tried to do my first (out of my depth) water relaunch, but it wasn't happening. I think the Recon bullet (kite relaunch system) wasn't popping out as it should. I kept trying for the next half hour as I got slowly dragged NW across Boundary Bay.

I was becoming resigned to getting out on the North side of the bay between Tswassen and the highway when I hit a sand bank and could stand up. I relaunched the kite in a matter of seconds and started playing on the board again. I managed to fly along for a while, but I wasn't even close to tacking back to Crescent Beach. I was out of my depth again and decided to do some huge body dragging/flying/bouncing North when I got on another sandbank and saw that I could get most of the way back to the beach. I walked/ran flying the kite across the bay until I got near Blackie Spit. I deflated the kite and walked/ran some more to the deep channel where I started to swim across.

Just I was getting in(around 8:30pm) some people on the other side called out and said the coast guard was coming! I started walking out on the other side as the coast guard boat came round the corner! I got out and the people on the beach said they had called the Police and Coast Guard and that they were thinking of getting the hovercraft out! I gave the CG my name and number for their records then ran the km back to Fanny.

So for the record I didn't need rescuing. Boundary Bay is quite safe to fly in a Southerly wind - you might just want to get a ride back from the North Side. Having someone on the beach to stop them calling 911 and tell people "that's Matt he's fine, but feel free to laugh at him!" would be a good idea. I need to learn how to water relaunch when I'm out of my depth! All in all the most fun I've had on a Tuesday evening in a long time!