During the first week of October break I headed up to Kalpitiya with my father, my friend, Aman, and his father. The drive up was a relatively fast 3 hours as I looked forward to the action packed weekend of kitesurfing. Upon arrival, Aman greeted me and led me to our room. After dropping off my bags, we had a nice South Asian themed lunch with rice and chicken in an open air dinner area. During lunch, we had a talk with Mishi, the head of the kitesurfing school, about if we’ve ever had experience with kitesurfing. After the talk, we got on our swim gear and headed to the entrance to the camp to get fitted for our equipment. This included water shoes, helmet, life vest and our harness. Aman and I were introduced to our instructor, Zac, who’s been kiting for over 18 years. Everyone hopped into the truck that would take us to the kitting spot for our first lesson.
For our first lesson, we began with Zac teaching us how to set up the kite. From there we went through some basic safety features of the kite such as how to unhook from the kite if we’re ever in a dangerous situation. After the quick safety tutorial, we moved onto practicing how to launch and land a kite. Aman and I did this by holding the kite a few feet in the air so that Zac can bring the kite up. To land, all we did was catch the kite before it hit the ground and laid to rest on the sandy beach. We then headed into the shallow water where Aman and I took turns flying the kite. We were taught how to control the kite and how to move it between the different windows. Towards the end of the session, Zac thought that we were both ready to try body dragging where we power the kite and move it in between the 11 and 1 o’clock windows. The kite would generate enough power where it would just drag us down wind. Zac was very pleased with our progress in our first lesson and that he was confident we’d be able to use the board by the second lesson. We ended our day with a sunset and drinks on the beach with a western style dinner right back at the dining area. I was very happy with how the first day went I knew that kitting was something I’d want to continue to learn.
The next day I woke up to fruit and eggs and a very windy morning. After breakfast was finished we got our equipment and hopped in the same and headed up to the same kiting spot. Upon arrival, Zac told Aman and I that we were in charge of setting up the kite. Upon hearing that, I got a little nervous as I wasn’t confident in the things that we had to do. Luckily, Zac joined in whenever we were struggling with something. After a tough 15 minutes trying to set up the kite, it was finally ready to be launched. Once again, I held the kite a few feet above the ground and let Zac take it up. This was our second lesson and Zac felt that we were ready to try some up wind body dragging. We all headed into the water and began trying to body drag. Body dragging up wind is very difficult as you need to position your body in a certain way and get your kite into a 3 o’clock position. Zac taught us to picture us as superman, body straight with arms out, well in this case one arm. Even though body dragging up wind is difficult, it is very important as it is a necessary skill to have when you lose your board in open waters. After spending 30 minutes practicing body dragging, Zac finally brought out the board. This is where we began to try and ride it. We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon session trying to get up and ride on the board. This day we only got in a couple of short rides but we knew what it had to take to get a long ride in.
The third day the morning was the same with the same breakfast. We got into the truck and headed to the same spot. But today was different as Aman and I both were beyond eager to get out and try and get in some long rides. For me the most challenging part was getting up as I had too little power. I was worried that I would overpower the kite and go flying through the air. But I knew I had to get over this little fear if I was going to get up consistently. The morning session I had a couple of good long ride but I wasn’t doing them consistently. Zac also told me I had to edge more which means keeping the back led bent and the front leg straight while leaning back. This would help me later on as it helps me to go up wind which is necessary. The morning session was a relative success but I was feeling very tired so I decided to skip out on the afternoon session. Instead I spent the time watching Aman kite.
Our last day was overall the most successful day. I had a number of long rides and I was consistently getting up. Zac was also very impressed by the fact that I was edging which allowed me to go up wind. Since I was able to ride up wind, there was no need for me to go to shore and have someone bring the kite up wind for me. I was able to just go back and forth out in the water. I had a lot of fun kitting that morning since I was actually starting to get in a grove. Mishi decided that it was too much for us to go for an afternoon session. Instead we relaxed on the beach and in our rooms. For our last day it was a total success.
Monday was our last day up in Kalpitiya. It was a bit disappointing to leave right as we were starting to get in a lot of rides. However we were lucky to leave on this day as the wind died down and it wouldn’t pick up until January. This trip helped me accomplish LO2 as this was the first time I had ever gone kite surfing. I exposed myself to a new activity that I had never done before. Another learning outcome that I achieved is LO5. This is because I showed perseverance on the days we were there. I was always eager to kite on the days we were there. I also want to return to Kalpitiya once the seasons change to continue learning how to kite surf.