// June 9th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // sports
Allen and I spent this past weekend kiteboarding at Oliphant. We had an amazing time, but unfortunately my camera battery died right when we arrived, so the only photo I have is this one of the cars driving on the edge of the beach to our kite spot. An interesting thing about this photo… this is a former lake bed. The water levels in Lake Huron have dropped so much in the past 20 years that where cars are driving in this photo, people once were able to safely dive into the water off a wooden dock. That’s one dramatic change.
Allen and I both got some riding lessons this weekend from Kiterider (if you want to learn to kite or learn to kite better, check Kiterider out). I’m now able to get going both directions on my board (I was really only having luck one way before) and Allen, who had never kiteboarded before is now able to enjoy the sport with me! I am really happy that we now have one more outdoor activity that we can do together.
Saturday had optimal kiting conditions and there were quite a few kiters out enjoying them from total beginners to pros. I got to try and now absolutely love the Naish Cult kite. I was flying both the 9 metre and 12 metre sizes.
The drawback of day one was the sunburn both Allen and I got nailed with. Because we were in wet suits, we have the weirdest sunburns ever. Mine are neck up, wrists/hands and ankles/feet, but everything else is pure white. I have a reverse farmer’s tan! This never happened before, but my hands & feet swelled up from the burn. The burn isn’t too bad, but the swelling hurts, especially on my hands where it’s the worst. One of my co-workers called me “lobster mitts” today.
Allen also got a sunburn on the neck/face/head which is hurting him quite a bit. Yes, we wore sunscreen, but it didn’t last as long in the water as we did. Next time we will be diligent about taking breaks to apply more.
On Sunday the winds were light. Allen and I were both out body dragging a bit, but kites were falling out of the sky and nobody got up on boards. So, we spent some time hanging out with fellow kiters on the beach, hoping for wind and getting in a little light wind piloting practice. Because of the wind, Al is going to get a bit more instruction when we go back to Sauble.
On the way out of the beach, we got the car stuck in a suddenly deep/soft part of the sand. Two guys in a pick-up truck happened by with a strap and pulled the civic out like it was on ice. Thanks a bunch to these kind Sauble strangers! Actually, the people in Sauble were really awesome. I can’t wait to visit & kite again.
