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February 10, 2009
Some tips for ocean kiting on Cape Hatteras By PAM BAILEY  Kiting is the perfect match for the waves. You can get away from the big ones, ride the small ones, stay on the inside, ride the outside, or ride in between on the flat water. It's amazing how quickly you can switch direction with a kite. The world becomes three dimensional, interesting as compared to the flat water of the sound. The waves on Cape Hatteras tend to close out and run close together without predictable periods in between. The wave pounds as it breaks hard, and there is plenty of current. They say if you can surf Cape Hatteras, you can surf anywhere. The same goes for kiting. That being said, you need to have your kiting skills down before you go in the ocean. What are those skills? 1. Knowing how to release your kite and self rescue 2. Self landing 3. Some swell experience 4. Going up and off the wind 5. Keeping your kite in the air 6. Knowing what kite to put up 7. Check your rigging three times Here are the details: 1. Every kite has a method to depower the kite and release the kite should the kiting experience become unwieldy or should things go wrong. Kites have a lot of power and can be dangerous when unleashed on the beach. Know how to release your kite. Practice it. If you are a bystander and you see a kite on the beach and it is erratic, do not touch it unless you have someone close by who knows something about kiting giving you instructions. As well, if you are on the beach, never grab the kiter's bar as it could force the kite to behave extremely dangerously. It goes without saying that all self-rescue skills must be intact before you attempt the ocean -- swimming, kite release, being able to body drag back to your board, and understanding how the ocean works. 2. You may need/want to end your session without the help of an available buddy, so it's important to know how to self-land a kite. The beach tends to be wider with fewer obstructions, which makes self-landing possible. Every kite is a little different, so when you have new kites, practice on the beach with a buddy before attempting to land a kite on your own. Just make sure you stay away from fisherman and beachgoers. We want to keep our access open, so please be careful and respectful. 3. It's easy to ride the flat water on the sound and feel like a champion. Ocean swell adds a third dimension. Try to get some experience on swell before going into the ocean, it really helps. 4. In Hatteras, Trip Foreman of REAL Kiteboarding has been heard to say, of course sort of jokingly, "Why learn to go upwind?" We are known to follow the wave and swell, traveling with the currents and traveling miles from one destination to the next. Beginning kiteboarders, depending on your home kiting spot, want to stay in one place and tend to take pride in their upwind ability, so when downwinding, make sure you can go downwind. You don't want to be practicing a forgotten skill when you are on the ocean. We love to do downwinders here on Hatteras. We choose a starting point and then a destination point, based upon wind direction and wave. We leave a car to get us back up wind or we hitchhike. There are usually packs of kiters doing downwinders. Strays are welcome as long as they are fairly self reliant. Just ask if you can tag along. If you want to be in the pack, then you'll need to keep the pace. It's a blast watching great kiters out there. One downwinder I took this year was with Brian and Chris, from Ocean Air. The waves were huge, bigger than anything I'd been out in before. I spent the entire time running away from the monsters. Success! I made it and, in the process, had a great time. Staying in one place in the ocean is really fun as well. Sometimes, when rigged correctly, we just stay in one place and ride the same bar, taking our turn on the waves as we ride them in. You'll see a lot of this when locals have to get to work and simply don't have the time to coordinate with other kiters doing downwinders. Or you may see kiters staying in one place when the wind is offshore or side offshore. Take note, there is a flow pattern. You will always need to take turns on the waves. 5. This one is basic -- keep your kite in the air. Once down your kite can get caught in current or waves, causing some damage to your kite. As well, your kite is your motor, it will get you out of trouble so hold onto it, don't drop it. 6. I like to ride a big kite for the wind conditions in the ocean. This is primarily due to the fact that a powered-up kite will re-launch better should it be dropped and will take you through current and variable conditions more effectively. Be aware that board flotation impacts the size of a kite someone is putting up. Kiters on surfboards tend be on smaller kites than kiters on twin-tip boards. Use your own judgment when choosing a kite to ride. 7. Make sure your all of your equipment is in good shape -- lines, bar, board, foot straps, kite, and triple check your rigging. What are the skills you need to work on once you are in the ocean and comfortable? This is where I am in the ocean world. These skills include: 1. Going through the shorebreak 2. Coming in from the waves through the shorebreak 3. Reading the ocean 4. Knowing your limits 5. Riding the waves 1. Going out into the waves can be challenging. First, I watch the waves, current, and wind conditions. Sometimes I'll even swim first to get acclimated to the conditions. I keep my kite high and body drag or float out through the break while holding onto my board. When I'm out beyond the break, I take off. I try to get super calm, breathe, and have my eye on the fun. 2. Coming in to the shore through the break, you will want to release the board from your feet before you hit the actual beach. Again, keep the kite up in the air. Your board may get caught in current but the waves will bring it into shore. If it doesn't come in, then you'll need to body drag out to it and then grab it. It's easy. 3. Reading the waves is a life-long practice. As you watch the waves, you will begin to get a feel for the sets, wave distances/periods, and the size. Each time you go out the ocean is different in Hatteras. We all try to go out on when the tide is low when the waves generally have better form. There are cams to watch to get a feel for ocean size and various surf advisories. Check in, the more information the better. Some sites to check: http://www.frf.usace.army.mil/vdo.html http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/frisco-pier-southeast_5229/ http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/cape-hatteras-lighthouse-southeast_5230/ http://www.darenc.com/webcam/hattvillage.php http://www.darenc.com/webcam/mirlo.php 4. Knowing your limits really goes along with wave riding. Many of the wave kiters in Hatteras are the best, most seasoned kiters in the world. They are amazing on the sound and make it look easy on the ocean. Don't go over your ability level. If you screw up, it potentially can limit all of our access. There are plenty of easy days and then plenty of big days. Try to go out in onshore or side onshore conditions. Some days, it's easier to stay on the inside, some days it's easier on the outside. It can be a blast riding waves on the inside or the outside. 5. Riding waves is my goal, not my reality. People who surf before they kite have a much faster progression in the waves. Don't take it personally. It takes time to become proficient in reading the waves. My friend Gene and I are out with some of the great wave riders of our island all the time. Over the past year, we've both experimented with taking smaller waves, riding first up the wave and then down the line. In the beginning, we stayed between the waves. Now, I can set myself up, read the waves, and still choose not to take it if I don't feel comfortable. The kite allows you to have that choice. That motor will take you out of harm's way or down the face into heaven. The cool thing is that I get to see Gene riding waves in much the same way I do. I get to see him making strides and improving in a steady, fun, way. (Pam Bailey kitesurfs, windsurfs, writes books, teaches yoga, creates jewelry, and for work does massage therapy, hypnotherapy, and cranio-sacral energy work. You can email her at pamlicobailey@earthlink.net) CLICK HERE TO VIEW SLIDESHOW |
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