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We got what we wished
for! The wind filled in beautifully on
Thursday and Friday last week, Jean's last two days
with us on Zia. We still spent a fair amount
of time sitting around and waiting for squalls to
blow through or the wind to pick back up after a
squall, but in the end we all got in plenty of
kiting. Jean wore us out until we couldn't
take any more, and then would ride himself for
another couple of hours, demonstrating his jumps and
gibes for us.
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Jean was a generous and
patient teacher, spending most of the day on
Thursday just instructing us. It took us a
little while to figure out the proper technique with
the dinghy support, but we had it nailed by the end.
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Our venue offered a nice
beach where we could rig and launch the kite.
We would then hop into the dinghy, with Jean flying
the kite, and motor us all as far upwind as we could
get. Eustatia Sound is surrounded by reefs,
the northeastern most of which marked our upwind
boundary. We'd transfer the kite to the rider
through a series of connections involving
"chicken loops" and "kite leashes," all designed to
assure that the rider stays attached to the kite, at
least until he wants to disconnect. We
tried not to overreact as Jean talked about rigging
the kite leash "suicide." Yes, there are some
dangerous aspects to this sport which are aptly
reflected in the terminology.
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We had discussed our
agenda with Cassie and Juliana and they were
prepared to fend for themselves. It wasn't
entirely without protest that we left them "on
auto-pilot" with their school lessons, but having
their friends Jaimie and Skylar on "Sky" around to
play with really helped. Moored a few hundred
yards from the dock at the Bitter End Yacht Club, we
told them they could go in after they finished
school. Since we had the dinghy, we splashed
the kayak for them to row ashore. When we got
back from our first session on the water, we found
the following note taped to the door:
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They had taken to calling Jean "the Dude" because
they had a hard time pronouncing his name, which is
French and pronounced ZHON. We later learned
that they had shared a chicken sandwich for lunch,
opting for water and saving two dollars a coke by
buying them at the resort store rather than from the
restaurant with their meal. I love it!
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Many tumbles, face-fulls
and wild rides later, both Joe and I managed to get
some decent rides kite boarding. Joe had an
easier time of it than I did, but we both had a
ball. Jean was thrilled that his first
students showed some serious progress under his
tutelage. His patient and careful manner
ensured we had a clear understanding of the proper
and safe techniques for kite boarding. We were
so lucky that we found the right locale for learning
and that we actually got a couple of days of good
wind while Jean was here. We were sorry to see
him leave on the early morning ferry to the airport
on Saturday morning.
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Our enthusiasm for the
sport grew quickly, spurred by our early successes
and the encouragement of Jean and other friends here
at the Bitter End who are also avid kiters. We
had a great opportunity to pick up some used kites
from a friend back in Annapolis. John Martin
was flying back on Sunday morning so we made the
deal on Saturday and he lugged two kites down with
him when he returned to his boat and his family here
the next day. In the meantime, we signed up
for lessons with the kite boarding instructor at the
resort, Scott. After a few more days of
tutelage Joe was up and carving upwind on both
sides. I was still having some trouble with my
right side, but I was up and riding pretty reliably.
We still have a long way to go, but with our own
gear and lots of opportunities for practice, we are
hoping to make rapid progress.
No sooner had we
acquired our new kites from Johnny than we had to
leave to meet my sister, Kimberly in St. Thomas.
Monday dawned gray and rainy, so it turned out to be
the perfect day to make the 40 mile passage, clean
up the boat and get ready for our next guest.
We were all excited to see Kim and she was equally
thrilled to escape the Chicago winter and work.
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Our rendezvous in
downtown Charlotte Amalie went flawlessly.
After a "quick" trip to the grocery store, we
escaped the noise and congestion of the city for the
beauty and peace of a quiet cove on St. John's.
An afternoon of sunshine, swimming and beach put
everyone in the perfect frame of mind.
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We hatched a plan for
the next day to visit Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke for
lunch, and spend the afternoon and evening at Sandy
Spit. One of our favorite cruising
destinations, Sandy Spit is a tiny little island
with 360° of sandy beach and a half a dozen bushes
and palm trees in the middle. If you are
lucky, you get the place to yourself for a few hours
in the morning before charter boats start arriving.
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After a morning swim and
walk around the island and neighboring Green Cay, we
set sail for the Bitter End. We are starting
to feel like this is our home away from home.
There is phenomenal snorkeling, swimming, beaches
and restaurants, and we have friends here.
Glenn, who did our eastbound trans-Atlantic passage
with us three years ago, is here on his new boat,
"Valor." Bob and Kathy, kiters and crew on a
beautiful hundred foot Swan are also docked here.
And of course our buddies on Sky are here as well.
There is a big costume party on the dock this
Saturday. We stayed on a mooring ball on
Thursday night and showed Kim around the grounds.
Last night we went through the channel past Saba
Rock and anchored out in Eustatia Sound right behind
the reef. Rafted up with Sky, we had a dinner
party on Zia and movie night on Sky. We went
to sleep under the bright stars and gentle Caribbean
breeze. Kim is talking about extending her
visit!
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