I love kiting at my home spot. I know all of the ins and
outs of it: the best tidal state; which wind directions
tend to increase by a knot or two when the sun comes
out; where that rock is etc… If you’ve kited somewhere
a few hundred times then – almost subconsciously –
you become completely tuned in to all of these little
variables that mean that you ‘know when to go’ and know
how to make the most out of the forecast.
When you head away on a trip though, you are at the
other end of this spectrum: you don’t know when the best
tide is, you don’t know about that rock, and you don’t
know why everyone else is coming in when it all looks
fine to you… Then 10 minutes later you’re swimming in.
But what I love about traveling is that the kind of
knowledge you’ve gathered over years at your home spot
you suddenly start picking up over the course of a few
hours somewhere new. You work out what’s happening as
the tide comes in, you spot the rip is that’d been
making it hard to get back upwind and… you soon know
where that rock is.
After a few days you feel like a local and enjoy the
satisfaction of timing your sessions right so that you
score the prime conditions. This is one of the great
things about traveling. Other things of course include:
the sunshine, the warm water, the local beer, the local
food and the fact you’re ON HOLIDAY!
So take a look through our guide, decide on where you
want to head this winter, and then get online or on
the phone and get it booked up. It will make winter a
whole lot more bearable, we promise…
Cover:
Nothing
says
‘holiday’ like boardies
and cruising around on a
foil…
Photo: James Boulding
Here: This one definitely
isn’t Maui (and definitely
no boardies) but it still
looks like a pretty nice
place to get away to…
Photo: Lukas Pitsch