I thought Aruba would be a nice spot to hone my kiteboarding skills so I looked up the Aruba Kite Surfing School before I left home. As luck would have it, the school is located a short walk down the beach from where we anchored. We had moved further down the beach and around the corner because it was too rough for Joel to sleep comfortably. Me, on the other hand, am at my best in a horizontal position when we’re rocking so I slept like a baby until he pulled up the anchor this morning.

Kitesurfing conditions could not be better. Wind was offshore (a no-no) but they keep a rescue boat close by and since you don’t pay until after the lesson you are guaranteed a rescue if you blow out to sea. Plus, if you blow away, they lose a kite and all their gear so I felt very safe. Since we are on the leeward side of the island as indicated by the offshore winds there are virtually no waves or surf to deal with and a long shallow area. Naturally the water is warm although we did see a sting ray but they’re only dangerous if you run over them.

It turns out that I have been doing everything wrong. I could have guessed as much from my track record. On top of that, lessons are cheaper than at home. Andress started me on a training kite and refined my technique. He likes to work with tourists in the crash zone but we only had near misses. Those slow walking tourists should to learn to look up and watch out. I know for a few of them a walk on the beach will never again be relaxing

Believe it or not I still had issues controlling the kite but I did end up staying up for short trips and I’m really good at re-launching. I have another lesson scheduled for tomorrow morning and I look forward to spectacular success. Joel scheduled a lesson after me tomorrow. I’m looking forward to that too.

I only ingested small quantities of sea water and after the lesson Joel and I rewarded ourselves with an overpriced pina colada, daquiri, and some french fries. There is a beach bar with free internet so here I sit.

We’re staying at anchor here for at least another day so we don’t have to rent a car. Sign up as a follower so you don’t miss tomorrow’s update, including kitesurfing photos.

Regards,

Steve & Joel