Today I finally understood the meaning of life...
Hector, Sergio and I went to Sandy Hook today to check out the kiting condition of the bay. I brought my kites and board with me, hoping that the water on the bay side would not be so deep and that I could probably body drag a little.
When we got there, there was a kiter on the water already, Mike. He was attempting to ride with the light wind. But he stopped for a break because there was not enough wind and he was underpowered. So I decided to pump up my kite and just launch it to get use to my new kites. It was all good. It was clear that we had to wait a bit longer for the wind to pick up so Hector and Sergio just flew the trainer kite. They had a blast (especially Sergio).
When the wind finally picked up, mike went riding, and I could not wait to get into the water. Hector told me that we only have 20 minutes because he had to meet someone at 8pm. I thought to myself: I will bodydrag out and come right back in. Things did not go as planned, of course.
I was fine bodying dragging out, however, when I decided to come back and placed the kite at 12 o'clock, the wind stopped and the kite started to flop downwards. I tried everything I can to keep it up, like pulling the center lines. But it came down to the water. I tried to relaunch it three times and finally remembered that I have relaunch system on my diesel so I got it up. But I was unhooked, I could not hook it back in because of the freak'n "donkie dick" (I am not swearing, this is what kiters call it). and the kite came crashing down again. Then my worst nightmare began.
I heard a snap and looked down. The loop that is attached to the bar had broken off. I knew right then and there that it's time to go home, which means, it's time for me to self-rescue. I was in deep water, I could not feel the bottom at all. So I pulled the right back line to let the bar flow to the stopper ball and started swimming towards the kite. I got to the kite, held it down and started swimming.
When I was halfway to the shore, I realized something that freaked me out a bit. The worst thing had happened. The lines were wrapped around my ankle. They were wrapped tight so I could not get them off me. I stopped for a moment. I thought to myself: ok, calm down, you cannot do anything to the lines right now, just keep the kite in the water and get to the shore as quickily as possible. And I did. I swam with one leg and one arm.
I was so exhausted by the time I got to shore. Hector drove over and got to me soon after and told me that he lost his cell phone in the water on the way to his car. He also told me that Sergio was freaking out. In fact, Sergio was so nervous that he had to eat the last hot dog while I was struggling to survive. I can just picture that...Sergio munching on the hotdog, clenching his teeth, hoping that I will somehow survive.
so in conclusion, the meaning of life - is to not die.
posted by Chinese Fighting Fish @ 5:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home