A Kite Day in Tulum

I ave been down in Mexico with Morph kiteboarding in Tulum for about 2 weeks now. It is stunningly beautiful down here. When the wind blows, I kite / teach, and when it doesn't we find other things to do. Two days ago, the wind was a little too low for me to head out under the kite, so I was sitting at the shop watching the other kiters on the water.

That day was not a simple "wind waiting" day... I noticed a sailboat sailing rather near shore, with very poor sail trim. A moment later I noticed that noone was inside the cockpit... The sailboat belonged to a guy named Fabien, from up the beach. I took off running and tried to head of the boat before it drifted too far, which I failed at miserably. By the time I go near it, the current and wind swept it well beyond my reach. At this point, Blaine (fellow kiteboarder I work with) was near by, so I flagged him down and asked him to drag me out to the boat. Apparently though I am quite a drag, because we couldn't keep up with it.

John (fellow kiteboarder / roommate) came on the scene dragging the owner of the boat along with him in an attempt to chase down the boat too. I told Blaine to ditch me and kite off to the boat to grab the bowline and reign it in. When Blaine arrived at the boat, he found that it had no bowline though. So with some quick thinking, he capsized it.

This allowed the owner (Fabien) and John to catch up to the boat. I thought about turning around and making the long swim back, but opted for laziness and a ride Fabien when they righted the boat and sailed back, but the boat was not righting... Manolo (local kiter) came past and allowed me to hitch a ride to the sailboat. I thought that being a sailing instructor, I would perhaps be able to help out. Turns out the mast was dead stuck in a reef. Fabien had John attach himself to the jib sheets (ropes on the boat) and use his kite's power to right the boat, which worked, but it immediately capsized again... Round two!

I swam up and grabbed onto the center board while Fabien down down to free the mast, once it was free, John used the kite to help right the boat while I exherted pressure on the centerboard. The boat righted and Fabien and I were able to right the boat and rerig it for the sail home.

And people think us kiters are just lazy bums, and while I may be from time to time, always glad to help a fellow sailor in need, whether they be in a boat, on a board, or under a kite. Props to the Tulum kiteboarders!

Sontiam
Morph Kiteboarding