Retired guys have to have something to do, right? Otherwise they drive their wives, neighbors and friends nuts. And, no point in leaving the kids too much inheritance. So...
You'll remember that last November my brother Mark and hopped a plane and had four good days kiteboarding on Tampa Bay. It looked like there was going to be plenty of wind this week, so we started making plans, pushing other stuff off the schedule.
Yeah, well it turned out there was plenty of wind there. In fact, Tropical Storm Eta regained hurricane strength as it hit land - at Tampa Bay. Now, I like a bit of wind as much as the next sexagenarian trying to push away old age, but sustained winds of 70 mph is a little too much. A LOT too much.
So, we quickly looked around. Let's see...Aitutaki Island in the Cook Island chain. Yep - looks like good conditions. Oops, plane tickets are $2,500 and it takes about 30 hours to get to Rarotonga before you take the hop to Aitutake. I didn't think that the wives were going to buy it. Kind of isolated, too.
Yes, but what about the pandemic? Well, 1) Mark and I were arriving in separate vehicles, 2) the proprietor of the Air BnB wasn't around, 3) kiteboarding is done outside, and 4) winds of about 25 mph would tend to decrease the risk. In addition, the fact that the kites are on 75-foot lines tends to make social distancing kind of automatic. It was some good, gnarly kiting. Mark was happy because he hit a new personal record on a high jump. I was happy to survive to fight another day.
We had planned for up to four days, but after two, I could hardly walk, I had dropped three pounds and just as we ended the second day, the rains came. Paula recorded more than five inches at our place (the max on her gauge) and I-95 closed for a while for flooding.
We had lucked out with an unusually late, warm and strong southerly flow, but as the front came through, the winds did a 180 and came from the north, dropping the temperatures at last. I am a strong believer and worrier about climate change, but this one teensy time I was glad to be able to just wear a shorty wetsuit on the 11th and 12th of November.
That said, it was a nice end to the season. Now, time to clean and pack the kites away for a while, find some ibuprofen and eat back those three pounds.
We hope that you are also finding occasional opportunities in these weird times to have some irresponsible fun. Meanwhile, be careful in general, and don't tangle your kite lines with anybody.
Dave
