Breaking The Waves

It rains briefly during the night, then the wind picks up. Gusts sweep through the open window. The alarm clock rings at seven. I look out to sea. The tide has reached its lowest point. Together with the phase of the moon, the water level in the bay is now far too low. It’s not acceptable until ten o’clock. I set up the nine and go out.

Even in the bay, the waves are now up to 1.5 metres high. The wind is brutally gusty and very strong. Around midday I measure low 15 knots, mid 20s, gusts of 30 – dream conditions for any kiter – but there’s no more safety. After just 50 minutes on the water with gigantic jumps and a violent wave rodeo, I crawl ashore, ready to go.

I no longer engage the clicker on my old crossbow – I always need full depower right to the end, close to the front stall. After a fall, Aglicay eats my second pair of sunglasses. The palm trees on the beach bend. Thick clouds repeatedly take the colour out of the panorama. Max takes a motorbike to Looc and picks up his harness from the boat that he forgot in Boracay.

As soon as he’s back, he’s already on the water with the seven-seater Turbo 3. The wind is chopping now. Low 18s, mid 24s, gusts well over 30 – too much for me. I measure 42 knots at the photographer’s post on a hill in the south of the bay. It’s hard to take pictures when the wind is almost knocking you over. Max complains a little about the lack of hangtime on his little kite. He makes up for it by playing tournaments with the waves: Head vertically towards the wave as it breaks, right through it and jump behind it. Even without perfect light, the spray just looks awesome.

The wind dies down a bit in the late afternoon, at least the gusts go down to a maximum of 30 knots. I go out again with the nine. Ride the waves and try to head them just as smartly. Although big waves are now coming over the reef at high tide, there’s always plenty of hot water behind them on the way back to the shore. The hangtime is huge. Due to the strong wind, the kite becomes very fast as soon as you steer it forwards again. I mess up almost every landing. Nevertheless, a great day! The sixth in a row, except for one day always between two and four hours on the water. I’m flat.