Kitesurfing Romblon: Self-Rescue

There is a very beautiful beach between 3P and Romblon Town. Bonbon Beach runs out into a long sandbank to form an island. The wind blows perfectly almost sideshore at 14 knots, the panorama is gigantic. Small islands nearby, the cloud-covered mountains of Tablas in the distance. Sometimes the locals from Boracay come over here in the off-season when there is not enough wind.

Two Tobis from Traunstein give me a lift on their bikes. I set up and go out. The wind is not strong, barely enough to run upwind and jump. I do a few laps and land at the end of the sandbank. I run into the wind again, do a few more laps and then mess up the last jump at the end of the sandbank. I land in the lee with nothing but open sea in front of me.

On the windward side, the sandbank slopes gently and you can go a long way out. On the leeward side, the water is immediately deep. I’m swimming, the kite is no longer pulling enough in the now 12 knots to get on the board – let alone run upwind. But I’m still heading inexorably towards the open sea. Then the kite stalls. I call for help, but even Tobi, who rushes over, can’t hold me. He also suffers a deep cut on his foot from a coral. He has to let me drift off again.

I have two options: drift left for a kilometre into the mangrove-covered bay. Or 300 metres to the right onto the small island with five metres of beach and trees behind it. Neither is good, but still better than 20 kilometres to Tablas. I decide in favour of the small island. The kite just manages to come up in the weaker wind when I pull the front lines properly. After a while I see breaking waves.

So the sandbank must run in a curve here! I soon touch ground again and immediately do a self-rescue over the frontlines. The remaining draft ensures that the horns on the bar increasingly turn in. At some point, the lines that have been wound up so far slide down again. No good, Pete. At least I’ve got the kite safely back on my body without any tension. I follow the sandbank back towards the beach. On the way, I shoo back some Filipinos who want to wade to the island as the tide comes in.

That was my second self-rescue in 12 years of kiting. I’m not proud of it, especially because the conditions seemed absolutely safe apart from the somewhat weak wind and the lack of a lifeboat. Even then, things like that can happen. Many thanks to the two Tobis from Traunstein for the pictures and the rescue attempt!