Kitesurfen Part 3: Hit the reef, Jack!

With the help of the esteemed kitesurfing community on oase.com (thanks, guys!) and a few items from the Safari Lodge, I’m able to fix my broken line the next morning. Warren offers me the chance to try out a new 12 Eclipse kite. I don’t say no. Around 11 a.m. we head two kilometres out to sea for a downwinder.

I swim away from the boat, the kite is nice and stable on the edge. The hybrid kite goes up like Reinhold Messner on Extasy. Even at low speed and with the kite flying relatively high, I’m off to windward. 30 degrees upwind just makes me grin. Kitesurfing has come a long way in four years.

It’s quite gusty today, but the Eclipse has good depower, about 60% is enough to flatten all the gusts. The lift is quite gifitg, I take off after a few fast turns. The downwinder becomes a single upwinder far out at sea. The Eclipse only has 5 thin struts, so it is sometimes a bit wobbly. Nevertheless, it has never overshot me, and a pull on the bar always makes the wobble go away quickly.

The sand bar where we kitesurf is surrounded by a reef with coral. After a good hour and a half of fun bouncing around, poisonous turning and height eating, I head back to the boat. Sotos says we should now start the downwinder back to the coast. I shout “Show me the way!” before thinking: “Wow, it goes through the reef too.”.

In the next two minutes, I had at least two hyperactive guardian angels. It’s low tide. The water is suddenly only 20cm deep, my fin hits the reef at 20km/h. I’m thrown, the kite tears into the power zone. I’m torn 15 metres downwind at full steam over the razor-sharp coral. Then I manage to dig my feet and hands into the reef and carefully launch the kite again. And scream for help in mortal danger.

But nobody can help, it’s far too low for the boat or other kiters. I carefully slide downwind on my bum, another 15 metres to the edge of the reef. Then I drift towards my board in the open water, grab it and try to make my way home. My left foot says no. A coral is stuck in it.

Back in the boat, the shaking starts. My right hand has a few cuts, lots of nasty ones on both feet, my lower left leg is also open. One cut on my right toe is really deep. Within seconds I’m covered in blood. I get the good tingling in my cheeks and am on the verge of passing out temporarily.

I was really lucky. I could just as easily have carved out the entire side of my stomach and been carted ashore as a zombie. What I have learnt: Never drive over a reef in less than 80 cm of water, it’s best to stay far away from it. Always ask the locals beforehand. Never relaunch a kite in the reef. Be absolutely familiar with safety – I was too slow.

Back on land, I treat the cuts, first a cold shower for the circulation, then a hot one to soften the scabs. Then a hot salt water bath to disinfect. Thorough cleaning of all dirt is very important for coral cuts. I cut open everything half-closed, scrape out coral remains and sand, put antibiotic ointment on it. I hope that’s enough.

What worries me is that every second person who has ever had intimate contact with corals and reports it mentions blood poisoning in the second sentence. Don’t worry at home! A fortune teller on Hollywood Boulevard told me that I would die of old age, so everything must be fine.