Today I want to tell you about a nice unscheduled kite trip I had in San Teodoro, a spot that is located right at the end of the Stagnone in Marsala, on the very border between the lagoon and the open sea. It is such an awesome location because, being on the headland, it allows you to have both flat water and light waves.
In fact this morning, talking to my friend Paolo, who has also been a kiter for several years, we said each other, given that the forecast only called for a 13 kt north wind: “why not trying to go out in San Teodoro? Maybe with a bit of luck it gets a bit of a thermal wind there”. If you don’t know what thermal wind is, I’ll explain it briefly. In simple words and without any technicality: where it blows, that is not the right place for lessons. It is an exchange of air masses that occurs between the land and the sea in presence of strong changes in temperature between night and day, in conditions of high pressure.
Returning to us, when we arrived at the spot, luckily for us there were not many people but the wind was still very little, anyway we kept being confident. We prepared everything and went to place ourselves at the end of the beach, so as not to bother the swimmers and to go in maximum safety.
We began to equip everything, even if there was not enough wind, but we were still confident. Big sails of course. After setting up, the wind was still slow to arrive, so we took a bath meanwhile: the water was crystal-clear and very clean. After about an hour … here they are the “palombelle” (small swells on the surface of the sea).
So Paolo raised his 12-meter sail and began to glide … I raised my 11-meter one and I went out … it was amazing! We managed to go upwind and even started trying some tricks. We were perfectly powered… we believed in it and god Aeolus rewarded us. Wonderful! We were in the water kiting for at least an hour and a half and there was even a boy taking pictures and videos of ourselves: what else could you ask for?
The wind, however, got crazy again and began to drop. We were both underpowered, so we decided at this point to come back to the beach and rest a bit … “maybe it’s going to get better” we thought. We had a chat on the beach with some curious people who were struck by seeing us make some stunts and, after about 30 minutes, the wind were picking up again, it was very crazy… We went back into the water and the wind was really strong! Really nice, we made some incredible jumps … but it only lasted about half an hour. Having dropped again, at this point being super satisfied with the day, we decided to come back and bring home an amazing and unexpected experience.
This has been a typical day for a kiter. You are never sure of the wind, as it is unpredictable. Forecasts can give you an idea, but they are not a rule! You must be confident and patient, wait and seize the moment! This is to let you understand what a spirit you must have to immerse yourself in this wonderful world.
Till the next time!
Aloha WindBuster!