Kite Surfing

Our plan was to ride up to Haleiwa. We live about twenty minutes from the historic little surf town. But it didn't happen. Son1 nodded off five minutes from our house. He had a case of the crankies and needed his sleep.

Plans changed on the North Shore. Son1 needed a longer nap. No Haleiwa. Our plan was to drive until there was a reason to stop. Hubby guided the van away from Haleiwa at Weed Circle (named for the Weed family), toward Waialua. We drove and drove and drove on the two lane road, and soon we were out of Waialua and into Mokuleia. I had never been this far out on the island, all the way to the northwest tip. Hubby had almost been this far, but not me.

Mokuleia is really underpopulated. Just over a thousand people live in Mokuleia. We wound around a bend that cradled the beach. and our eyes caught dozens of brightly colored kites scattered in the air. This was the kite surfing beach! We kept driving, because Son1 was still snoozing. We drove a couple of miles until we could drive no more at Kahe Point. Here the road became 4 wheel drive accessible, only. We doubled back and headed toward Mokuleia. You might recognize it from these LOST scenes. Just feet from the parking lot, Son1 woke up!

The kids could see the kites from the road and were thrilled to skitter from the van to the beach. Above the beach several guys laid out their gear in the grass. We didn't see any women. Just guys. The guy on the left was laying his kite out flat to inflate. The guy on the right was pumping up his kite. He had two different battery operated pumps. His kite board was just beyond.

Kiteboards are shorter than surf boards. The four tethers from each kite were laid out probably at least twenty to thirty feet long. The surfers wore sturdy harnesses and anchored the tethers to them. The kites were propelled by catching the wind, not by actual surfing. The wind conditions make kite surfing really dangerous. The wind can pick the kite up into the air with the surfer. Strong winds could also drag the surfer below the water. Hubby knows someone that was dragged into a tree by the wind at this beach. Most all of the kite surfers take instruction from kite boarding centers to learn the techniques.The distinct kite shapes catch the wind at different rates. Below is a foil kite, or a power kite. A very scraggy trail amongst chunky green plants led to the beach. I set Son2 down in the warm sand for an instant to capture the sight.

We mostly saw lei kites, or c-shaped kites. The surf was a bit rough at the wave breaks, and the shore was a rocky entry.
I was almost done taking my shots when I noticed a pair of familiar shoes next to me.
I was startled. Son1 stood with me at the water's edge. Up the beach Hubby and Son2 were ready to get out of the wind and flying sand. They made their way to the car. Son1 and I followed just a few minutes later, climbing the same trail we followed to the beach.