Lourindo and A Gore

I take a couple of trips with Artu to Lourido Beach in the next inlet. It's a good 30min drive. The sailing area starts with a sandspit at low tide and extends to a line of rocks, the beach is downwind of the spit. I get a good start off the spit and head across towards the rocks, nearly making it, but don't like the look of the rocks, so turn around and head back with the wind taking me onto the beach where I spot people in the water, panic and drop the kite on the shoreline away from them. I pick up a lot of weed on my lines and spend the next hour picking it off and walking the kite back up wind.

The next time out the weed is terrible but I get a start before the wind drops. All I can manage is repeated water starts until I can no longer fly the kite and start to drift, not towards the shore, but towards the rocks. In fact over the rocks and on to Pontevedra. Well that's where I would have landed up if two guys hadn't swam out with a surf board and pulled me into the shore. More humiliation, but there was nothing I could do.

The final time at Lourinda I was helping out another student clear the weed from his lines and the wind dropped before I could make a start. Artu said I should have left the guy to sort his own weed, but what can you do when asked for help? Kiters rely on the help from others, like my trip to Pontedevra.

Fed up with weed and lack of wind I take note of advice from one of the guys in the carpark, try Ilha de Arousa. Wind every morning at 9:00 no one around.

Checking the route I see Kite Galicia have a site on A Grove, a peninsula below Arousa, so that's where I go. It's Sunday and the beach and water are packed and the tide is in. The wind is cross on-shore and all the guys are happily launching. I'm not so sure and drop my kite on the shore line. This was noted by the professional who suggested I try further up the beach. Well I'm not happy, have a couple of half-hearted attempts and decide to pack up my gear, too nerve racking for me. Justo suggests I come back in the morning when there will be wind and I can launch at the other end of the beach, although there won't be anyone on the beach at 9:00am. So I agree to a lesson and get set to bed down for the night. There are no facilities here so it's a case of doing what bears do, I can cope with that.

I get up early to get some carbs on board and Justo arrives at 9:00. Sure enough the wind had shifted and we were able to start from the far end of the beach. Body dragging with and without the board. Justo insisted the drags were up wind, if not they were repeated for however long it took. I have to respect this approach, a necessary safety skill which I needed to improve. So now it was water starting and riding across the bay.

Justo had me using a 5m foil. It seemed surprisingly stable and easy to launch downwind, pull the power lines and up it went. I've used a foil on land with my buggy but it was never that easy.

Water starting was going well and I got a good ride in across the bay. As the wind dropped I was able to stay with the board and restart. I'm not sure if I managed to keep the kite moving but I stayed on the board and controlled the kite allowing me to relaunch.

By the second day I was feeling I was starting to get a grip, just needed to feel the harness and get my toes up to feel balanced. I know what this should feel like from windsurfing but can't quite translate this to kiting.

All in all I had two good days in the water and feel I'm getting closer.

After kiting on Monday I decided to visit Ille de Arousa. The route takes me through Cambados where Gary had suggested I start exploring kiting in Spain. As I approached the town the vineyards started to fill in. Backyards merged into fields of vines until every inch of ground was covered by vines. Of course I had to stop and try the wine. Asking for 'uno copa de vino local' didn't cut it with the bar staff. But local is 'local' in Spanish? With vineyards all round them I guess they bought from the supermacado, I checked, no local wine there.