This weekend we decided to go to Witsand, a small village at the mouth of the Breede River, about 4 hours drive east of Cape Town, which I have visited many times in the past decade. I enjoy this drive on the N2 as it crosses much of the wheat-growing area of the western cape, and it was the tailend of the harvest. The variety of birds is wonderful, from the magnificent blue cranes, South Africa's National Bird, down to tiny red bishop birds. There are even migrants from the northern hemisphere, much like me and many other kiters, such as White Storks and Steppe Buzzards, as well as the largest living bird, the ostrich. We arrived around 2PM, with the wind already filled in, and hiked down to the lagoon. As most kiters know, this is a famous flatwater spot with the easterly wind coming straight onshore in the bay, crossing a sand spit, and then offshore on the lagoon, allowing for lots of trick practise in warm water (search YouTube for kiting and Witsand -
I launched on 10m and TT and promptly rode upwind to the ocean side, as the only trick I know is jumping, and I prefer the ocean. It was not easy as the tide was rushing into the lagoon, so it took several tacks to get out, but the reward was medium size waves to jump off. Repeat and rinse with directional and TT all afternoon, although it got easier towards the end of the day as the tide turned and the wind built a little so a single tack got me out. Most of the rest of our group of 9 stayed in the lagoon, but I enticed my friend David out for a session in the ocean, and others followed later. There were only perhaps another six kiters all day. This river is most famous for its fishing as well as massive bull sharks that steal fisher's catches, but have yet to attack a kiter, which is just as well because one of our group had to attempt a self rescue in the middle of the lagoon and instead got towed to shore by another, spending far more time in the water than I would be comfortable with. I lost my board several times on the oceanside, and always made a point of getting back to it quickly as there are likely great whites out there too. We spent the night at Barry's Accommodation, my favorite place to stay at Witsand, occupying their dormitory room and two others. They also have pricier houses that overlook the lagoon. After a pleasant dinner at a new restaurant in town, Ellie's, we got a good night's sleep.
It rained all night, and I wish I had headed out when I woke at 5, but instead waited for the others so we only got going at 8, headed for Struisbaai near Cape Agulhas, which I have visited three times before without kiting, and this was to be the fourth because by the time we got there it was raining with little wind. Eventually we gave up and drove back to Cape Town, but David had noticed that Windguru (but not other wind prediction sites) had updated their forecast to indicate that the SEaster would build in late afternoon at Kite Beach. So we headed to Dolphin Beach yet again. I got out immediately around 3:30 on 10m and TT and had an amazing session with the beach to myself and regular medium-size swells coming in with long period, allowing for maximum speed before launching jumps. Sadly I did not have my old iPhone with the Surfr app with me, so have to claim 10m jumps! Just as I was coming in for a kite change there was an accident onshore. I had noticed this pair of a guy and woman flying, or at least attempting to fly, a 9m Duotone Dice on the beach. I paid little attention to them as I rushed to get out, but he seemed to have some kite control, while she had little, and they were doing semi-hot launches that seemed a little out of control. By the time I came in I was struggling to hold my 10m, which means it was blowing way too hard for beginners on the beach with a 9m, and indeed she got launched and dragged tumbling down the beach, luckily unhurt. In the past I have intervened when I thought I was seeing something dangerous, and wish I had done so before going out, however the people involved seldom receive such advice kindly. This time I instead approached an older man watching them who turned out to be her father, and urged him to get them to take lessons, recounting to him a similar accident I witnessed at Kite Beach two years ago where the woman was knocked unconscious and ended up in the hospital. I tried to talk to the guy when they returned to the car park, but he was an arrogant jerk not interested in any advice. By then the afternoon had turned into what the locals call a Black SEaster, with dark clouds and rain around Table Mountain and the wind picking up strongly, so I pumped up my 7m and had a directional session, however with the extremely cold turquoise water and my regular falling off I got cold and quit around 5:30, preferring to watch a couple hotshot directional riders who turned out to be Duotone-sponsored pros executing Airton-like jumps and wave shredding. All in all a good weekend of kiting, and more forecast for this week.