Kiteboarding with a kidney transplant?

[mojorisin70]

Hello fellas,

I am new here. I am a 70 year old retiree living here in South Florida, and I am interested in picking up the sport of kiteboarding. Whenever I am down at the beach here in my town, I see all the guys gliding along the water, and it looks like so much fun. I have no experience with water sports or wind sports, but I am in decent shape strength/ cardiovascular wise. My only concern, aside from being older in age, is that I have a transplanted kidney. Been with me for 8 years now. Feeling great, and keeping active with the gym, and biking. Am I kidding myself thinking this would be a good idea to try and learn this sport? I've been reading up, and its not as easy as it looks, and I'd imagine learning curve is steep for an old dog like myself. Do you think there would be high risk injury to my kidney? Any advice is appreciated fellas.
Thanks so much.

[andylc]

I would imagine that the risk specifically of kidney injury is not high, but good core strength is a definite advantage - abdo, lower back etc - assuming that you don’t have musculoskeletal issues relating to the transplant surgery I wouldn’t imagine there to be increased risks specific to the transplant.

[Herman]

I am not qualified to comment regarding the kidney but at your age I would recommend that you look into kite buggy as an introduction to kite sports. This would allow you to learn the kite skills at much lower risk. You would then be able to judge for yourself whether you would be able to handle the extra power required for the water. The bug would be more fun and less stress in the early stages imho.

[Bille]

I would imagine that the risk specifically of kidney injury is not high, but good core strength is a definite advantage - abdo, lower back etc - assuming that you don’t have musculoskeletal issues relating to the transplant surgery I wouldn’t
imagine there to be increased risks specific to the transplant.

Unless you have the misfortune, to slam the new kidney, into your TT , during
a bad fall ; i did that with a Good Stock kidney, and it was quite painful !!

I slammed into the cliff at Torry pines , with a broken Hang glider
in the mid 80's , and my spleen got removed ; it was a 8 months ,
(with lots of work-outs) before i could go
back surfing again. + 1.year later --- i got pulled out of the water by a
lifeguard, because i overstretched my core mussels where the surgery occurred
and it paralyzed me for nearly an hour. OH Crap !!

I was back kiteboarding in a bit over a year, after both my legs got diced
off ; the spleen surgery ,took longer, to get back to normal.

I suggest you work-Out a LOT ; don't be in a hurry , to test your kidney.

Bille

[Dave_5280]

I’m thinking a seat harness would be better than a waist harness at keeping pressure off your back and kidneys. An impact vest to cushion any blows also.

Wondering about staying away from areas known for staff infections and such in the water.

Get a small two line stunt kite and learn to fly it. Take lessons and watch Fat Sands’ Progression Beginners videos:
https://www.progression.me/player/colle ... collection

[UKSurf]

The thing with kitesurfing is it is a bit like driving a car it can be very dangerous or pretty low risk depending on when, where and how you drive (or kite). What ever conditions you kite in you can have some pretty hard impacts with the water so I would consult a doctor first but kitesurfing is not that dangerous if you are careful about conditions and know your limits.

[Grizwald]

You are probably on Immunosuppressants in which case what Dave_5280 said is important about areas of standing water and risk of infection.
If it is a midline lower abdominal location than having a a bit of fat is a good thing as long as you haven't had any problems with incisional hernias.
You definitely want a seat harness again as Dave_5280 said.
You want to get some experience with a board, either a wake park or behind a boat. Trying to learn 2 completely different skills at the same time will be frustrating and potentially dangerous. Keep at this until you can comfortable rotate from left foot forward to right foot forward without going ass over tea kettle.
Pay for lessons with a real instructor, preferably someone older, fatter, lazier and has trouble getting out of bed in the morning. While there are young stud muffins who get it that us old folks break when dropped there is no substitute for someone who literally shares your pain.
Be prepared to spend a substantial amount of money on lessons. It takes a lot longer to train muscle memory in your 70's than it did in your twenties. Consider a dedicated learn-to-kite vacation. I went to South Padre but I cannot vouch for the bacteria in the water aspect. I have been told that Cape Hatteras is equally good but I have no experience. Lessons in either place with jet ski support will run 150 an hour and up. This is not a cheap sport.
PM me if you want to discuss this in more detail.
Griz

[mojorisin70]

Thanks for the advice guys, yes I am on immunosuppressants for my transplant. I plan to only be out on open water, mostly here in Jupiter. Yes I would have to be careful because of infections.

@Bille, very inspirational!
I have no excuse to get out there and give it a try. I'll get myself an impact vest and use a seat harness, and see how I do. Not planning on being out in crazy conditions. Just looking to get out on the water, casually cruise around.
I picked up a slingshot trainer to play around with before i take lessons.

Thanks!

[JakeFarley]

Welcome to the forum!! Go for it!! When I first saw kitesurfing in 2000 (I was 47), I told myself I have got to do this before I get too old. Little did I know then. Now I'm almost 67 and have kiting friends that are several years older than me, in particular an 80 year old friend from Canada.

For beach water quality you can check the Florida Healthy Beaches website for water quality - http://www.floridahealth.gov/environmen ... index.html It can get particularly bad in some areas when there is a lot of rain runoff or sewage spills.

[Dave_5280]

You’re getting a lot of great advice from the forum members here.

Some more ideas that might help:

1. Tandem ride - see if there is a school with an instructor who will give you a tandem ride. My wife had a great time and you will also.
2. Seat harness - Make sure it is a soft seat harness and one with the hard shell inserts the could put pressure on you.
3. Instructors - Take your time finding the right instructor that you feel you can work with. Try to find one that uses a radio helmet so you can easily hear what they are telling you when you are on the water.
4. Water Glasses - Also, invest in some good water glasses with your prescription in them so you can see well on the water. Disposable contacts with water sunglasses also work. I like Sea Specs but there are others also. My hearing and vision sucks, so the glasses were a huge help and the radio helmet also.
5. Local kitesurfing group - Join the local kitesurfing group to get good local advice.
6. Other locations - South Padre Island was mentioned for lessons, and I made huge progress when I went down there fir a few days of lessons with Jeff ai Air Padre and his radio helmet with boat support. The lagoon there is shallow so if you fall off the board you can start up and walk back to it - great for learning. So consider taking a trip if another location would be easier to learn at.
7. Wing Surfing - Take a look at this new related sport which you might really enjoy without some of the cost and challenges that come with kiting and potentially not as hard on the body.

- Dave