Tuesday, 27 Feb, Clifton Bay: We are woken at 7am with the sound of an outboard engine next to the boat and a “hellooo”. We ignore it; it’s far too early to be disturbed by someone wanting to sell fish or banana bread. At 8:30am we hear the same and go see who it is this time. It’s the Union Island Park Ranger. A large lady in official looking uniform, driving a very beaten up boat. She wants 60EC (about $20) for the mooring fee.
After breakfast Glen gets all the kitesurfing gear out and puts together the boards, installing foot straps and fins. It’s time to go surfin’! “Yeah-man”, as they say here. With the dinghy packed full of boards, kites, harnesses, towels and beach stuff, we head ashore to the kiting school where we can use the launch facilities for 10EC. It’s a great little place with lots of double sun beds, hammocks between trees and very nice music. Oana will certainly be content here once Glen is on the water.
The kite is pumped up and all ready to go. But by the time Glen is kitted up and ready to launch, we realize it’s not as inflated as it was. Damn, we have a leak :(. This 17m kite hasn’t been used since Dubai, 2 years ago. Looks like the heat and age have taken their toll. After investigating, it’s clear the leak is in the main bladder. Quite a big job to fix that. Glen inquired about hiring a kite from the school, but they want US$60 for 1/2 a day. Pffff, forget that, he says.
And so starts the repair. First, we pull the thin plastic bladder out and take it back to Cloudy Bay. The glue around the filling nozzle has given way. Back on the boat it’s clear that quite a few of the valves are coming unglued. Luckily, Glen armed himself with several kite repair items. The 2 of us work to get all the patches done and new valves installed. Oana is brilliant at this sort of thing.
Back on the beach the bladder is pulled back into the kite using guide string and everything is reinstalled, including new rubber hoses between the main bladder and the 3 wing struts. With trepidation we re-inflate it a little bit. After 5 mins it seems OK so go up to full pressure. Yippee it holds pressure, the repair is a success. Cool.
And it’s worth it, because Glen has a great time. Kitesurfing over the shallow turquoise water really is wonderful. The board and kite are perfect for the 12-15 knots wind. Each time Glen comes close to the beach, Oana is taking photos of him jumping and turning. We can’t wait to see the results in the evening.
After 3 hours Glen finally comes in with a big smile on his face and the kite still dry, declaring that he is reunited with kiting again. We were planning to move again today, but it’s a bit too late now. However, we also don’t want to pay another night on a mooring, so we cheekily drop 40m of anchor, then drop the mooring and let Cloudy Bay drift back on the anchor. Good, now we won’t get the park ranger knocking on the hull at 7am tomorrow! Let’s just hope the anchor holds OK.