Letting it ALL GO

There are some places in the world that are guaranteed to make you want to return. Boracay, a small island in the Philippines, is one such destination and has drawn this writer to its shores for two consecutive years.

It was here that I first tried kitesurfing. The Bulabog Beach on the eastern side of Boracay has many windsurfing and kitesurfing sports centres and I was lucky to pick one that’s affiliated with the International Kiteboarding Organisation.

The organisation has training centres around the world, and some of its courses are tailored for beginners like me.

The centre on Boracay has different courses, from recreational to professional. In the recreational category, trainees have to complete the “discovery” level before they go on to more advanced levels.

My instructor Brian, who hailed from the United States, began my training by asking me to set up the kite on the sand.

I then had to practice at length the various skills for assessing the direction of the wind and the movements of my body.

The winds, which are strong in March, explain why the Philippines were always important on the ancient maritime trade routes. Indeed, they even call the wind Amihan, or trade winds.

From September to May, the hills on the northern and southern ends of the island channel the Amihan wind from the east onshore, and onto the Bulabog Beach on the eastern coast of the island.

Thanks to the wind, the reef-protected waters off Bulabog Beach are ideal for windsurfing and kitesurfing, so much so that it has become one of the venues on the Asian Windsurfing Tour. The Boracay International Funboard competition is also held here every January and lasts a whole week.

Bulabog beach draws kitesurfers from around the world and during the season those surfers could be seen along the 2.5 km stretch of Bulabog Beach.

 November to April is said to be the best for kite and wind surfing while other water sports can be enjoyed from May to October.

The wind made it difficult to even stand in the water and I watched helplessly as the kite flew randomly in all directions offering no clue how to control it. I heard Brian yelling, “Let it go! Let it go!” but given the sound of the waves, it took a while to register.

I didn’t have time to figure out how to “let it go” before a pull from the flying kite nearly lifted me up from the surface of the shallow water. I lost balance, and was pulled into the water.

“You need to let it go when you can’t control it,” said Brian, “That’s the No 1 rule in kite-boarding.”

It was among several useful tips I learned about sports and life.

The key to controlling the kite is to let it go according to the wind direction, while adjusting position in the water.

Gradually I “mastered” my kite, made it fly steadily and at my will. It is a kind of art in collaboration between the wind, the kite and the body.

Brian knows all about letting it go. He arrived on the island some seven years ago after his construction business collapsed and decided to stay.

For the rest of my classes, I was struggling between how to control the kite and when to loosen the grip on the bar and felt like cheering when I finally managed to stand in the water while at the same time keeping the kite aloft.

Brian later gave my fellow trainee and I a recreational bonus by offering us a chance to “experience the water”.

We swam behind him as if he were the surfing board, each of us holding a bar that he wore. He navigated the kite and directed us to float on the water. The three of us moved swiftly in the water.

At the end of the lesson, Brian gave each of us an IKO membership card, and my fellow trainee said she would return in November, the beginning of the next windy season.

I did not make it last November. When I went back again this April, I did not see Brian. I heard he had left for Cebu, a kite resort hub nearby.

Perhaps I will meet him again on the waves on my next visit.

 

IF YOU GO

< Boracay is located 315 km south of Manila, capital of the Philippines. It is 2 km off the northwest tip of Panay Island, a larger island in the Philippines. Cebu Pacific operates Bangkok-Boracay flights via Manila.