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Foiling: A Young Man’s Sport?

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Foiling, all the kids are doing it!  They sure make it look easy as they let the air pull them up and fly across the water at crazy speeds.  It caught Matt’s interest and so he bought a full foiling package (board, fins, foil, kite, pull rope, jacket, and helmet).  

last seaon he was able to balance on the board and get momentum with the kite as I trailed behind him prepared to rescue him and or bring him back up wind.  But he only got a few practice runs in before he perforated his ear drum and had to stay out of the water.  Then we were in NZ where it was too darn cold to get in the water which brings us to today.

Back in Savusavu with our good friend Chris from “Seaglub.”  He is staying with us for a few days to host a party (more on that coming up in our next blog post).  He has a lot more experience and practice surfing, kiting, and foiling.  So, we all go out to see if Matt and Chris can foil behind the dinghy.

Getting Up

Matt used to be a huge wakeboarder and taught many of our friends how to get up and wakeboard and surf behind his mastercraft boat.  So, he uses his starting stance to get to his knees, then up on one leg, then both legs….balance….balance…balance.

With each try he gets better, he gets up easier, he balances more, and is able to get the board down when all it wants to do is go up.

One time the board just took off and I swear we all thought he was going to touch the sky.  I love his expression when he brings it back down and then his complete sense of accomplishment when he lands it.

Practice Makes perfect

of course there were lots of these….

Foiling plays tricks with your sense of balance and your center of gravity because it has the long foil (mast) underwater.  Matt is used to the board being the bottom, but with foiling, the fin on the bottom of the mast (which is 85cm below the water’s surface) is the bottom.

Which caused some more of these….

But Matt kept getting back on and trying.  His body took a beating but no blood was drawn.  Then Chris got up making it look easy (even though we know he has had much more time practicing).

Conclusion

I am not willing to say that foiling is a young man’s sport as these two handsome guys were out there giving it their all and getting it done.  I am sure with a few more practice runs Matt will be foiling like Chris.

Stay tuned for another update as Matt and Chris ditch the dinghy and foil with the kite!

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occured in mid-August.  In our last blog post we have an amazing snorkel experience at the Chimney’s in Namena.

Translucent Kayak and Foiling

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Lagoon Explorer offered lagoon tours around Opunohu Bay in transparent kayaks.  The website and the idea sounded super cool.  Get a tour and explanation of cool sights seen through your see-through kayak.  We thought we would get explanations of sea life around the bay and or a chatter about Mo’orea.

Unfortunately, that is not what we got.  We were in deed situated in tub-shaped transparent kayaks.  But our tour guide never explained anything.  Little disappointing as we could have seen and done everything in our dinghy for free.  But we made the best of it.

Troy took one for the team and manned his own kayak.  Kimberly and I were in one and Cole and Cameron were in another.  We started out against the current and wind which made it challenging for Kimberly and I to keep up. 

On the way back we switched it up.  Cole went with Kimberly and Cameron came with me.  A lot easier and to be honest more fun :).

But we made it to the first stop – sting ray city. Our guide encouraged the rays to hang out by feeding them. Although he swears, he didn’t feed them.

Foiling For the First time

Our friends Ryan and Nicole on Kiapa Nui are huge kite boarders.  They recently acquired a new foil board and were trying it out while anchored near Sugar Shac.  They were kind enough to teach the boys how to foil!  You can check out Kiapa Nui’s YouTube channel “Adventures of Two Afloat.”

Cole was the first one to try it out.  He is a surfer and had a little advantage on balance.  But we had no idea he would pop up and immediately foil on his first try!  He was spectacular!

Cameron missed the training session, but received a quick overview from Cole.  He struggled a little more than Cole, but still managed to get up and foil after a few tries.  He had great air and speed and did an amazing job.  Check him out holding on with one hand!

In our next blog we visit Coco Beach on a remote Motu called Tiahura.  In our last blog we visited Te Mana O’ Te Moana a sea turtle sanctuary – check it out.

Events from this blog post occurred during the first week of August, 2021.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.