The Sandbar That Came Out of Nowhere

We were kiteboarding last weekend off Sullivan’s Island, near Charleston. The wind was blowing hard, over 20 mph, and I was having a great time.

Three hours into my session, I was jumping near a sandbar, because the water was so smooth and beautiful there.

In other words, I was intentionally close to the sandbar and thinking that it was safe to jump so close to it.

I was wrong.

The water was murky, which kept me from accurately judging the depth. I landed cleanly, but suddenly my board stopped and my body kept going. I had hit the sandbar.

When I fell, my kite dropped into the power zone, where it pulls strongest. My body smacked the sandbar once, twice, three times.

For a moment, it occurred to me that I might get badly hurt, but before long I managed to get my kite back up into a stable position, which let me regroup. I was unscathed.

That said, the BAM BAM BAM of being yanked across the sandbar made me remember how important it is to prepare for failure.

I’m able to share this story because even while stunned by the sudden impact, my body knew how to dump the wind out of my kite.

The time to prepare for that intense threat is way before it actually appears. By “intense”, I mean a threat so immediate and powerful that you have no time to think and just barely time to act.

By the way, there’s also an upside to my dramatic crash: it reminded me not to get too cocky. It reminded me that just because I can’t see a threat doesn’t mean it’s not present.

Anytime I may be of service, please don’t hesitate to ask for my help.

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