I started to worry when I realized the plane had been sitting on the runway for about fifteen minutes. Shortly after I discovered we were already twenty minutes late for our 6:30 a.m. takeoff, a rather timid voice came over the speakers. “Um, this is your captain. I’m afraid I have some bad news. These planes are run by computers and, kind of like your computer at home, they need to be reset every once in a while. We have to go back to the terminal, but this should take no longer than thirty minutes or so.” You never want a trip to begin this way. After a series of almost comical blunders that included watching the pilot argue with a group of head scratching ground crew, we finally took off four hours late.
The original plan was to fly through Chicago, Montreal, Québec City, and Gaspé en route to Les Íles de la Madeleine, on assignment to get photos and a story at the only North American PKRA (Professional Kite Riders’ Association) stop. The delay caused me to miss the last flight out of Montreal, so I ended up spending the evening in a random hotel drinking with a bunch of Canadians. I should have gone to bed, but instead ended up talking all night about what is wrong with my country. Early the next morning, I stumbled out of bed and wandered downstairs to be checked out of the hotel by the same young women who checked me in only six hours earlier.
Another half a day or airports and plane changes, and I finally arrived at my destination, a full day late and with no luggage. On the way to the event site, I suddenly realized that Madeleine is an absolutely stunningly beautiful place. It is also the neatest place I have even seen. Every house is painted a different color and looks immaculate. Yards look perfect. Even the houses that are under construction look neat and tidy. There are no piles of junk, no trash alongside the road, and no unkempt yards. Lobster season ended just weeks before my arrival, so the lobster boats have been hauled and placed in owners’ front yards. I later found out the creative colors have a practical history. Until a few years ago, no house in Madeleine had an address. You simply gave directions based on house colors. Left at the third blue house, right at the green house, we are in the second yellow house on the left.
Upon reaching the event, I practically jumped out of the car: Finally Here! On the beach I find a bunch of kites, the best riders in the world, grey skies, and a complete lack of wind. All of the competitors were playing volleyball, flying kites on the beach, or just sitting around waiting for wind that never came. Because of my delayed flight, I had missed the first day of the contest and arrived on the first of four windless days. Most kiters like to sit on the beach and cry when the wind doesn’t blow, but many competitors took the opportunity to see more of the islands. Les Íles de la Madeleine is made up of nine islands, many of which are connected to each other with strips of sand. You have miles and miles of ridable beach on both sides of the road and the water can be warm enough to not need a wetsuit. The beer is great and the food is absolutely fantastic. The seafood is amazing. Every meal I would eat on this trip turned out to be not just a meal, but an eating experience. Combine French Cuisine with an island lifestyle and you can understand why most meals took about two hours to complete.
The four days without wind were spent touring the island, playing with kites on the beach, playing volleyball, and wakeboarding behind the rescue jetski. Just as most competitors and the organizers were about to loose hope for the wind to ever show up, the wind finally showed up on the last possible day. The skies were grey and rain was occasionally coming down, but the wind was up. I however, was on a plane back home to San Diego. I was returning empty handed, with no kiteboarding photos and a story about flying to the other end of North America to sit on a beach for a few days.
You could look at this trip and think that it was miserable – it was not. You also might wonder why we would go through the effort of printing a travel story that is noticeably lacking kiteboarding. The truth is this: any trip you go on can have problems. You have to learn to go with the flow, or you will end up spending your vacation crying on the beach because the wind isn’t bowing. A kiteboarding trip shouldn’t just be about the kiteboarding. It should also be about the people you meet, the places you see, and the cultures you learn about. You should always have an open mind – you might find yourself in an amazing place and not be able to kite. As much as we might hate to admit it, there is more to life than kiting. Enjoy your travels, even if you do end up just traveling.
Story Originally printed in The Kiteboarder Magazine
