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A half-mile down the shore, a dozen kiteboarders played in the surf. Bobbing in swells and jumping off waves, the boarders glided parallel to the shore, their colorful canopies pulling strong in the wind. Pismo State Beach, which is a shallow, sandy beach with steady winds and few dangerous currents, is among the most popular kiteboarding areas in California, according to Mr. Lee.
LATER in the day, after two hours of land instruction, Mr. Lee reassembled the group. It was time to get into the ocean.
Amber Sellinger, a 30-year-old geologist from nearby Oceano, Calif., wore a neoprene skullcap and booties along with her wetsuit. The ocean was cold, probably in the mid-50’s, and in the next exercise, which Mr. Lee dubbed the “body drag,” all four students would be soaked.
“It’s going to be just frigid!” Ms. Sellinger said, smiling and jumping up and down on the sand.
Mr. Scattini was first in the water. He waded out with Mr. Lee, tethered to a kite that had been launched on shore. When he was chest deep, Mr. Scattini swooped the kite down for power and dove forward into the surf, gasping for air and attempting to control the kite as it dragged him several hundred feet parallel to the beach.
Each student took a turn, and after a few drags, Mr. Lee gave each a kiteboard. The day’s lesson would end with a chance to stand up and surf, if only for a second or two.
A set of waves, six foamy walls of water, rolled in as Mr. Scattini strapped into his board. Floating on his back some 100 feet offshore, kite hovering overhead, Mr. Scattini listened for the instructions.
“Dip the kite down to the right,” Mr. Lee yelled. “Let it pull you up into a stance.”
With a sudden swoop toward the water, and then a rising flight back into the sky, the kite yanked Mr. Scattini up onto the surface. His board skipped twice as the kite ripped along, and Mr. Scattini was fighting for control. A moment later, his kite crashed dramatically into a swell, plunging Mr. Scattini headlong with notable force back into the cold ocean water.
Mr. Lee waded out toward him, moving fast through waist-deep water. But Mr. Scattini was already standing up, trying to relaunch his kite.
Waves pounded the flailing canopy. Wind whipped overhead. And Mr. Lee moved out into the sea to untangle the cords, to launch the kite, to let his student fly again.
Where to Go
ANY spot on the planet with consistent wind and wide-open water is a candidate for the sport of kiteboarding. Indeed, aficionados of this growing sport have set up shop in locales as diverse as North Carolina, Maui, Oregon, the Dominican Republic and Minnesota.
San Luis Obispo’s California Kiteboarding (805-550-3768, www.californiakiteboarding.us) offers instruction from March through at least September. The company’s Kite Flying Basics program, a one-hour beach-based lesson on the rudiments of kite control, costs $50; a five-hour lesson, including all equipment and a chance to ride a kiteboard through the waves, goes for $325.
Basic kiteboarding equipment packages, including the kite, board and harness, start around $1500.
