Alcatraz
Here I am, Crissy Field, wind blowing from the NW at 20 knts average...
I´m riding a 9m, and I start heading out towards the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE....
Cold Water, good wind, great environment around as they have the world championship of windsurfing, so there is a lot going on in the water.... wich by the way, was really good to see Mexican Faces around, Victor, Adam and Jessica.
This kiting session, was not a regular kite session, there was no jumps, no tricks, but it was more like doing something symbolic, something unique, and something that not many people has the privilege to do.... I just want to share with you, what is the feeling of kiting on such an ICONIC location.... some people say, that the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, is the Most beautiful site to DIE... ( ¿¿¿¿¿¿???????)....
"RETARD TRIVIA: What makes the Golden Gate Bridge the top suicide bridge in the world is that it provides literally no barriers to suicidal impulses. The bridge also has, as Friend puts it, a "fatal grandeur" to it that attracts emotionally distraught people who seek out what they conceive of as a beautiful and even romantic death."
anyways.....on a nicer note.....
as usual, I´m excited to get to the water and I was the 1st one out, the only orientation I had, is to stay away of the south tower.... as I leave the beach, the wind is kind of off shore, which makes a great filter for those who have not as much experience... this is a very challenging location, as well is the MOST RESCUED SITE in the world as far as sailsports,watersports, or anything related; so here I am, approaching towards the North Tower, leaving the wind shadows behind, getting into the middle of the channel,where finally the wind is cranking..... I am far away of the shore now, I look back, and I get to see this AMAZING CITY San Francisco, beautiful!!!!!, however, I can´t even see the launch site....by now , I don´t even know where is the beach I left, so I keep going.... looking right in front of me I have ALCATRAZ , so the scenary is very surreal..... all of a sudden, out of nothing....to my right, probably 3 feet away, I see a shadow coming off the water, and..... a FIN!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!! well, lucky for me, was a Porpoise ( Dolphin ), that was very nice.... although scary at the same time...but then I got used to it as they were all over.....
so, here I am, approaching the North Tower, I look back, I am the only kiter around, no windsurfers, no boats...so I started thinking if not even the locals are around there has to be a reason....so I slowed down to wait, as I saw Mike coming behind me, and although this is his first time at Crissy, he lives in SF, and he probably knows more about it..... as I´m waiting, I can see a BIG Cruise Ship coming out of the bay, and when I say Big I mean BIG!!!!! there was 2 safety boats from the Coast Guard riding with this cruiseship.... as Massive as it was, I got curious, and I started getting closer, just to see it, or even to see if I could surf the wave behind the boat....normally after a Big Cruise ship, Ferry or Cargo boat, there is a series of massive waves forming behind the ships, and kiters and winsurfers love to go surf, the problem, is that this boats are so big, that there is no wind behind them, and if you loose your kite there, you are under the risk of being sucked by the propeller... I haven´t even started thinking about getting closer, when the cruiseship horns at me.... BOOOOOOOOOOP BOOOOOOOOP!!!!! one of the safety boats, comes super fast, next to the cruiseship, and made me take other direction....
so anyways, as Mike, is taking long to come upwind, I decide to keep going, at the end, my only goal for today was to SHUT THE GATE!!!! ( going across the bridge and back ).... more dolphins keep showing up, and as I´m getting closer to the bridge, I start kiting under the shade of the bridge, and this is when I realize what I´m doing, this is when I start feeling the MIGHTYNESS of this Structure, I can´t find the words to describe this feeling ....so I am getting closer to the Gate, and it is just IMPOSSING, the size, what represents, where I am at, what I am doing..... all of a sudden to be with my little kite under this MASSIVE structure, I could hear nothing , but silence and wind....the water is cold and choppy, and I approach little by little to the Gate, testing the grounds, feeling the wind.... as I approach to the bridge, the wind gets stronger, as funils through, and finally , I am under the bridge..... I can´t describe the feeling, but definitely, this experience makes you feel really small....here I am, with my kite, under this MIGHTY Bridge, and my kite looks like a toy.... as I´m riding under, I keep flying my kite low, although the bridge is probably not less than 200 feet away from me, the perspective and the impression of being under it, wouldn´t let me fly my kite higher, it feels like it is going to crash in the bridge...lol!!!!!
....I can´t believe where I´m at.... I look over my shoulder....SAN FRANCISCO .....I look downwind of me.... THE ROCK ( Alcatraz ), and in top of my head.... The GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE ... wow... I have been ON the bridge 2 times on a car, and now I´m riding underneath..... SURREAL......
something pops off the water...... wow...is a Sea Lion!!!!, and he´s just hanging out, watching me passing by at about 5 feet away from me..... it scared the **** out of me, but after a while, and after seeing around 10 to 15 porpoises around, and about the same number of sea lions, you start getting used to it.....
so I crossed the gate about a dozen times.... just cruising, thinking, singing, screaming, healing, cleaning myself, praying and admiring .... outside the gate, the wind was waaaay lighter, but it was enough to keep riding, sometimes I lost power, and I just started drifting downwind, as In situations like this, or even in the Crossing to Cozumel, I like to play it safe, I don´t like to put any extra stress on my gear, meaning, jumping, doing tricks, or just working your kite more than necessary, are actions that could compromisse your gear during a session.... and trust me where I am kiting right now, you don´t want to break down..... anyways, outside the gate, the water, is way smoother, and with big rollers that sometimes you can even ride, at least today looked like that... I started going towards the south tower to check it out, remember, I am outside the gate, so there is wind on this side, .... the horror stories around had to do with the south tower, so I wanted to be extra carefull here.... I went, checked it out, rode for a bit, there was some pretty good waves around the base of the bridge, and there was something going on after the tower, but I just didn´t wanted to push the envelope, so I just rode there for a bit, and went back to around the middle of the bridge....
it´s been 2 hours of 1 of the most ICONIC and REPRESENTATIVE Rides I have ever had..... so as I´m thinking about heading out.... I saw Mike´s kite on the water, probably about 300 mts away from the bridge....( in the bay ) so, I stay upwind, kiting, keeping an eye on him.... takes a while, his kite is not launching, so I approached him, I saw he is performing a self rescue, and been assisted for other 3 kiters, that normally hang arond the area with VHF Radios, they are kind of patrolling the area to help out people, that was very cool to see... anyways, I got close to him and ask him if there is anything that I could do for him? by now he is floating under the bridge....meaning against the wind, but the tide is ebbing, and so fast, that took Mike and his kite upwind very quickly...... I saw his board floating and grabbed it, and started sailing out.... he is already been assisted, the Coast Guard is on it´s way, and I had nothing else to do but to rescue his board... It took me some work to do this, as he was floating near the south tower, so when I got his board, I was at the wind shadow of the 2nd tower, so I had to downloop my kite many times with his board in my hands, in order for me not to become another victim..I managed to get out of there, and made it safe and sound to shore.......and his board too....
10 min later, Coast Guard boat arrived with Mike, all good....
we went to the parking lot, broke down our gear, and started a BBQ, to commemorate the day we had.....
Shark Stories....later on the day, reading and searching over the internet I found this 3 articles.....
"Surprisingly, the researchers found, the great beasts occasionally strayed from their Northern California feeding grounds for jaunts under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay, apparently in search of snacks."
"Wetsuit-clad surfers and divers are vulnerable to attacks because they resemble the marine mammals sharks eat."
"“All we know so far is that they are poking their heads across the Golden Gate"
This has been an unbelievable experience,
thanks to my friend Dave G, that encouraged me to do this,
good times buddy!
Thank you Sam for the pictures, you Rock dude!!!
it´s all about goal settings,
it´s all about accomplishments,
it´s all about sacrifices and commitment,
it´s all about Morph, Just fly.
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