Catch a winter wave with Newfoundland's toughest kite surfers
It may be cold, but at least it's windy. Meet the kite surfing crew who keep riding all winter long
Who's up for taking a winter swim in the Atlantic Ocean?
...Anyone?
Even if it doesn't sound like your cup of tea, for a small but dedicated group of Newfoundland kite surfers, a winter rip is the perfect way to spend a weekend.
On a recent Saturday, a small handful of colourful kites could be spotted in the skies over Conception Bay. If you looked closely at the water, you would see that those kites were pulling some of the toughest winter athletes in the province across the surface of the water and, occasionally, soaring into the air.
"Oh, it's beautiful," said kite surfer Peter Seifert. "Everything goes silent, you're focused on the kite, you're focused on just flying through the air. There's no other thoughts except the task on hand."
Seifert is part of a loose crew that connects on a Facebook group to organize kite-surfing trips. He says there aren't many who are into the sport, but those who are don't let the winter cold stop them from riding.
"There's a handful of us who go out, probably six or seven of us who go out regularly on the water." he said. "It's pretty small here so there's lots of room for more people."
It may be cold, but there's no sharks
Jenny Finlayson was riding with the group for the first time on the day that CBC tagged along. Finlayson has lived in Quebec for 20 years but but wound up spending the winter in St. John's, where she grew up, because of the pandemic.
She says she was impressed to find people who don't hang up their wetsuits when the snow starts falling.
"Where I'm from, we don't do this in the winter. I mean, we'll do it but on ice or on snow. We're not in the ocean in the winter. So these guys are really tough." she said.
With its ropes, harnesses and kites with a three-metre wingspan, kite surfing might look like an intimidating sport to try. But Finlayson says it's all about going with the flow.
"It's actually a lot on feeling," she said. "There's a lot of physics and science behind it, but really you just kind of put your kite in the air, look the way you want to go, and if you're in a relaxed position you just go with it."
Matthew Moir says if jumping in the ocean is a non-starter for you, you can try kite surfing on dry land, as long as it's covered in snow.
"If you have skis or a snowboard lying around at home, all you need is a harness and you can go out in the winter and cruise around in the winter on fields, and up mountains, and all kinds of crazy stuff." said Moir. "It's basically like an engine. Using the wind, you can kind of power a bunch of different activities."
Moir started kite surfing around St. John's in the mid-2000s. He then moved to Australia, where he kept up the sport, and has stayed with it now that he's back home. He says the warm blue waters Down Under may have been more comfortable than the bitter grey waves of Conception Bay, but kite surfing in Newfoundland has one big advantage over warmer climates.
"It's not as sharky here as Australia," said Moir. "When you're learning, you don't want to be out crashing your kite in the water with a 20-minute swim to shore while there's friggin' sharks everywhere."
If it's between the cold and the sharks, Moir says, he'll throw his kite in with the cold any day.
To see winter kite surfing without getting cold, watch the video below.
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