Emilie’s wishes for the future

by Emilie Marx
(Part 6/6)

Vision...you wishes for the future….

Go to South America. Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru. Go back to Australia. Keep on kiting as much as I can. Sail across the Caribbean. May be even organize a huge kiting down winder across the Caribbean (that would be so cool).
Surf more. Ride big waves, small waves, any waves! Paint more, read more, write more (I’m working on this one right now!). Learn something new each day. Quit smoking. Dive again with sharks, see some of my precious friends, make new ones, be in love, give something back to the universe, improve myself and learn from my mistakes.
Be more tolerant, wear even more green, discover new kiting spots, get injured less (yeah, that is on the list!). Eat a lot of sashimis, snorkel with dolphins, hook my little sisters on a kite, land my s-bend.
Explain to my dog it’s technically impossible for him to dig a hole for his toys in the kitchen’s tiles no matter how badly he wants it, plant a tree, clean my home (or may be pay someone to do it, but get it done at some point…)…

Some last personal words to other water sports lovers...

This part remained blank for weeks before I decided to type something.
Last personal words to other water sports lovers? Wow… (Sounded a bit like “famous last words”, lol. Scary stuff!)

Something did come to my mind though. Just a thought…
When I got into kiting, I discovered a fantastic crowd of people. People who were having fun and were willing to help me have fun with them.
We were all friends, kiting was like a family, everyone would always help each other, and it felt like what surfing must have felt like in its early days. We were all happy to meet a fellow rider; we’d kite together all day long and finish with a beer on the beach watching the sun go down. Seemed like nothing in the world could beat that.
It was all daisies and butterflies…

I remember how shocked I was when I discovered surfing in Sydney – it was so vain and aggressive. There was something about the surfing mentality there that totally put me off (and I gave up surfing for a whole year solely because of the attitude - and, well, ok, breaking my nose with my Mal motivated the decision a bit too…:)).
I had known only kiting up to this point and I did not get the territorial attitude (“my” wave, “my” spot…. WTF?). I would paddle out to the crowd with a big smile on my face and no one would say “hi” to me.
I stuck to kiting (I wanted things to be enjoyable… and feeling like a cat in a washing machine half of the time and like a penguin about to be beat up the rest of it wasn’t!).

But then, something I had already slightly sensed in other locations eventually took over the scene - the surfing attitude was starting to stain kiting.

Sydney offered only so many rideable spots that could only handle so many kiters at once (and it is true that some beaches were turning into carnage some days!)…. The friendly attitude started fading…
Kiters were becoming territorial, aggressive, showing the same anger as the surfers… Respect towards older sports was disappearing as well; this was just becoming another testosterone battlefield.

To add to this, I then started to work in the wholesale and retail side of the industry.
I had no sales person vocation to start with and I doubt I ever became any good at it. I was an instructor, I looked after people. But when it came to sales, incomes mattered more than people. More than passion. It didn’t make any sense to me. It was full of political issues, the fun was spoiled by pointless arguments and it was so far off what I had known in the first place …

My beautiful ideal kiting world was dissolving before my eyes. It was really painful for me.
What had made me want to be a part of all this was no longer there; it nearly put me off the sport.
I remember being at this seminar showing the latest equipment on the market, the cream of the crop of technology. I could see the trees moving outside and all I could think of was “I wish I could trade all of these bats for a two line kite with a meter long bar and no quick release, if only I could be out there”….
I took an early retirement!

I recently just bought a new friend. I never thought that buying a kite at full retail price could be so exhilarating, lol. Happiness is priceless. I feel like a kitesurfer again. I share my sessions with mates, none of us gives a stuff about who flies what and we still share a beer on the spot at the end of the day.

I eventually got into surfing. Thanks to friends, sometimes even random surfers out there, who pushed me and supported me. I think I’m now just as dedicated surfer than kiter, which I never thought would happen…

What these past four years taught me is that things can always be what we choose to make of them.
Never give up.
Set your goals, find out what you really want, and just get there. Happiness is something one builds.

Another point I’m getting at, by sharing my story, is that kitesurfing has been and still is, to most of us, a life changing experience.
What we got out of it, from a human point of view, played a big role in the way the sport affected our lives. Bonds we created, sessions we shared, friends we made. We’ve loved the sport also because of the laid back and friendly atmosphere that went along with it.
I do not want kitesurfing to become a school of selfish pricks. I feel like the vibe that went with this sport was part of what made it so attractive and I don’t want to see it disappearing…

Even though I no longer teach, I will happily help anyone who’s struggling or simply wants advice. I’m no role model but I try to be nice to anyone coming on the beach (any beach), no matter who it is or where it is, because it doesn’t matter who or where, this is kiting. We all need each other. The day something goes wrong out there, our kiting buddies are all we’ve got -let’s not forget that.
I want to keep on chatting with my kiting mates down the beach after a great day, I want to keep on being just a kiter to any other kiter, I want experienced riders to keep on looking after newbies, I want everyone to keep on embracing this great vibe we all felt when we started this sport and that can remain there if we keep it alive.
Let’s all leave our ego at home and keep this amazing sport the way we’ve loved it - the home of all kitesurfers.

The ocean’s one amazing playground.
Let’s share it with respect and tolerance, and keep it as a neutral ground for people to share their passion and have fun all together…
…
See you out there!

Em



Interview conducted by Tal Navarro -Saint Martin, October 2008-

Photos of Botany Bay, (Sydney, Australia) by photographer Matt Lee
Photos of Le Gallion, (Saint Martin) by photographer @ ThierryDehove.com

Go back to Emilie's journal to read other of her adventures