Going Home
Written on April 23rd 2020
At first I like to extend my apologies to the frontliners in Kuwait and express my disappointment for incident upon my arrival, and my apologies for not discussing the subject at this time. So here is the deal; we made it back to home. On March 25th we managed to leave our Hotel California in Munich and move to Frankfurt. On the 26th there was an evacuation flight to Kuwait, and we got lucky to be on the flight and return home. Yet being back home does not necessary mean being back on the salty water.
Upon our arrival to Kuwait, I got admitted to institutional quarantine for two weeks. So that means during those two weeks, there has been few windy days in Kuwait, and I could only dream of kitesurfing. And with extra precautions taken by health authorities in Kuwait, I spending now another 2 weeks at house quarantine. I must say that I have now developed some rituals and routines that are helping the time to pass swiftly while self isolating and social distancing. At the institutional quarantine, we started to practice badminton, painting, and now I’m scheduling myself into working out in the living room, something I have not done before. I also have more time now to write and paint, and avoid using the phone and checking WhatsApp. After all, spending time in quarantine is not bad as it sounds, I am enjoying, while only the thought of missing out on a kitesurf sesh is painful.
In other words, extra two weeks with no kitesurfing. I probably was last time kitesurfing on March 3rd 2020.
Now in Kuwait the ‘Sarrayat’ season is starting, known for thunder storms, rain, wind, and dust storms. During these stormy days the wind could come strong, and could change direction rapidly, but the nice thing about is the strong South East winds. The season should last toward the end of May. And from June onward, we get into ‘Albawarih’ and hot North Western winds, too soon for that.
Unfortunately neither April last year nor this year I am getting the chance to kite in Kuwait and register my observations on kitesurfing conditions during this period. Today in Kuwait there are a lot of talks about a complete shutdown and 24 hour curfew that could last for 2 to 3 weeks, meaning no going out till the end of May.
Generally speaking, the current instructions by health authoroties in Kuwait prohibit the use of public beach, and consider the public beach in Kuwait City, and the water front as ‘no go.’ So one has to be careful and stay home to avoid complications. Part of the rational behind prohibiting going to public beaches, and consequently prohibiting water sports, is to reduce the probability of loads on hospitals and health care system that could result from water sports injuries.
Practicing water sports away from the city and on the private beaches, either in the south around Bnaider, or in the north around Subiya lagoon, Spots in Kuwait, is still possible. I believe most of the kitesurfer that are going on the water these days are being extra cautious and not taking risks, which is good and responsible thing to do. So for the desperate kitesurfers, it could be possible to kite out on these spots during these days, but with extra cautious to avoid any sort of injury, and to avoid missing the curfew times.
For now, I have to finish my quarantine period, and hope for a chance to get on the water soon. I have just order from Salty Sports a 10 sqm Evo from Duotone 2020 collection, and I can’t wait to get on water on 20+knots day and fly with it!