Ventura Kiteboarding Driving Under The Influence of Wind

On a Saturday, my phone rings and I hear that 20 miles South the wind is 15 to 20 mph and has been
blowing for over two hours. I am hesitant to go because I have my son with me and Catherine will be
back later for dinner. Jared is making beats and Cathy is dancing- I convince myself to go, when Mark T.
throws the, "I'm going and will pick you up in 20 minutes. Done deal!

Grab 2 kites, 1 board and accessories. Mark T. arrives on time. We are on a mission and can easily
score a 2 plus hour session before sunset.

We take surface streets, not wanting to argue with my professional driver, the better route to take.
After the third or fourth red light in a row, the smell of an engine under duress begins to permeate
the interior. I glance over at the instrument panel and notice the temperature gauge is pinned at the
top of the thermometer icon and RED! I said, "are we running hot"? In my newly learned passive aggressive stance. Mark T. responds with, "yeah it's been doing that lately, then drops off". Sounds
acceptable to me and we are on a mission.

More red lights, we flip the heater on in an attempt to draw heat from the engine. Another red light and
we shimmer and shudder, with steam being pointed out to us by pedestrians and motorists. We purchase
water at a nearby CircleK and continue the mission.

The vehicle that brought Mark so many mamories(sic) of X's and kiting had become a memory.
We stalled pushed and started stalled and pushed...............we were F.O.R.D. (Found On Roadside Dead)
Mission cancelled!

We called our friend Mike, who supplied rescue and retrieval. Big shout out and huge mahalos and props for the save. Thanks again Mike. Title of this post lifted from one of Mike's Social Networks.
I think I mentioned To Mark a couple times,  Mike likes Firestone tires and beverage.

For 2 plus years, I never understood why Mark did
not lay the front seat down and place his board(s) tail on the floor and nose to the back window.
It was never a size thing.
Certainly won't miss dodging his board in the car-lot, under tight parking situations.



                                                                                    

Photo and sundown was appropriate for the quick ceremony, R.I.P.

We found out later the wind died, when Mark's car died.............believe it or not.

Tom and The Ventura Kiteboarding Crew