Bare Bottomed in Aruba...

Kite Boarding....our new fave sport.  We are hooked!!  If you have ever had the slightest interest in learning - do it!  It was more fun than we ever imagined.

Steve and I were planning to take one lesson in the morning the day before we left Aruba.  After the first lesson - we signed up for 2 more and exited the water after our last lesson an hour before we left for the airport our last day.  As we moved from "learning on land" and honing our kite management skills to "learning in the water" - our instructor asked if our bathing suits were on tightly - we laughed and didn't think much of it.  One of our "dragging" drills had Steve lying on his belly, managing the kite, with me holding on to the back of his harness (also on my belly) so he wouldn't fly 30 feet out of the water (strong wind day).  The instructor told me to hold on tight and not let go...no problem, so I thought!

We really didn't know what to expect as this was our first release from "shore learning" to going off on our own - but as we started - the wind was so strong that it would pull both of us about 20 feet, basically whipping us through the water, then catapult us in the air about 15 feet, then smash us back into the water for another 20 foot drag...on and on.  This was a crazy ride and I was laughing the whole way, holding on to Steve, gulping water..............until.............my bathing suit bottoms came off!

This continued for about a minute and a half - and when we finally came to a stop - we were about a mile off shore.  The instructor told me not to let go of Steve - so I held on until I was holding on to my suit bottoms with my big toe and finally had to let go.  I knew the instructor was coming after us in the rescue boat and I really didn't want to greet him sans britches!  The good news - we were so far off shore I only mooned a newbie wind surfer who had veered off course and didn't know how to get back to land and a few pelicans.  When we came to a stop - Steve said "thank goodness" - his swim trunks were around his knees!

Me - solo - on a dragging drill heading to the deep waters!

Steve - solo - at sunset!