So we are definitely staying here in Bora Bora until at least September 30. If we had only known ahead of time. . . . We might have spent more time in the Tuamotus, or stopped at Moorea, Huahine, or Raieteia - all upwind destinations now!

But as long as I am stuck in paradise, I might as well make use of the time to learn a useful skill. So today I went to Kite Boarding school.

Lesson one: learning to control the kite. Damn that thing is powerful! Crashed it many times, but my instructor got it airborne for me again each time. Axel is a Frenchman who has spent enough time in the tropical sun to pass for Polynesian.

By the end of todays lesson, I was knee surfing downwind while flying figure eights with the kite. Tomorrow, I might get to stand on a board. Cool!