Funniest name other than "kiteboarding"

[dave12341234]

We've all had times where we've had to correct the common bystander with the proper nomenclature for the sport we love. What have been some of those crazy names used other than "kiteboarding". So far ive heard/been asked:

"So your a paraglider,huh"

or
(I swear to god this convo actually happened)

them-"So its just a giant parachute, and a..."
me-"a board"
them-"a board?"
me-"yah, a board, like a wakeboard"
them-"So a giant parachute, and your on that board, and you go on land with that?!"
me-"no, its actually a kite, and I use it on the water, the reason im at the beach."
them-"WOW, no way,and that actually pulls you, what happens if you get lifted away?"
me-(explain how to jump)
them-"dont your arms get tired?"
me- "nope, thats why im wearing this harness where i hook into"
them-"well your fun to watch!"

or by far the funniest

(right when i came in and landed)

older guy- "catch anything"
me-"no luck,you?"
older guy- "just some perch"
me- walk away and pretend I didnt here anything

I try to get out again asap before I need to answer more questions.

[peterrib]

Questions I always get. Where's the boat and how do you get back from the other side? Or... how do you get back down?
Peter

[Travii]

I always have to explain that you can tack just like in sailing. It looks like I have been confusing terms myself, though, as the process of sailing upwind is called beating according to Wikipedia. Tacking (the process of changing direction) is required many times during beating. Hmmmm.....

[peterrib]

It seems to be hard for most to understand that we prefer starting into the wind. Sun morning two friends met me onshore after my session and asked if I wanted a ride back to the other side. They seemed dumbfounded when I told them this was where I started from. The whole kiting thing new to my lake and most viewers are confused about what is going on.
Peter

[Geo]

I had an outing this summer in Canada where I came in and got the rock star treatment ( ... only because everyone had never really seen kiteboarding before.) It was a crowded "private" beach and I was trying to make sure that I wasn't pissing anyone off.

I Talk to one guy who says: "Oh, I'm OK with you putting your stuff there, but my neighbor - he's awful - he's gonna get real mad at you. You wanna put your stuff up at my cottage?" (I decline).

New guy comes by a few minutes later (older, all friendly-like) "wow, what a show, etc, etc"... 10-15 minutes of chatting w/ him, I find out that he's the first guy's "awful" neighbor!

Took about 15-20 minutes to walk down that beach and answer all the questions.

[JRN]

IN SPITE OF MY ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT, my relatives can't seem to grasp the idea either. I have shown them videos, even tried to do a live performance at the cabin(failed miserably), but they still can't shake the idea that I will be majically teleported across vast distances, & are somewhat non-plussed by the actual event. Is it some genetic flaw in our gene pools? No doubt!

[tumblemonster]

When people ask me what kiteboarding is I say "it's like wakeboarding behind a big kite."

[mdh01]

My neighbor likes to call it "waterboarding"....which really gets some funny looks when he describes to others my "hobby".....

Mark

[monkey1031]

My neighbor likes to call it "waterboarding"....which really gets some funny looks when he describes to others my "hobby".....

Mark

Similar, sorta...

I used to work in sales, the owner of the company would occasionally introduce me to prospective clients as a "Freebaser"....

I never did correct him as I thought this was pretty funny.

[MK]

parasail boarding
parachute boarding

I had a guy (my apologies for making fun of him) ask me if I needed an oxygen mask and tank. For those of you that know me I'm not the highest jumper.

I think people are simply awestruck. Or, for us its [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amT5I00BK2Q[/youtube] (Love Struck)

[Cory M]

Along these same lines:

Officer rolls up to the Wahkon beach last Friday. Said he had reports of a downed parachuter from a concerned citizen. There was no sign of said parachuter but there was some idiots kite 50' up in a tree. So I explained that the ornament in the tree was my kite and explained its use and apologized for the incovenience. He was just happy no one was hurt; that made two of us.

For those interested in what happened...

The wind was pretty strong that day, maybe 20~30+ mph, clocking wnw to nw. It was gusty at this location with the west component. Left my smallest kite at home so smallest I had was my 11m. A bit large for my experience level in this wind. At any rate, I waited for the wind to die down a bit and headed out successfully. Had a pretty good session for about an hour and headed in as it was getting gustier/stronger.

Waited for wind to die down a bit but never happened. Decided I'd give it a go anyway. In my haste I hot launched my kite from beach (felt beach launch was safer than drift launch). Kite went straight up with me holding on to chicken loop. Got a nice lofting and let go. Immediately, my safety leash gave way. No material failure in the leash so I'm thinking either I had the leash set up wrong or it was loosened somehow. I do remember releasing my kite to this leash a couple weeks ago though . Kite flew up and pancaked around ash tree. Climbed nearby tree to get at bar and lines. Waited for wind to die to pull out kite. No luck. Came back next day with come-along and was able to get kite with damaged ego, bridle, lines, and small tear in canopy.

Lessons: do not kite alone in this high of wind, launch towards water and away from shore if possible, check safety mechanisms everytime

Hope this helps someone avoid these mistakes

[bscheig]

I'm enjoying this string.
Cory - I'm glad you and your kite are OK. I've had kites in trees more than once.
Mark - It took me a while to get the "waterboarding" deal. It's my favorite hobby too, especialy when I'm around Cuba! We sure get some goofy questions - "Is that fun?"
Norm - I think it's a little bold of you to be posting comments about gene pools.

Bill