Here's what it's like to ride the wind on Okanagan Lake

A cloudy sky, wind so strong it blows your hat away, choppy water: it all makes for a perfect day at the beach - at least for one group of friends.

Passers-by may notice unique surfers launch from Rotary Beach, propelling themselves through the water with large kites high in the air.

One of those kiteboarders is Phil Zurrin. On a windy day there’s nowhere he’d rather be.

“When you’re out there, the one thing is, you don’t think of nothing else,” he told Kelowna10 at Rotary Beach wearing a dry suit. “You don’t think of your mortgage payments or the rough day at work and that’s such a nice outlet.”

Zurrin has been kiteboarding for over 20 years. For a man in his early 60s, you wouldn’t know it if you saw him launching himself several feet into the air and cutting through the water.

Kiteboarding has taken off substantially over the last five years, according to Zurrin, and has become one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

While most people watch the long term forecast for a sunny beach day, the local kiteboarders specifically check for the wind predictions.

“There are so many apps now that we all have and all of us are staring at our flag or our tree in our yard,” Zurrin explained. “We know days ahead. Like, we knew this forecast was coming three days ago.”

An initial investment in the sport may cost around $1,500 for used equipment plus the price of lessons, which are a ‘must’ according to Zurrin.

Some of the best places to learn are Mexico or Squamish. Lessons can cost about $300 a day and he said about three days worth of training can make a person competent enough to attempt Rotary.

Zurrin encourages anyone interested to come down on a windy day and ask questions.

You may see upwards of 40 people on the beach with their equipment. Zurrin said the local community has been growing along with the sport and it’s free of big egos.

While the surfing is an individual affair, every boarder needs assistance from somebody else to get underway, by tossing their kite into the air. That help is especially important at Rotary due to hazards like trees and playground equipment.

While that beach is a favorite for the community it’s not beginner-friendly, Zurrin explained. It’s a relatively small area and it has an onshore wind which may blow a novice boarder toward land.

A big concern for the group is injuring an unsuspecting beachgoer by accidentally striking them with the kite’s cables.

“The one thing we don’t ever want to do is ever hit a kid. Because then we’ll lose this spot,” Zurrin said. “That’s why it’s important to work together to, kind of, police it ourselves. If someone gets out of hand, we kind of have to slap the wrist.”