Off the water and on the mend doesn’t have to mean taking a complete break from kiting! While recovering from knee surgery, Tom Seager joined the Naish team in Karpathos to capture the experience. Find out how Tom made the most of his trip!

Summer 2020 was a never-ending roller coaster for most people, myself included. Mine had started with a whole lot of rehab as I tried to get back to full strength from a knee injury in January. I had been coming down from a kite loop and landed on the wrong section of a wave, leaving me with a torn meniscus and MCL.

Five months into the rehabilitation process, I was more eager than ever to get back on the water, but things weren’t feeling too great. I had slowly started to ride, pushing it a bit, only to get pushed even further back in my recovery. I wasn’t feeling confident at this point, and as things started going downhill, I decided to book an MRI and see a specialist.

While I had tried my best to heal on the conservative path, the specialist informed me that my only option moving forward would be surgery. I walked out of the clinic with my head down. All of the hard work I had put in, all that time, and now my recovery time had doubled. I underwent surgery in August, and even though I was back to square one, at least I knew then that the only way to go was up!

Less than a week after the operation, Scott Trudon, Naish’s brand and team manager, called to ask if I’d like to go out to Greece to shoot for a week at Naish Greatdayz, their new kite centre. I was super keen because the alternative would have been to remain stuck in bed, unable to do anything.

While I was excited for Greece, my still rather painful injury on top of a global pandemic meant that the likelihood of the trip going ahead was unrealistic. Even though I didn’t even know if I’d be able to walk, I still replied with, “Yeah, I’ll come for sure. It’s gonna be good!”

Luckily, the trip happened a bit later than originally planned, which gave me enough time to heal to the point where I could walk with a brace. I had only stopped using crutches two days before I left and walked for the first time in the airport as I was on my way to Greece.

Upon landing in Athens, I met up with Louka Pitot and Luca Payne. Together, we flew out to Karpathos to join Zdenek, who was already at the centre warming up and well on his way to becoming a local.

We flew in on a tiny propeller plane that was shaking like crazy from the wind. As we approached the runway, we could feel the force of the wind and catch a glimpse of all the kiters and windsurfers out in the water. We knew at that moment that we were going to get some great sessions in!

Surrounded by insanely clear blue water, this is probably one of the least touristy islands in Greece. It’s located in the south-eastern part of the Aegean Sea and is known for its consistently strong Meltemi winds that blow every day throughout the summer months. We were lucky enough to have wind each day of the trip, despite having arrived towards the end of the windy season.

We stepped off the plane and into the sunshine and warm, strong wind. Our first stop was at Naish Greatdayz, where we met Bernie, a real character and a super nice guy. Everyone on the island was welcoming, and I think almost everyone we met was either a kiter or a windsurfer.

Being a little slow on my feet, the restaurant at Naish Greatdayz was the perfect place to relax with a view over the spot. At the main centre, all of the windsurf sails were rigged up and the kite gear was ready to go. From there, I could pitch up in the hammock area, which was my go-to spot for capturing the drone shots I needed.

At first, it felt weird to be on the spot and unable to ride, but the closest thing to actually kiteboarding is filming it, and just being there for the whole experience made me feel like I was in on the action.

I wanted to capture a lot of footage from the water, but my injury prevented me from swimming, so I was in a life ring the whole time. They would ferry me out on the boat, drop me off in the water, and I would drift around in the life ring with my camera until someone picked me up again.

Cameras have been an interest to me for a while. I’ve always enjoyed the idea of being able to capture experiences and let other people have the chance to be a distant part of it. I only began dedicating time to making videos late last year when I was recovering from an injury on my other knee. During that time off the water, I started filming my friends just for fun. I used to watch people ride with such an impressive amount of skill, but not be recognised for their talent because their videos didn’t show it.

Not wanting to get caught in that trap, I taught myself everything I needed to know about filming and editing on YouTube, going so far as to search ‘how to film’ on Google. I wanted people to see my stuff and think, ‘Oh, that was sick,’ rather than, ‘Oh, man that was painful to watch.’

What I had noticed when watching kiteboarding films is that some cameramen don’t necessarily understand all of the tricks and what looks good from what angle. Being a rider who has performed in plenty of product and film shoots, I think I have a unique understanding of both perspectives. With that experience, I was able to pick out the shots that I wanted from the sessions and make an epic video.

The session that stood out the most was the one where Luca Payne jumped off of the island. I remember on the first day of the trip saying, “Come on, someone’s gotta jump this. I can’t do it, so you’re gonna do it!” It took a bit of hyping up to get Luca on board, and just as the guys were getting on the boat to go set up, I called out, “You know you’ve gotta do it twice, right? Because I need to get both angles.” He replied, “I don’t wanna do it twice, I just wanna do it once!” Not swayed, I said, “No, Luca, you’re doing it twice.” It was a hilarious exchange and we ended up getting some great shots of the jump to add to the collection of memories from the trip.

The evenings were full of energy, stories, and loads of laughs shared with the kiters at Naish Greatdayz. Some of these nights were powered by Holy Water, which was the name of a strong vodka drink that was on the menu. Every now and then, they’d throw some on my knee, joking that it was going to heal it. I definitely don’t think they should call it Holy Water, because that stuff killed! Maybe Devil’s Juice would be more appropriate.

Between the purest blue water I’ve ever seen, the time with friends in the sun, and of course, the Holy Water, this trip will forever be a sacred memory.

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A Week in Karpathos
By Tom Seager

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