Kite Boarding Docs
“For whatever reason, doctors seem to gravitate towards the sport.” – Dr. Bjorn Dimberg
Dr. Jim Neel are among a bunch of physician kite boarders who lust for the wind and waves of Melbourne Beach.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Whenever the winds surge and the waves rush, the coconut telegraph lines buzz with activity. It’s kiteboarding weather.
Strapping a powerful giant kite to your body while zipping across the water at 20+ miles an hour atop a board the size of a beach mat may not be some people’s idea of a rational sport, but becoming a human skipping stone propelled by a kite is just the right way to relax for kiteboarding’s many fans, including several Brevard physicians.
DR. BJORN DIMBERG of Atlantis Urgent Care Clinic in Indian Harbour Beach. Dr. Dimberg zealously guards the time he can spend kiteboarding. “I don’t want my wife to learn so it won’t cut into my kite time,” he joked. “Otherwise, I’d have to take care of the kids while she was on the kite.”
“You have the power of a boat on lines attached to you,” said MIMA oncologist Dr. James Neel.
Credit the Europeans in the 1970s and 80s for the idea of using a kite for power, albeit they first used it to propel themselves over the very different terrain of Alpine mountains. “The French brought it to Hawaii then,” said Neel.
Neel always keeps close tabs on the weather, for good kiteboarding opportunities are precious and not to be missed.
“When the weather is right, kiteboarders come out of the woodwork,” said Neel.
“You’re always monitoring the weather. When the wind starts to blow, everyone starts getting anxious about going kiteboarding. The phones buzz, everyone is texting each other.”
A physician’s time is always limited and highly regulated, but when the call of the kiteboard arrives, Neel and other doctors find a way to answer it.
“You find a way to change your plans,” said Dr. Bjorn Dimberg of Atlantis Urgent Care Clinic in Indian Harbour Beach. Dimberg zealously guards the time he can spend kiteboarding. “I don’t want my wife to learn so it won’t cut into my kite time,” he joked.
“Otherwise, I’d have to take care of the kids while she was on the kite.”
Dimberg hangs out with Neel and a bunch of kiteboarders who lust for the wind and waves of Melbourne Beach.
“There might be eight on the water and five or six are doctors,” said Neel. “For whatever reason, doctors seem to gravitate towards the sport.”
Dr. Ralph Zipper
Drs. Lyal Ashberg, Mike Greene and Ralph Zipper are often part of the informal band of kiteboarding brothers who swoop effortlessly downwind for miles along the shoreline to be picked up at a predetermined spot by someone with a truck.
While Neel prefers the thrill of the open water, he also enjoys the relatively calm waters of the Indian River Lagoon.
“I’ve spent tons and tons of time on the water across from the Chart House,” he said. “You can go back and forth there. The whole idea is to jump high and go fast.”
Thrills & Safety
DR. CHRIS VONDERHEIDE is so attracted to the sport that he was actually practicing years ago, even before equipment was readily available and reasonably safe to use. “I started doing it about 20 years ago, with one of the Delta power kits and a plastic snow sled,” he said.
For his money, the ocean provides a combination of thrills and safety, since no buildings can get in the way of a good board day. “The kite pulls you through the water effortlessly,” said Neel. “You can do tricks or just enjoy cruising back and forth.”
Seriously-sized waves present no problem to experienced kiteboarder like Neel. “You can go over the scariest waves and be perfectly safe,” said Neel.
“The kite gives you the power of a boat or a jet ski to turn or go through a big wave. It’s like being on a magic carpet ride.”
Windsurfing had been Neel’s passion before kiteboarding took over the primo spot in his heart. Like Neel, most kiteboarding enthusiasts are seasoned surfers or windsurfers.
Dimberg, for example, has a background in surfing, as well as skate and snowboarding.
“Kiteboarding exceeded my expectations,” said the physician. “I’m fortunate to live beachside so I can go before or after work.”
Brevard offers excellent opportunities to enjoy the sport. “We’ve got more good kiteboarding days than many other places,” said Neel.
For holidays, Neel will pack his kite and head to locations such as Cape Hatteras, the Caribbean and Hawaii. One of the highest points in his kiteboarding career was being part of the Red Bull King of the Air tournament in Maui.
“I got to hang out all week with all of the top kiteboarders in the world,” he said.
Deadly Conditions
Although boarders will tell you that it is a sport any physically fit individual can conquer, kiteboarding can be deadly if conditions conspire against you. Just ask Dr. Michelle Henderson.
It was an unusually windy Sunday when the orthopedic surgeon was boarding across “The Slick,” the nickname for the typically tranquil lagoon waters across from Henderson’s workplace at Cape Canaveral Hospital.
EMILY NEEL is a Dermatology PA with Dr. Larry Bishop.
However, as she released one of the lines to call it quits for the day, a gust of wind enveloped the kite, tossing her aloft wildly and dragging her underwater.
The more Henderson struggled, the more the kite fought. By the time a fellow boarder was able jump onto the kite to deflate it, Henderson had swallowed a good portion of the Banana River.
Now, mind you, Henderson is no slouch in the athletics department. She surfs, skis, scuba dives, you name it, but kiteboarding got the best of her... at least that one time.
“People have died with this sport,” said Neel.
Another kiteboarding doctor, Cocoa Beach’s Dr. Chris Vonderheide, has had his share of close calls.
“I almost had my arm taken off when I tangled with the kite wires,” he said.
A wind gust at The Slick almost smacked Vonderheide onto Cape Canaveral Hospital.
“We’ve all had our share of near-death experiences,” said Vonderheide.
Even though the large kites remain powerful forces, current equipment is years ahead in safety than its predecessors.
“The sport has gotten a lot safer recently with the ability to depower the kite and the quick-release harnesses,” said Dimberg.
Dr. Henderson
Just don’t tell that to Henderson during her “escapade” just a few waves away from the Merritt Island Causeway.
Despite the sport’s inherent dangers, or perhaps because of them, devoted fans of kiteboarding plan long and happy times flying the waves. Henderson has been back up in the air.
Vonderheide is so attracted to the sport that he was actually practicing years ago, even before equipment was readily available and reasonably safe to use.
“I started doing it about 20 years ago, with one of the Delta power kits and a plastic snow sled,” he said.
Like the rest of the kite boarding brethren he has no plans to ever quit.
“It’s almost like grabbing onto a bird,” he said. “It’s an incredible feeling.”
DR JIM NEEL goes airbone off Melbourne Beach.
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