Sheldon Kiteboarding

If you want to LEARN and you want to be SAFE — Stay Away from Bruce Sheldon!
Poor interpersonal skills
Safety Issues
Lack of Instruction
Lack of attention to students who are learning
We took our first kite surfing lessons from Bruce. We drove 2 hours each way for the lessons, and Bruce was late 2 out of 4 days.
The first day we flew the trainer kite. The 2^nd day Bruce was over 1 hour late, so we just flew kites on land again. The 3^rd day I stayed home and J went in the water. The 4^th day Bruce was late again; I watched while J tried to get up on the board with a 5.5 meter kite and a threadbare wetsuit with holes in it. (J’s teeth were chattering and his lips were blue when he got out of the water).
By the end of our «lessons» with Bruce we were VERY frustrated, and unhappy with his teaching. The entire time we were with him, Bruce seemed to be trying to talk us out of kite surfing. He constantly talked about how difficult it is to learn, how dangerous it is, and things like that. He also persistently suggested that we learn to wake-​board before learning to kite surf.
If, in the process of our practice, we did not fly the kite exactly right Bruce would whine and criticize and tell us how we did it wrong. He did not have many suggestions on how to do it right. He seemed to panic easily and also lose his temper. He would raise his voice and frantically tell US not to panic … except we weren’t the one’s who had panicked at all.
We have since taken lessons elsewhere, and they were SO much better. Bruce had my 185-​pound husband flying a 5.5 meter kite, and criticized when he wasn’t able to stand up on the board. He blamed it on J’s lack of skill. We have since learned that J should be using at LEAST a 9m kite; at our subsequent lessons, our new instructors started J on a 12m kite and moved him up to a 15. I know wind speed has something to do with it, but you need a big enough kite to pull you up on the board — J stood up and rode all across Floras Lake on his first lesson there. I used a 9m kite at Floras, and I popped right up on the board on my first try … it wasn’t difficult at all, as Bruce had made it seem. In contrast to my lesson with Bruce, I came away from my lessons at Floras Lake thinking that I had pretty good kite skill (as Will told me so). Bruce had said that I needed a lot more work and made me feel like I would never learn. Our one 2-​hour lesson at Floras Lake was much more valuable than our several lessons with Bruce, and we are both confident now that we can, indeed, enjoy the sport.
We also learned some safety protocols that Bruce violates:
1. Never fly a 4 line harness kite on land while learning: it is dangerous to the user and the kite. Bruce had us flying a 4 line kite in a field near barbed wire.
2. never use an ankle leash for your board: this is a major safety issue. Bruce will not let you go without an ankle leash because he is afraid you will lose his board.
Lastly, Bruce does not pay full attention to his students. While J was in the water with the kite, Bruce was often on his phone or arguing with people onshore about sales or kite repairs. He wasn’t even watching J for long stretches of time. J didn’t get into trouble, but if he had Bruce wouldn’t have seen it.
Bruce has cheaper prices, so maybe one day using a trainer kite would be OK with him … but I would never recommend anything more.

Best kiteboard instructor hands down. Easy going and wants you to have fun and stay safe. Old school, no nonsense teaching methodology– after a few lessons I was very comfortable with the kite. Sells good gear as well and has repaired my kite after an accident. All around great shop.

Great place for any wind sport repairs. And boat covers for that matter lol. Bruce fixed a few of my sails for my sailboat. Then he started getting me into kite boarding. Great guy and a pro sailright!

Excellent kite repair service; top notch and completed in a timely manner at a more than reasonable price. I’ve had at least 4 kites repaired by Sheldon Kiteboarding and all repairs have outlasted the life of the kite.
I have not taken kite lessons from Sheldon Kiteboarding however I’ve observed many lessons being given and know of many people who’ve gone through lessons with Bruce at Sheldong Kiteboarding; They’ve all been quite happy with the results.