You may have seen them down by the Naples pier -- dare-devil kite-boarders taking to the wind and water for spectacular stunts.

A national champion who travels the world kite-boarding lives right here in Southwest Florida.

High-flying. Trick-turning. Super-surfing. Damien LeRoy does it for a living. He and has kite-boarding buddies have even made a movie about it.

"I travel the sport competing, flying these kites in the most beautiful places -- Greece, Australia, Hawaii, Caribbean, you name it," LeRoy says.

Add Naples, Florida to that list. His dare-devil antics catch the attention of beach-goers turned spectators.

"It's amazing -- like nothing I've ever seen before!" Krystal McNeal says.

"It's so much fun!" Brandi MacQuarrie says. "We have some pictures of him on our computer at home, it's great."

"I can obviously do some things to make them really yell and scream," LeRoy says. "I just jump really big -- that's what they really like. We can do all sorts of tricks."

But Damien can't kite-board today. East winds from our recent rash of tropical storms and hurricanes make it too dangerous.

"You definitely want winds that are more onshore or side shore and not off shore, because if things were to happen, you're now drifting out to sea," LeRoy says.

The now infamous video of a kite-boarder being dragged along a Fort Lauderdale beach during Tropical Storm Fay is all he needs to see as a reminder.

"That guy was riding in some really bad storms and he chose to go out on a wrong day,"LeRoy says. "Your life's in your hands by mother nature."

Damien traded snow for sand and surf. A pair of knee injuries knocked him out of competitive skiing. He found water is a lot more forgiving.

"I got into the sport because it was very soft and floaty," LeRoy says. "We actually take the board off in the air and spin it around."

He says anyone can take on this extreme sport, so we hit the beach to learn the ropes.

"It's just like flying a kite, so left takes the kite left and right takes the kite right," LeRoy explains.

The kite strings are first connected to a harness. One-hundred feet of lines connect to the kite.

"I make little teeny larks head knots, and that is it. That little knot is saving your life right there," LeRoy says. "When I first started in the sport, I was thinking you should at least tie 15 knots just to make sure that we're attached to this thing!"

Add on a board, and Damien says you're ready to hit the water.

"If you crash it on the water, it can relaunch and you can go back out," LeRoy says. "You can literally jump, I'd say, two blocks here. The motto is go as far as you can swim!"

He's learned by trial and error.

"I've had every problem go wrong, but it actually made me super good," LeRoy says. "I've gone into the Naples pier right here when we were learning."

"You can do this in the craziest places," LeRoy says.

That often means traveling the world in seeking the next big thrill.

"I jumped off some dunes in Michigan, and that's pretty crazy considering these are meant to go over the water and not really over land," LeRoy says.

Even mother nature can't slow him down.

"We might try to hop on a plane real fast and fly to the Bahamas because we have incredible -- they're talking 14-foot swells!" LeRoy says.

So for any of you out there brave enough to try kite-boarding, call a local surf shop for lessons.

If you have an idea for a Maggie Monday, please send Maggie an email at maggie.crane@winktv.com.