30 July 2011 - Brighton in the rain
Location : Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-20 knots northerly Great to get out on an average day.
Posts
17 July 2011 - Brighton in a gusty northerly
Location : Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-30 knots northerly This season has been a bit atypical - consistent winds and some southerlies coming through. None of that today though - back to the winter of old with a gusty northerly to contend with. PredictWind was spot on again - we were first on the water and got the best of the breeze by going early. Trickiest wind I've kited in quite a while - it was all over the place. Too cold for any crazy tricks - and too gusty but transitions are all good. Managed to kite a bit upwind with Pete to around Brighton harbour - fun to do a mini tour. Great to get out and wash away the cobwebs after a night on the town on Friday.
09 July 2011 - Hampton cool down
Location : Hampton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-20 knots westerly After a holiday in the sun, this was the perfect way to readjust to Melbourne's temperature. A kite in 12C at Hampton in a very consistent westerly. As mentioned previously, I've put a bit of a monatorium on new tricks as it is freezing in the water when you ditch the kite. So nothing crazy today, but great fun to be out in just enough wind, quite a swell around so some fun to be had in the waves. A boat busted a mast so I did my best to help take a lady to shore - but she was too freaked out to be helped much.
02 July 2011 - Whitsunday - warm water, sharp rocks
Location : Long Island, Whitsundays Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-20 knots south easterly The stars seemed to align during the week, predictwind indicated that the wind would be perfect for the first day of our holiday. I looked around Long island on google maps and found what seemed to be a perfect kite beach just 200m from where we were staying. Yeehaa ! It looked like a beautiful spit, perfect for a south easterly, with great sand for landing and launching. Check it out and you can see why I got excited. Reality however, looked a little different. What appears to be a sandy beach is actually a rocky beach. Not little rocks either, but rocks with barnacles and pieces of coral - all very sharp. So did I go out - hell yes. Luckily the tide was outgoing and revealed a sand bar around 4m by 4m. I was able to launch from this sand bar, and navigate out through a passage inbetween the rocks. Rocks were everywhere, in the water, on t...