Kiteventure

After doing a little detour via Beaumaris, I ended up at Port with Mike.  Great conditions, about 18 knots throughout.  Athol dropped by and captured some fantastic moments, he is a gun photographer. After the photo session, we headed up to South Melbourne for some fun wave action.  Just what the doctor ordered, stunning session. Mike - taking the dead man to the next level More great photos from Athol at https://atholhill.smugmug.com/Sports/Kitesurfing/2018-12-30-Port-Melbourne-Kiteboarding/

It's been such a strange summer season, a horrible lack of sea breezes and really inconsistent wind.  When it blew up a little I was straight down the beach to try and grab an opportunistic session.  I headed first to Hampton, where it wasn't hitting the beach at all.  Then up to Brighton, where one guy was out and there seemed to be a little more on the beach in the straight southerly.  The only catch - heaps of people around and Brighton is really crap if you don't have enough wind as downwind is chaos -  a pier and a yacht club. I launched and quickly jumped in the water, but soon realised there was not quite enough wind.  I went out a long way, and ended up on a tack just in front of the yacht club.  After about 30 mins, the wind picked up and I was suddenly able to get some air and pull some rotational tricks.  Perfect wind for looping so I did a lot of looping transitions and tried some new tricks from the trickbag.  To my amusement,...

Forecast looked great, but Altona absolutely stunk.  The water was murky, and the wind wasn't quite strong enough - a pretty consistent 13 to 14 knots.  James, Mike and I all tried to make a go of it, but no great joy.

Having effectively given up on the downwinder, I deflated my kite.  Even the yachts out in the middle of the bay were just bobbing along.  The second after my kite was fully deflated, we were hit with a big gust, an instance of 20 knots right in our face.  The water rippled up, and it seemed like the wind was back in town. I quickly pumped up again and got out on the water.  The wind was good, but not enough for me to hold a line.  I tried to wait as long as I could, then bit the bullet and rode with the wind towards mordialloc.  As I hit Seaford it got a lot stronger, it ended up being a great ride for me all the way until Aspendale, well powered wind and a nice little wave.  Pete overtook me, and I could see James making up ground.  I couldn't see Stu so figured him and Dobbo had opted out. Turned out that Stu caught up and Dobbo got stuck behind Seaford pier - damn.  The window of wind was really short, I was just fortunate to be able t...

Forecast looked great so we met up at Mordialloc pier - Stu, James, Pete, Dobbo - with the aim of doing a down winder from Frankston to Mordy.  It's the best section of beach around here so seemed like a great plan.  On arrival at Mordy it was almost blowing hard enough, we were all pretty excited to hit the water.  We arrived at Gould St and all systems go, kites up and ready to go.  The wind however had other ideas, it was ok at first, then dropped to close to nothing.  I had to walk the kite back up the beach and watch even the yachts out at sea struggling along.

Great team effort down at Hampton, we had James, Rich, Stu, Dobbo and Lee all on the water at the same time.  Wind was a perfect 18-22 knots, enough to go for a couple of triples (one got close to landing, another went bang), lots of doubles, 3 dead men which went fine, but the recovery bar grab didn't so I got dunked every time.  The bar ends up being so far away !  Really fun session.

Met up with Stu, Pete, Anthony & Rich down at Hampton.  It had been intermittently blowing hard all day, then backing off, and we arrived just in a lull of around 5-10 knots.  Looking at the sky it looked very similar to our Point Lonsdale experience, where it blew up to 50 knots.  Scanning the horizon I could see a front building and it looked like it was going to get crazy.  So somewhat non-intuitively I blew up the 7m in virtually no wind and setup.  Stu followed my lead but went a bit bigger. As soon as we were all hooked up it started to build.  We got straight out on the water and had a perfect 20 knots for about 20 minutes.  Then it went harder...and harder...and harder to about 30-35 knots, I was getting big air and having a ball.  Great session and definitely took advantage of the hurricane !

Great consistent wind, westerly too which meant we could all track along the shore forever.  Taz called in on his truck - looks amazing.  James came soon after, with Dobbo joining the party also.  I went small just in case, which was just right for me, but I powered it up so it turned crazily with little input.  Hence headaches - I was trying to land some backrolls to toeside and twice inadvertently went into kiteloops - resulting me flying backwards fully powered twice.  Fully whiplash and headaches - enough to wash my seaspecs far away.  Great session though ! Taz got some awesome footage of Dobbo too - with a gutsy backroll and jump quite close to shore. 

Metup with James, Anthony, Mike, Dobbo and Chris who just happened upon us at Brighton.  Stu joined late for a sensational downwinder to Brighton.  Landed a triple back but a bit rough, got to get a smooth one in.

I love seabreezes. That is all.

Got down to Aspendale early and it was coming in fairly hard.  Um'd and Ah'd until I decided to go with the 10.  Probably the wrong choice. I tried to self launch, but the kite weirdly blew in on itself and I could launch.  Eventually a guy gave me a launch but the kite was steering hard to one side for some reason.  Some nice little ramps, but it was blowing over 25 so was quite hard to hold down the 10.  Dobbo, James and Stu came down, and there were some close calls with Stu landing his kite hard onto the boardwalk and Dobbo getting spanked a couple of times.  If in doubt go small is a good philosophy !

Did the downwinder from Peregian beach to Castaways.  Not quite enough wind so was straight downwind and working the kite hard.  Not a highlight, but great to finish the weekend getting wet.

After a break, the wind was really nuking.  About 30 to 40 knots, perfect time for the small kite for a bit of big air action.  What a hoot !

After recharging, I broke out the small kite.  Great to have the 7m in the arsenal for exactly this situation.  The wind was definitely over 25, waves were starting to peak up and fun was definitely on the menu.  Big jumps, fun waves, everything that kiting is about was on offer.  Taz was doing crazy loops as normal.  Unreal.

We jetted down to the Gold coast to grab the wind as it built to ballistic speeds in the afternoon.  We figured if we got there about 12 we would be able to setup and kite it all the way through.  The instant we got to the beach, we realised two things 1) it was already cranking 2) the setup was bloody perfect I figured it would be small kite in the afternoon so thought I'd charge on the 10m for as long as I could hold it then switch up.  I'd picked up a bunch of energy drinks and bars to recharge as I knew it was going to be a cranking day with no time for breaks.  Great strategy and one that works every time ! Being on the 10m, in the sun, with waves and cracking wind was magnificent.  The most magnificent session of the weekend.  Big air, reliable kite, lots of mates around - gold.  Unfortunately Taz, Mike and Stu had launched further up the beach for some strange reason and launched about an hour after we started, so I didn't get much go pro...

Up early for the sunrise and a kite.  Some folks saw dolphins, some saw whales.  I saw not quite enough wind. The start of the kiting weekend always has high expectation and a bunch of guys hanging out to get on the water.  The day before we had landed around lunchtime, and headed straight to Mike's kitethrills shop to grab some wind.  Unfortunately it didn't quite blow in, but I did get a chance to test my modified small bar - works fine - and to go for a surf on Adam's fantastic surfboard.  I'm a pretty average surfer, but the board was so nice it kept me on some nice waves.  The wind blew up that night prompting thoughts of a night kite, but after 3 beers, in the dark in a spot we didn't know it didn't seem like a great option. Instead, we opted to get up at crack o dawn - 4:50 and go for an early morning sess.  It seemed like it might be enough, but it wasn't really.  You could tack right out for miles, but the wind didn't seem to get any...

Its on my track log, so it must have happened.  I just wish I remembered it. Job was there.  Rich was too.  Must remember to blog my sessions again.

Roaring through at Altona - first future fund work kite run, parked at the tennis centre and raced across the Westgate to meet Taz and James at Altona.  The wind was real strong - up to 35 knots and the little kite was worked hard.  Went for some kite loops on landing with about 50% success rate, got a little spanked every now and again.  Magnificent flat water but very hard to pick if you are in 3m or 30mm of water - there is so much sediment its just unknowable.  Fun session on the edge.

On the water at 6am and kiting till 7.  Glorious watching the sun come up.

No sooner had we landed and it came in again pretty hard.  So another sequence of awesome flat water, nice wind and sunshine in a beautiful part of the world.  Yeehaa !

Honking wind early at Rosebud, got some nice doubles and some nice height.  Caught up with Job, Luca, Rich and Mike - who all had a great time, Luca landed his first couple of backrolls.  I think we are going to see amazing progression from him - he's all over it. Amazing flat water and a very low tide made for interesting riding.  Stuff up my balance once and hit the water hard with my head - dang it hurt.  

Nice 18-22 knots down at Aspendale for Taz and I.  My arm is starting to come good at last, just lots more stretching to do.  Landed some nice doubles and loops.  Bloody fantastic as ever to be on the water.

Detours at Seaford led us to Frankston - back to Gould st, where the beaches are wide and the wind is spot on.  James and I took off in nice even 16 knots, and felt it grow in strength to a point where we could get airs, rotations and kite loops.  Very close to nailing double backs on my weaker side, which has taken a long time.  Nailed one toe side backloop, but stuffed up quite a few too. We were joined by Pete and Stu, then Rich after he almost took out a little girl launching.  The wind swung giving us a perfect channel straight up the beach that Stu and I capitalised on, down winding back along the small surf.  Ominous clouds rolled in to finish up the session prior to any potential carnage.  Fantastic start to the weekend.

Good turnout for an early Sunday morning session.  Pete, Stu, James, Dobbo, Richard, Taz.  I slept in so missed the kick off at dawn, but it actually turned out to my advantage.  It was around 15 knots when I turned up, so I went a fair way out to keep a line.  I had to go a fair way downwind, but was able to hold a line and after about an hour it started to pick up.  I was able to make some headway, then it came on beautifully to allow a few jumps and riding the little waves.  Ended after about 2 hours - fingertips totally numb and I couldn't feel my heels for about 20 mins - but the smile was also frozen onto my face.

After 5 weeks in Europe, and missing out at Silvaplanasee in der Schweiz, it was time to saddle up down at Rosebud for a typical howling northerly.  Beautiful day of sunshine pulled in, Alexander's soccer game pulled out so I headed down to join James, Stu and Pete for a slice of the action.  About 27 knots, great little surf so we jetted up and down for a while, then rode one long wave ages down the coast.  It was a cracking feeling to be on the kite again, but my arm is still not perfect.

Met up with Taz, Pete, James and Stu at the supermarket carpark for another awesome session at Seaford.  Nice and cool - the hardest part was getting into the wetsuit, after that fairly toasty.  My arm is finally starting to die down - its been a total pain.  Can't wait for it to fade away. Went for a couple of big loops before crashing pretty hard and winding it back.  Some nice rotational jumps as ever.  

Metup with Taz, Pete, Stu, Richard and James down at Aspendale - another great little gathering at 730am.  Wind was rock solid at around 20, which prompted Taz to try and set new records with the Woo.  I had a go at a lot of rotationals.  Still got pain in my arm, but just worked out an exercise to free it up so I was able to get some relief.  Great to be on the water as ever. Taz set some new records with his woo - highest jump for that spot.  Got a little air myself.

Well dodgy ! It's quite a sight, turning up to a supermarket carpark at 630 and seeing a bunch of guys in their jocks.  Lucky it is for a good cause - a howling north westerly wind after a bit of a still patch. Seaford was the location, with the wind absolutely cranking - perfect for the 10m.  A very skinny beach caused a bit of chaos when Sean asked a bystander to launch him and almost took out the guys wife (and some fences and wood uprights).  All without casualty though. My arm was still hurting but it was a cranking session, lots of big jumps, nice swell and fun fun fun.  Great to be on the water with a big bunch of guys in one of our favourite spots.

Blowing big time.  We got down to the beach ridiculously early in the morning, with a forecast of between 25 and 30.  It was blowing at least 30 and on the water it was hitting about 35.  Quite tricky to launch as there was very little beach, so Taz and I did assisted launches with kites in one hand.  The challenge at Seaford is the combination of not much sand and wired fences - which are a little daunting.  On the water it was big air time - and surfing time.  It was blowing pretty much straight onshore, so I was able to go between the pier and Frankston with no great difficulty.  Got pushed off one wave and my lines wrapped around two fins on my board - which i had to untangle immediately - it would have been a nightmare if I wasn't able to free it.  Big air, waves, and a bit of old spice - a few fronts blew through which bought heavy, sleeting rain with them.  All a stack of fun - just wish this tendonitis would go away though !

Cracking session at Inveloch to kickoff the long weekend with Nicky, Simon and Elodie.  Hit the beach and went straight up the inlet and out to the surf.  The surf was amazing - I was pulling into barrels, riding monsters into shore.  Got absolutely crunched once.  I was hoping to have it all on the gopro, but I must have stuffed up the recording button and only recorded 2 seconds of footage on the beach.  Dissapointing ! Notable mention for the awesome tandem kayak session I had with Simon on the Sunday of Easter.  We took the double kayak out on the big waves and surfed monsters for absolutely ages.  It was so much fun, we were both hooting like little girls.

Hell yeah, time for the big one. We got up real early in Tarthra and drove down to Sandy point, where we met up with James, Pete and Dobbo for the next chapter.  Having done the Sandy point to inlet trip we were keen to back it up and do it again, but this time have a go at the prom also. The wind was absolutely perfect, cranking strong and consistent.  The waves weren't as big as they have been previously, but still heaps of fun to carve.  So, we carved, jumped and sped down the length of the beach - laughing all the way.  Did some big jumps and had some laughs as Tarren raced a sailing buggy, dobbo did some nice jumps, Pete did a massive tour, James wooped it up and Stu carved infinite waves.  I oscillated between carving waves, jumping and trying some new stuff - albeit with only one arm as tendonitis had kicked in big time in my right arm. We headed a fair way down the prom before turning around and running through the inlet.  Magical scenes ...

After lunch we headed back down to the beach and had a chat to a guy that had just done a downwinder to our spot.  He said the wind was a lot stronger up the beach - and the waves were a lot bigger too.  A downwinder seemed a good idea - but we had a better one - tack up and kite back. We headed out and soon worked out that the wind was a lot stronger near the cliffs, out the back and up the beach.  After some hard tacking action, we got up into the strong wind zone and it was magical.  Huge waves, great wind and magical water meant that we were in for the session of our lives.  It was amazing, heading out, getting a monster wave and surfing it back in.  Unfortunately my gopro ran out before I could get heaps of footage - but I did capture one monster, and the continual jumping we had to do to get out.  Truly a highlight.

Arriving in Tathra was a "schwing" moment - as articulated by Stu Styles.  Magical beach - just as I remembered it from 28 years ago - clear water, strong wind, whitecaps - just let me at it.  We got down on the beach and did some runs and the wind wasn't quite as strong as it looked - it took a bit of work to keep going. Still, the water was magical and the waves were something else.  We went for a couple of hours, and took a break, grabbing lunch across the road from the beach.

Our default approach to the kiting weekend has been to reserve the weekend, then book accommodation at the last minute once we have a confirmed forecast.  Unfortunately we had to change the approach as we had agreed to have the weekend during the Labour day long weekend.  So, with an Inverloch house booked and paid - and a forecast that said there was no wind in Inverloch, after some debating and searching, we found a plan that would guarantee maximum wind.  The interesting part was that it involved a lot of driving, and 1/3 of the team didn't have their license. Taz, Stu and I were the three amigos who put kiting above driving time and hit the road early Friday.  First stop - 90 mile beach - Woodside.  A beautiful day, and seemingly strong wind greeted us upon arrival.  Once we had got over the dunes and on the beach however, the wind was actually somewhere between 10 and 13 knots and a real struggle.  Stu did ok with his large 14m kite, but for ...

Had a quick session on the surfboard to finish off the day.  The surf had built up considerably after all the wind so there was some great rollers to tuck in to.  I find it a lot easier on the twintip funnily enough, but it was fun being on the surfboard.

Heaps better being on the small kite, still big airs but a lot more control, so I was able to surf the waves, do some jumps, loops and all sorts.

Hit up Aspendale after calling in on Julie.  I was greeted with a strong westerly, but it seemed fairly consistent so I thought I'd go the 10.  Woah !  Once out, it would have been 28 knots easy.  Hard to hold down the kite but it made for some massive airs.  Pretty hard to land rotations, or even surf waves, so after about 40 mins I headed back in to trade kites.

Met up with Pete and Taz at Seaford but no wind.  Continued on to Rosebud where it was cranking, with the promise of 40 knot gusts to contend with.  Needless to say, I went for the small 7m kite. It is such a great spot, heaps of flat water, beautifully clear, waves out the back - its just ace.  Did a lot of darkslides, loops, and anything else I could think of. Working the loop

Big southerly hit and high tide - seemed like great conditions for a Point Leo session.  I met Pete down there in great wind and tide conditions, unfortunately the swell wasn't quite big enough, otherwise it would have been amazing.  Great spot to kite though, beautiful water, huge setup area.  We went down to the Pines and took turns surfing the little wave there - perfect spot for next time.

 meet up with dobbo and James for some flat water magic. Worked on riding blind, just need to keep power in the kite. Got ran into from behind again and had to pull safety, the other guy was very apologetic. Pretty crowded at Altona and the visibility at sunset is terrible

 fantastic 20 knots, so loop and rotation arama. Still landing hard with the megaloops, need to work on timing. Job was having a ball, and his son luca,12, is making incredible progress.

Pretty patchy at first - lots of rain fronts coming through - before and during the rain was awesome, after not so good (as usual).  It levelled out after about 9am though, with some pretty solid 18-20 knots.  Really taking control of the double backrolls now, and forward to toeside too (with loop of course).  Was joined by Mike, Stu and Anthony for the final quarter of the session - got to see Mike do a massive board off - just got to work on the "board back on again" part.

Ricketts again - this time the yacht club.  Was running really short on time before sundown and my parents were over, so managed to leave the car door open and window open during the session.  Ran into Jonathan Coles on the beach - small world - he was doing some free diving.  Nice guy and good to see him outside of work.  Great to see Grant too and Hamish was down there also resting up after a couple of gos.  Wind was good further out, but dodgy close to the beach.  So much so that it was a real struggle to get back in - south easterly there is definitely not good.

Had the day free so went down to Ricketts, met up with Job and attempted some kiting in marginal conditions.  Great fun in a beautiful little section, was more like gust surfing that kitesurfing - a couple of good little puffs but a bit of a battle to stay on top of it.  Still great to be on the water and good to be alive.

Perfect wind at Hampton - about 18 knots and steady.  Did lots of rotational jumps, backroll kiteloops, forward roll kiteloops and jumps with kiteloops with varying success.  Landed one big jump with a loop, smashed 3 of them horribly.

Just love the waves and flat water there. It is sensational.

Hit Hampton in perfect wind conditions, about 20 knots.  Really starting to get backroll 720's working on my non preferred.  Did a tour down to Brighton to check out what Stu and Anthony were doing, was quite a shock coming from 2 people on the beach at Hampton to absolutely packed at Brighton.  

Taz and I were the early birds, we hit Aspendale to get the worm.  Pretty strong wind, so took the small kite out with my larger bar - the small bar is looking pretty sketchy, the main depower line is just about to go.  Nice waves, good strong wind let me hit some megaloops, heaps of fun and also sphincter clenching at times.  Looked like rain was a sure thing, but sunshine ended up blazing through.  2 hours on the water, yeehaa.

hit port with taz and james.  A sus guy in a fluoro vest was watching very carefully as I stowed my keys, so I ended up chaining them to the fence and running back in when I thought I saw him trying to steal my car.  Headed up to South Melbourne afterwards for a glorious session in the surf.

Great wind so I chose to work on double backroll on my weaker side.  Took a pounding, but getting better at it.