Kiteventure

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.