2019 12 01 - Sandy inlet to Prom - magnificent
An amazing north westerly forecast made us explore some options. We planned a track from the sandy point inlet on the eastern side, all the way down to Darby's beach at the prom. Epic tour !
The plan
The reality
We started by cycling cars across to the other side of the inlet. James, Anthony, Dobbo and I stayed and pumped kites while the other guys dropped the cars down at Darby's beach. On their return, we all put kites in the sky and headed down the inlet. Kinda busy with 9 kites around, but the wind was absolutely cranking, so I was well lit on my 7. Big jumps and lots of secondary lift, I mucked around with some rotations and lots of toeside stuff until we were ready to head off.
With a wave of the hand we were off. Saw Lee do a spectacular drag across a sandbar and had to avoid some crazy moves from Adam, but otherwise all was going well. Spent heaps of time toeside going straight downwind which was fun, and cranking it across very shallow water in sandbars. Avoided the dodgy wind area on the western side, but as you got closer it was noticeably rubbish there. Some of the guys were going super slow, whereas Pete was of course flying off. I waited up for everyone to catch up once we were about to enter the channel out to the sea, then quickly caught up to Pete with some toeside action. James told me Mike was overcooked and headed back, but lo and behold he was still flying along. The wind was so strong there was no way you could have tacked back.
Out through the channel and my face lit up, the waves were absolutely magical. Had an amazing time just going out the back and catching monsters back in. Couldn't get enough. I held a position for ages thinking everyone would catch up, had Pete and Anthony go by, then Stu and Mike, could see James catching up to me but Adam, Lee and Dobbo were nowhere in site. They had got to the surf and found it a bit overwhelming and decided to walk back.
As I was mucking around with James in the waves, I crashed on a big wave and while retrieving my board, accidently hit my quick release. Shitola. Had to take it into shore and untangle. While trying to reset, a wave washed in and almost relaunched my kite - arggh. Also the bar was being a pain in the arse, trying to get the quick release line back through the bar was proving very difficult. Luckily one last yank got the job done and I was setup and back out on the water.
Just before this, unbeknownst to me I'd been observed by a little sharky friend
a closer look
Happy not to know.
After the reset, the waves got bigger and bigger as we approached the end of the beach. Incredible rides, pulling into big waves and riding all the way in. I was a bit confused about where the beach ended, but ultimately we had to go between some big rocks and an island, navigate some huge surf to see the other guys welcome us in a bit of a canyon - Darby's beach. What an incredible tour !
We regrouped at Tidal river to have some lunch... and get ready for the next session.
The plan
The reality
We started by cycling cars across to the other side of the inlet. James, Anthony, Dobbo and I stayed and pumped kites while the other guys dropped the cars down at Darby's beach. On their return, we all put kites in the sky and headed down the inlet. Kinda busy with 9 kites around, but the wind was absolutely cranking, so I was well lit on my 7. Big jumps and lots of secondary lift, I mucked around with some rotations and lots of toeside stuff until we were ready to head off.
With a wave of the hand we were off. Saw Lee do a spectacular drag across a sandbar and had to avoid some crazy moves from Adam, but otherwise all was going well. Spent heaps of time toeside going straight downwind which was fun, and cranking it across very shallow water in sandbars. Avoided the dodgy wind area on the western side, but as you got closer it was noticeably rubbish there. Some of the guys were going super slow, whereas Pete was of course flying off. I waited up for everyone to catch up once we were about to enter the channel out to the sea, then quickly caught up to Pete with some toeside action. James told me Mike was overcooked and headed back, but lo and behold he was still flying along. The wind was so strong there was no way you could have tacked back.
Out through the channel and my face lit up, the waves were absolutely magical. Had an amazing time just going out the back and catching monsters back in. Couldn't get enough. I held a position for ages thinking everyone would catch up, had Pete and Anthony go by, then Stu and Mike, could see James catching up to me but Adam, Lee and Dobbo were nowhere in site. They had got to the surf and found it a bit overwhelming and decided to walk back.
As I was mucking around with James in the waves, I crashed on a big wave and while retrieving my board, accidently hit my quick release. Shitola. Had to take it into shore and untangle. While trying to reset, a wave washed in and almost relaunched my kite - arggh. Also the bar was being a pain in the arse, trying to get the quick release line back through the bar was proving very difficult. Luckily one last yank got the job done and I was setup and back out on the water.
Just before this, unbeknownst to me I'd been observed by a little sharky friend
a closer look
After the reset, the waves got bigger and bigger as we approached the end of the beach. Incredible rides, pulling into big waves and riding all the way in. I was a bit confused about where the beach ended, but ultimately we had to go between some big rocks and an island, navigate some huge surf to see the other guys welcome us in a bit of a canyon - Darby's beach. What an incredible tour !
We regrouped at Tidal river to have some lunch... and get ready for the next session.
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