Highlights



Kiting weekends

Twice a year we try to get away to a windy location with a bunch of folks that are focussed on kiting.  Its provided a stack of highlights - some terrifying, all exhilirating.  This shot is from Sandy point with the Prom in the backgrond.

2009 Mar ? - Sandy Point - (3) Stu W, Stu S, Grant
2011 Nov - Sandy Point - (4) Stu W, Stu S, Pete, Grant
2012 Mar - Inverloch - (9) Stu W, Stu S, Grant, Hutch, Pete, Taz, Franz, Rod, Wayne
2012 Nov - Inverloch - (7) Stu W, Stu S, Grant, Pete, Taz, James, Franz
2013 Mar - Sandy Point - (4) Stu W, Taz, Pete, James
2014 Mar - Melbourne - (2) Stu W, James
2014 Nov - Paynesville - (7) Stu W, Stu S, Grant, James, Taz, Amelia, Pete
2015 Mar - Inverloch - (7) Stu W, Stu S, Anthony, Mike, Eric, Amelia, Pete
2015 Nov - Sandy Point - (4) Stu W, Stu S, James, Taz
2016 Mar - Robe - (4) Stu W, Stu S, Taz, Pete
2016 Nov - Tassie - (5) Stu W, Stu S, Taz, Pete, James
2017 Nov - Tassie - (8) Stu W, Stu S, James, Taz, Pete, Mike, Dan, Anthony
2018 Mar - Tarthra, Sandy Pt - (6) Stu W, Stu S, Taz, Pete, Dobbo, James
2018 Oct - Noosa, Gold Coast- (9) Stu W, Stu S, Taz, Pete, Dobbo, Anthony, Rich, Adam, Mike
2019 Mar - Sandy Point - (8) Stu W, Stu S, Taz, Pete, Dobbo, Anthony, James, Adam
2019 Nov - Sandy Point - (9) Stu W, Stu S, Pete, Dobbo, Anthony, James, Adam, Mike, Lee

The first time we expanded the reach of the kiting weekend - besides having fantastic wind for the weekend we also had some new folks to share it with.  A great trip - with heaps of gear.


In 2014 we (Stu Styles, Grant, James, Tarren, Amelia, Pete) headed down to Paynesville.  On arrival we were greeted with howling winds at Newlands arm.  Amelia grabbed a couple of fantastic shots from the beach, including this one where my board just happened to line up with James' kite.


It was well over 35 knots so the smallest transition seemed to get air.

This shot sums up how I feel at the end of a session during a kiting weekend.  Typically time is essential - I have to get home asap to make sure that Tina and the kids are ok.  On a kiting weekend, we kite until exhaustion.  Here I've obviously hit the end - and got dragged up the sand onto the beach - much to the enjoyment of James and Stu S. 

2015's trip was to Sandy point - consistent winds and great surf made for an awesome combination.  I'm on a surfboard here on a nice little wave.

The end of one of the downwinders from the surf beach at Sandy point into the inlet.  Consistent wind, big surf and flat water made the 42 km trip an absolute blast.

The big one - the best downwinder ever was the session in 2019 when we went from inside the inlet on a big north westerly all the way down the coast of the prom.  Extremely strong winds, flat water, big surf, big adventure, rocks, islands, it had it all.
The inlet

The trek

The visitor

The crew

Inverloch
Pete and I often go down to Inverloch.  Sometimes the weather has been a bit dodgy and we've tried to grab the wind in front of a frontal system.  This particular time we pushed it to the limit - not long after we landed the hailstones hit.


Inverloch is a popular destination for our kiting weekends.  The inlet and surf beach are a killer combination.  Surf was up on this particular day.

The flat water of the inlet provide a great backdrop.  I love the way that you can see the ripples in the sand bars, and you can't see the takeoff for the jump - meaning its probably a big one.

Frankston
The great mystery - what is that shape ?  I only spotted this once I got home from the session and went through the photos.  Some have suggested a helicopter - but I checked with a heli pilot who assured me it was not.  

The morning northerly is a treat - Pete's grabbed this shot - looks like an ad for my board.  Glad I shined up my butt for the occasion.

Rosebud
Even the beach is smiling when Rosebud is working.

A recent trip to Rosebud with our star photographer Athol yielded this ripper.


and just down the road at Rye we had some amazing photographers grab awesome footage in winter




Big downwinders...and back
Gotta love a downwinder - going from one spot to another on the kite.  Two in particular stand out - one where we were Pete and I were kiting at Hampton, and just collectively decided to head across the bay.  Halfway across we realise someone is on our tail - Taz caught up.  We got to the other side - it was a little stinky - so we turned around and went back.

 The other epic was a downwinder from Werribee to Altona.  We got to Altona and thought - let's try and go back.  A couple of hours, 106km and many blisters later we arrived back at Werribee.

 Point Impossible
Pete, Stu, Eric, Dan, Mike and I joined forces over at Point Impossible for a magnificent session in the waves.  The reef break made for great flat water, and the waves were joyous.  It was us and a few sailboarders.

Point Lonsdale
Sometimes you just get smacked. On this day, the wind went from a great 28 knots with magnificent waves, to a ballistic 55 knots, blowing the bejeesus out of us.  Luckily Pete and I made it back in after having to hit the safety.


Tassie
It's just one of the most amazing kiting spots on the planet.  You have the whole island to choose from, heaps of wind, empty, beautiful beaches and amazing water.  Add cheap accommodation, great food and its easy to see why we keep going back.



Tarthra
The beach is just spectacular.  We hit it with a great swell and consistent wind - it was like a wave pool of consistent big waves that you could drop on to.  Wish it was around the corner.

And.... sometimes you just get a cracking shot.  Athol nailed this one with an amazing camera at an after work session at Port





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2016 04 10 - Sunrise over Franga

Ripping forecast for morning wind so Tarren and I met up at Aspendale, thinking it would be ripping the roof off.  Turns out it was a perfect morning there for a sup.  It seemed some wind was getting in at Frankston so we tore down there and it was definitely on.  It turned out to have something for everyone, we had wind ranging from 16 knots to about 28 knots, sunshine, rain and a ripping great time on the water.  The first 30 mins was good consistent wind for trying all sorts of stuff, I discovered that I could get massively upwind by gliding just 1 metre from the sand - had great fun carving up then going for big air on the way back.  Then the wind picked up and we were going huge - excellent fun.  Managed an entire board off and 2 rotations for an epic stack.  Love the track log on this one.
Read more

2015 11 13 - Kiting weekend - epic downwinder

Image
After another break it was time for the main event.  We debated about what we should do and came up with a down winder into the inlet.  With everyone being very capable kiters we were confident we could handle anything that conditions would throw at us.  Plus - if anything went wrong we could just go for a bit of a hike. We dropped a car at the inlet, then setup and headed off.  We still had 25 knots or so wind - although in the inlet it was mostly offshore and a bit dodgy - but isn't it always ! Heading off we knew we were in for a treat.  The sea had turned angry - it was very hard to get out the back - but the flat water sections and the smaller waves rolling through were providing fantastic rides.  There were a stack of smiling faces all the way down. After about 40 minutes I thought we needed to get a wiggle on - I still couldn't spot the entry to the inlet and it looked like it was miles away at what I later found out was W...
Read more

02 July 2011 - Whitsunday - warm water, sharp rocks

Image
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...
Read more