Kiteventure

Tantalising wind of about 14 knots. Highlight was seeing a turtle...no... A plastic bag.

Tarren and I hit the beach early - I had things to do in the afternoon, so we were at Mentone at 8:00.  Mentone was in wind shadow a little bit in a direct westerly, so we headed a little further south to Parkdale.  The wind there was amazingly consistent for winter - spot on 17-18 knots - just enough sometimes for some air but not quite enough to do whatever I pleased.  The water was beautiful, small gentle waves around.  We stayed out for over 2 hours - when I came out I had blisters on my hands.  Next time I'd probably go a bit further south to Mordialloc as there is a little more beach there.  Lost my wedding ring whilst changing - had to go back and find it later that night. Still happy not wearing gloves even though I got blisters, the grip is a bit better, less fatigue in my hands and I figure they will harden up over time.

Just got enough wind to keep on a line - funnily enough I was still able to get air on transitions.  Magnificent to get out on an otherwise average day.  Water was a lot warmer than expected, I have to do something about the water shooting up the legs of the wetsuit though - its driving me crazy.

Its been a long time between drinks, so when it blew up steady 25-35 knots on an otherwise unpleasant rainy day Pete and I teed up to go out.  It was the first outing for Rod's old 7m kite - and it handled beautifully - heaps better than my old one that got smashed at Inverloch. The wind was quite strong so heaps of great opportunities for big airs, lots of big rolling swell so I got to ride some fun waves.  Really enjoy riding waves on the kite, it is an absolute blast.  We ended up having a 2 hour session, fantastic to have an outlet. I ended up ditching the gloves with about 30 minutes to go as my hands kept slipping - and it was heaps easier without them.  I think I've made the transition now to gloveless.  Still a little worried about lines, but the newer bars are fantastic without gloves, very grippy.

A perfect 20 knot breeze rolled in following a southerly change - headed down to Hampton for a quick session before going to the comedy festival.  Had a magnificent time - stringing together all the regular tricks and really working on my weaker side with jumps and inversed board rotation.  Had a massive smile on my face after this short, sharp session.

Almost the standard trip in Inverloch - from the surf to the inlet.  It is magnificent fun - such a highlight to muck around in the surf then hit the flat water.  There was a small section which was butter soft which Tarren and I hung around in for a while.  Went past Hutch in the inlet - he was doing well - but didn't recognise us. We pulled up in the inlet after about 6 hours of kiting - enough to create wear marks on both my feet.  A very happy pain though !

Wind had picked up to 25 to 30 so I headed in and grabbed my 7m.  Had a fantastic time riding waves, backing off the kite, going toeside and trying to stay on the wave.  Lots of fun as the amount of chop had died off and the surf became cleaner.  I was getting pretty knackered after around 3 hours of riding, and decided to get on a pretty big wave.  Unfortunately I left it a bit late and went over the falls.  The tension went out of the lines and scared me as they were floating around, I didn't want to tug on the kite in case I got something caught on them.  After quite a long hold down I came back up to see the kite on the water, missing one of the centre sections - totally blown out.  It relaunched, and folded in a strange way before - bang - the thing exploded.  A happy end to an average kite that helped me have a few big adventures. It was handy to have the 7 - I will definitely seek a new one.  I think this is part of going out in the ...