Kiteventure

Don't know what I was thinking going out in frontal winds - I know - I was desperate for a kite.  Most of the time the only good wind was when it was pissing rain. The last 30 minutes compensated a little with a good 20 knots coming through.  It was still better than watching Olympics!

Pete and I hit the beach at around 10, and kited for around 2 hours before Franz and Wayne turned up.  Conditions were a beautiful 16-18 knots, nice little waves and nice sunshine.  The water was quite cold - got an ice cream headache at the first dunking but you soon get used to it.  Nothing monumental in terms of tricks, just great to be out there.

Becoming a big fan of Frankston in a northerly - fantastic consistent wind, nice little waves and no repercussions if things go bad - unlike Brighton.  Had a magnificent session - spent the first hour solo under blue skies, about 20 knots and nice little waves.  Worked on my weaker side with jumps, transitions and spins.  Magic setup.  Franz and a couple of his buddies showed up as I was thinking of going in so I stuck it out for another hour - mucking around in waves mostly.  As I haven't been kiting as much as summer I pulled up really sore - my neck, stomach and legs have had a big workout.  I had 4 large blisters on my hands too - its great without gloves for grip but these IT hands are not quite up to it!  In time I'm sure it will be fine. After fixing the depower line on my kite there is a little more slack, but the kite is flying fine so all good.  Ive got a strong feeling that this kite is going to explode one day - its starting to feel ...

Hit frankston fairly early (9:30) to ride the 20 knot northerly.  It was beautiful consistent wind, lovely water and a great beach - we'll be back for sure.  I went down with Pete and met up with Tarren and Franz down there.  Frankston has a big advantage over Brighton in a northerly - if things go bad you wash up on the beach.  And fortunately this time we were at Frankston - it proved fortunate later in the session. Had a great time rolling out the old tricks - I was able to work on backrolls and forward 360's, raleys, board off's, reversals and backroll transitions - all going well but not landing all as well as summer.  After a couple of hours I tried a couple of 720's - one that ended badly with a kiteloop at the end and an impending slam until my middle line and safety snapped.  I ended up swimming in after tying up the kite - a bit of a drift.  Franz later remarked that he saw 3 sharks - certainly makes the swim seem more exciting. Once Pete...

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.