Kiteventure

It had finally arrived !  We rejigged the kiting weekend this year to give us maximum opportunity of good wind - we didn't book anything until the final week to allow us to move location.  As it turned out, from the whole of eastern Aus to choose from - the best wind was virtually on our doorstop in Sandy point.  Having said that, fantastic wind was on Friday - so we all managed to take the day off and head down at 7am - aiming to be on the beach by 10 or so when the rain was forecast to stop. James and I arrived at around 10 to honking wind and a touch of rain.  Soon after, Tarren and Stu Styles arrived - great to see Tarren back in Aus after his latest adventures in Greece.  It was a little overcast, but that didn't matter a thing - wind was the main thing and that was available in spades.  Sandy point surf beach is spectacular for many factors 1. the wind is strong and consistent 2. the waves are fantastic 3. the gradual slope of the beach provides...

Met up with Stu and did a big favourite downwinder from Aspendale to Mentone. Eating sh*t

2 hours on the water in about 15 knots.  The tide was coming in, just creating enough movement to be able to stay on a tack over 0.5m of water.  Beautiful scenery when the sun came out, nice to work on transitions.  A joy to be out on the water without the usual hurry up to go home.

Borrowed Petes fanastic Ocean Rodeo flite kite for an hour session at Inverloch.  Just enough wind to stay on a tack, beautiful to be flying over flat water at great speed. Great light wind kite - it handles beautifully for a big kite.

Met up with James, Stu and Eric down at Frankston.  Conditions looked a little dodgy - with 25-30 at the beacon and about 20 on the shore I put the 10m kite up.  Strange wind - it was not gusty but varied quite a bit during the session - from a full on 28 knots down to 20 down to 12 or so and back up again.  Spectacular little waves and no crowd made for a magic session.  Ate a lot of water, went into some crazy tail spins following crashes but also managed to pull off a perfect back 720 which was a major highlight.  Totally knackered after the session - the blast lasted a couple of days !

Met up with Athol at Port Melbourne with a great looking seabreeze blowing.  It wasn't as strong close to shore on the water, but still beautifully consistent.  After a while managed to tack out a bit and headed up to South Melbourne.  Great little waves and flat water up there, put a big smile on my face.

Recipe : 1 light forecast 1 impending storm 1 injured kiter (Pete) prepared to provide car shuffle 3 kiters - Eric, Stu S and I 1 poleman - Grant After passing by Hampton, we headed to Beaumaris to grab the best of the light wind for a downwinder.  Arriving a Beaumaris there was enough wind around for a decent session - always a bonus.  Grant was able to call by too and get excited by the wind - enough to grab his sailboard.  Stu, Eric and I headed off into a beautiful warm day with a 17 knots breeze on our tail, keen to go downwind to Hampton.   Eric lost his board around some fishing boats that needed a bit of assistance to tack back and get.  I wasn't landing my forward 360's - strange how the smallest change of settings (fully powered kite) can lead to timing being slightly off.  It was also due to not placing my leading hand far enough away from centre. At some stage the sky turned pretty dark - I looked out to sea and saw some massi...