Kiteventure

First session where it really feels like summer, hot with a big northerly blowing its tits off.  Stu, Athol, Mike, Pete and I met up at Seaford, greeted by 20 knots, a beach full of tattooed locals and a hint of menace in the air.  I went with the 7, as the forecast indicated a fair bit of nastiness on the way.  Pretty glad I did, just launching it was immediately obvious we were dealing with 25 - 30 and a fair bit of gusty adventures. Water was perfect. Waves magic. Wind - powerful and a bit gusty at the top end, fine with the 7 but it was creating havoc for some of the other guys on bigger kites.  I had a ball with some rotations, high jumps and carving waves.  Mike saw a couple of dolphins.  I found a beach ball that I tried to throw at people.  Nice to get some height on jumps, but the gustiness made it pretty tricky to pull off consistent nice landings.  Poor Stu got yanked so bad that his harness, impact vest and hat got pulled over his...

Met up with Taz at Elwood.  A raging wind dissipated as soon as we put kites up.  Still got a bit of a run and think I've got the backroll kiteloop on the non preferred under control.  Fun to get wet - plus first session of the summer without booties.  Fun times ahead !

Its just an awesome setup.  Arrived at Seaford and it was bucketing down, soon enough the rain cleared, blue skies opened up and Taz and I hit the beach.  Solid 20 knots, which peaked up to around 25 at stages.  At one stage when the wind was high I got a nice bit of air, looked across and Taz had followed the same pattern coming the other way - quick wave to acknowledge the highlight ! Excellent water, and nice runs beside the pier.  Did quite a few jumps with kiteloops, still haven't quite nailed it yet, but getting there.  Snuck in a darkslide and lots of rotational jumps.  Magnificent session.  Stu Styles joined late in the piece, but the alure of the sausage was beckoning so we retreated to the carpark. Oh - and I stuffed up the launch and drifted my kite almost into the fence down there.  Its such a narrow beach - hate having the wired fence so close too.  It's the only downside to a magnificent location. Upside down near the p...

A fair bit of rain overnight, so we headed to Beaumaris where the water was going to be cleaner.  Wind came in just enough to have a blast, running over the shallow reef and out to the far marker.  Had a ball chasing Grant and James around.  Excellent fun session.

just enough for a little rush.  lots of loops

Got down to Hampton and was greeted with pretty fickle conditions.  Hung around with Pete and Stu for a bit, then was packing up when it came back in.  I was having a great time, but the kite started to jellyfish like the old globerider used to.  Makes it real tricky to fly - had to come in after 30 mins.  Hope I don't have a puncture somewhere.

Met up with James, Job and Taz at Rosebud, but nowhere near enough wind.  We went a little further south to Rye and it was cranking - crazy how localised the wind can be. I can only think that Mt. Martha was blocking the northerly from getting through. It was light on at first, then switched a little more westerly and was game on.  Jumps, able to go upwind like a champion.  James and I did a trip up to Rosebud.  On the way back, about 600m off shore there were waves breaking.  There was a sandbar, so jumped off and walked around the sandbar for a bit with James - it was cool.  Fantastic session in beautiful water - kiting down the peninsula is amazing.