"Waiting for the Wind" - A (kitesurfing) tale of near-death experience and disappointment

#30 - If jump don't use leash!

2006-09-29T17:42:00.000+10:00

Well of course we know that. Anyway in this tight session we started trying out Toe side riding. Proto's been watchin his kite DVD and got all buzzed up about that.

I was expecting it to take ages - but it was surprising easy. Though easy heading left but for some reason my brain couldn't work it out going right.

Sensible stuff, in difficult to go upwind conditions. Went only 2 groins down and walked back up...it was hard work to walk back and I suggested putting kite high to walk

Proto in vain tried again to find his wife's lost wedding rign in the sand!

Proto ended with a big reasonable downwinder.

b ut not before he injured himself. Jumped sort of and got thwacked in the shoulder by his board.

"my shoulder cracckkked...like an axe wound (non hairy).

if jump no leash"

ahh

Mad f'kers - out in 45 knot gusts! (#33)

2006-09-25T19:30:00.000+10:00

Nutters. All three of the kiters out on Botany Bay on Sunday afternoon. Me & the Protocolette included.

But as someone said
"only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go"

so we discovered the beautiful Waroo 9m can survive 45knot gusts.
I'm glad I got out the water before we got into the '50s though!

Check that chart above!

And commentary from the co-case:
he and i went out yesterday- he was out in 30 knots gusting to 50. I tried to stop him but he was totally up for it. I worried loads and thought how can i let go of the kite that results in his destruction-his wife would kill me.....anyway as it turns out i couldnt hold the kite anyway and up it went and off he went across the bay like a total pro-he was awsome.We were the only 3 kites out in the bay- the only kite most of the time. The waroo 9m can handle anything.

the waves were massive for botany (normally flat water) - 6 feet the surfer amoungst us reckons.

we didn't kill ourselves.

no real disasters - though the kite did manage to wriggle from under mountains of sand after I'd landed and head off towards the road. we nipped it in the bud tho.

this kite malarley is just pure madness

#31 perfect 15-20 knots at Brighton-le-Sands

2006-08-30T11:21:00.000+10:00

Sunday worked well for an early session. We had perfect 15-20 knots down by the Novotel at Brighton-le-Sands.

No dramas for a change. Just beautiful speed on the water. My second time up was the best session ever, on the 16m bowkite. Doing some nice upwind, dropping my arm and working on my stance.

Much much much easier to go left foot first for some reason. Cuspy reckon's it's the direction of the waves, ie on our way out right first we're crossing the waves by a few degrees so its a bumpy ride. But on the way back in right foot first we're parallel with the waves. Maybe. Might also be that I'm, just no good one way. Cuspy had fun, first time out in a few mths given his recent addition.

Still p1ssing around doing alternate turns. Next time with Proto or Cuspy we must break that hurdle and go out at the same time. Will treble our water time for each visit to Botany at least. When we're losing ground just have to come back to the beach more regularly and walk back up. Just have to work on self-launching for the second guy up.

Sneaky early evening outing

2006-08-18T15:31:00.000+10:00

Wind was howling yesterday - first decent knots in ages - 15 gusting to 25. Me & Proto made it down to Dolls Point - wow what an awesome location on weekdays - just us and a handful of other kiters, stunning white sands, big beach (thx council for chucking all the extra sand on!). Beautiful, sunny and a bit of wind.

Went for the 16 depowered. Soon reaslised error of our ways and powered her up.

Proto got an awesome session in - not losing any ground for the first half. Then he came a cropper and lost a bit of ground he couldn't make up, so I had to meet him downwind (northerly) before he ended up o ff the edge of the beach.

Then I was up, wind of course dropping by now. Hey - I am up first next session. or maybe we go crazy and both go out together??!!

Had to really throw her around to get some decent momentum. Not long after getting out there the wind fell off a cliff, kite hit the decks, and I was left struggling in the middle of the Bay.

I stuck it out for 20min or so trying & trying to relaunch. Now the 16 crossbow is nrmally really easy to relaunch - even we've found when she's inside out. But in zero wind and upside down and inside out there was no chance.

I was remarkedly calm. Normally in these circusmstances I can't untangle knots for thiknking about sharks. And frightening myself everytime the board leash touches my legs under the water! Any way I went thru the process very calmly, blissfully unaware that I was drifting awy from Brighton toward the national park on the other side. The guys on the beach were far more worried than I. There was apparently talk of police and the current I was drifting into and the local woman who drowned in it last year. Tide wasn't moving though so wasn't really that bad.

Fortunately not long after I started getting cramp i spotted a small fishing boat heading roughly my way. I tryed a fdew more attempts at relaunch then gave in and asked for a ride.

They'd caught no fish so a bedraggled kitesurfer was probably not a bad result.

More soon.

Sneaky 12 knot session

2006-08-14T18:02:00.000+10:00

Yesterday served the purpose of broadening our potential wind spectrum.

The airport telephone message was saying 10knots 40degs, the chart shows what 'breeze was saying. JK mocked me as I set out to Botany.

But there was a consistent 2hrs+ of 12 knots from 3pm. After pussyfooting around on the middle setting for the first few runs we saw the light and went to max. Then the 16 (Crossbow) came into its own giving me some awesome runs, I was screaming, getting the buzz again! Proto got out too - though we were both losing lots of ground downwind.

I made a few improvements with some onshore instructions, the wind being light I was able to hear!

But kiting not being kiting without some incident or other. Proto's beloved lost her wedding ring - maybe on the sand? What's the score Proto - did you call the ringfinder dude? Did you find it in the car?

NSWKBA .... Mandate to...

2006-07-20T11:07:00.000+10:00

So I decided twas about time I got to know a few people, got into the scene, got to know a bit more so we can move things forwards!

Well, more precisely I got my invitation in the post to the NSW Kitesurfing Association in the post and decided I'd go along. There was also a nominations form to get on the committee. Before I knew it I'd stood for election, won, and found myself treasurer of the association. The power of being present at the meeting? Anyway 20 ish people at the AGM - a record apparently. Banter. Lots of ideas. Try and get more members. Get involved. Get some stuff up and running. No shortage of enthusiasm that's for sure....

Mid-winter session. A new season begins????....

2006-07-19T06:19:00.000+10:00

Saturday's gustiness was interesting. I tried out Proto's new toy - his 9m Waroo, by the Novotel - awesome kite - it fared well in extremes of 10 to 35knots. Even better than the Cabrinha bows - just so simple, no clutter.

Anyway here's what our guest writer ProtoCole has to say himself. His uncle doesn't run Best. Neither does he own stock.....

Arrived at Botany Bay, 2pm, wind howling, gusty 20 to 35 knots, rain pouring down. Empty beach.

Having recently bought a 16m Crossbow last season- wow what a revolution in kite action! We loved and still love it. However, on Saturday I used my new 9m Best Waroo for the first time- Its another step forward and an Absolutely Fantastic kite- I have been buzzing all weekend!

I am totally impressed by the Waroo. It has all the best bits bits form every kite i have flown (Flexifoil storm 1 (10m) and 2 (14m) , Naish Boxer (12m) and (16m), Switchblade (12M) Xbow (16m), Best Nemesis 21m) and none of the over complicated (having now flown the Waroo) unnecessary dangly bits that other kites have.

I have always assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that Best kites are the cheaper-lower quality kite on the market, but this is certainly not the case with the Waroo-it has everything-even lovely sponge tubey things on the lines to make holding them in the water a pleasure.

We took the Waroo down to the sand. Unpacked her. First impression was of good build quality, and reassuringly simple.

Valves on each strut, and one inflate and one big deflate on the leading edge. No awkward fancy big sand plagued valve as on our Cabrinha Xbow. Every valve has stopper ball too which worked well. Very simple super easy to inflate, a couple of minutes and she was pert and ready to go.

The bar and lines are top quality, really excellent. (Bar and lines were unravelled- again very simple, no over complicated pulleys of dangly plastic tube things for the depower, just a lovely colour coded strap system. Bar comes with color coded lines, a wrist lease, and release on the chicken loop. All very straight forward and easy.

As for flying- Once the lines were connected correctly! The launch was super easy and controlled- the power easily dialled in or out by sheeting the bar. Turn speed was incredible (was a 9m metre) massive power when needed and no power at all if required by simply pushing the bar away! Incredibly re-assuring (it was 20 to 35 knots and gusting to over 40 by 5pm!). After about 2 minutes I was in the water, on the board and racing across the bay with the biggest jet of spray shooting out behind me- totally amazing.

I dropped the kite a few times initially as it took a few runs to get used to how much or how little i could sheet out to reduce the power. A few times i sheeted out too much and lost speed and the kite gently fell. However- re-launching was super simple, I just held the bar to turn the kite out of the water, it floated to the edge of the window and just sailed up into the sky! incredible! After about 20 minutes i was completely used to the position of the sweet spot to be able to maintain steady flight or dial in major pull, and had no more troubles. The secret with bow/SLE kites seems to be to keep some power in the kite and not over depower (unless you are in trouble-which is when the depower safety comes into its own).

As for bar pressure-what bar pressure- there wasn't any to speak of-I could have gone out all day-had to stop as my legs were knackered and it was dark!

In summary the kite is fantastic and the best i have flown yet. If idiots like us can have an amazing session in terrible gusty conditions then this is the future of kiting!

#end

Kitesurfing #27 - Confronting the surf (Sat 15 Apr, Boat Harbour)

2006-04-17T09:19:00.000+10:00

[Pic of Pulpit Rock - Friday's walk, Photographer unknown] A 6.28 am wake-up call on Hat Hill Rd in the Blue Mountains. The word from my man on the ground in Sydney, was that the arrows were already green and we should get our arses down to the sea asap. By 6.33 am we were on the road, the wife still asleep in the back of the campervan. By 7.33 am I was trying to charm a local officer of the law to let me get on my way, and 'yes - I will observe the speed limits for the rest of my journey'. It was comedy in retrospect. The copper said he saw me "hooning" through Blaxland from the other side of the road. He turned round and pursued me and was expecting me to scream off at the next set of lights. But from the third lane to the right I had spotted Maccas so waited for all the cars to go before crossing three lanes to get our skim flat whites and bacon egg McMuffins. Then I saw the lights behind me flashing. "quick lie flat, hide under the covers". Fortunately I was ignored and my pyjama-ed wife leapt into the front seat instead and hastily belted up.

The confused copper enquired as to whether I'd been drinking. Last night had been an early one so the breathaliser reading was nil. I didn't mention the race for the wind and the fair reasonable honest copper let us on our merry way with a mere ticking off.

[Pic below of Cronulla beach, Photographer unknown] A military-esque mission saw me and Cuspy at Boat Harbour (the 4x4 access on the east of Cronulla Beach) while the wind was still up. We hedged our bets and set up the 12 Switchblade and 16 Crossbow. The only kite (9m) on the beach came in as Cuspy went out. We got chatting - that was a mistake - he told me about the 5 ft hammerhead he'd just been out in the water with.

The brave boys that we are. We rationalised that there are sharks there all the time. Just because someone saw one shouldn't make it any more or less dangerous. So I took the helm and enjoyed some really great wind. What a fantastic day, we both got out 4 or 5 times. It was hard at first battling with the surf. We're more used to the flat waters of Botany Bay. The wide open ocean, the surf, the space, and of course the sharks, made today's session an invigorating and totally knackering experience. [Pic of Friendly-looking hammerhead. Any resemblance to Saturday's sharkie is purely coincidental, Photographer unknown]

The wind came more up and down, more gusty. But we both showed good improvements, I had my best session ever, did the occasional decent upwind run, got used to bending my knees as I hurtled over the waves.

Of course kiting wouldn't be kiting without an incident to report. Today's was minor - in the midst of a beautiful run I had a small wipe-out in the shark feeding zone at the back of the surf. No problem, should be easy to get going again. But then the board got bashed around in the waves, swung around the front of me and made a bee-line for the harness and triggered the quick release. The kite fell out the sky and I was faced with a long, exhausting and daunting swim back to shore.

Like a man riding a horse and cart long after the advent of the motorcar, JK came with us to battle with his windsurf. The polesurfer wasn't faring well in today's inconsistent wind and surf. So I let him test-drive the Maclaren F1. It was exhilarating even for the bodydragging co-driver. I hung on the back and let JK throw the 12m around and to lift 150kg into the air.

All in all a top day at the beach.

Kiteboarding #24 - 'ProtoCole getting too big for his booties' (Sun 12 Mar)

2006-04-11T11:10:00.000+10:00

A late entry for what was another great great great day. One where we all rediscovered the joys of this great sport.

It was Sunday March the 12th 2006, the three muskateers down in Kurnell:

Proto summed it up:

dudes, that was one awsome session yesterday...thanks for use of the kit...
Still high from the rush....bring on more wind.

We had an awesome day with Cuspy's 12m Switchblade. What a perfect kite that is.

Most of the afternoon messing around. Proto left early, realising he was still a recent father. Cuspy has still got a few weeks before he will be facing the same dilemma. Me & him messed around into dusk...

And on the day and the Switchy, from Cuspy's deaf ears:

got one more go in - wind turned directly onshore which made it tricky to get pass the groins

awesome day in all though

FatChicken tried to get stuck in the nature reserve, made it with inches to spare.......

'like trading in a morris minor for a ferrari'
'great not to have the long walk home along the beach'
'protocole getting too big for his booties'
'sensational'
'one purchase from KP Steve I'll never regret'

nuff said

Kitesurf in Sydney #26 - A top day on the waters of Botany Bay - Summer winked at us again

2006-04-11T10:57:00.000+10:00

Saturday had been like last week - we got going early but by the time Cuspy & I had made the trip south, alas a beautiful calm had fallen over Sydney.

[Proto & Chaos setting up, Photo by KT]

We got a treat in the evening though, the eagerly anticipated premiere of the stupendous N,G&A feature film of the main event of February: the Dangar Island, Peat's Bite wedding fest of me & my lovely new wife. A top production - even featuring some "early footage" of Capn Chaos in action. Thanks guys.

But what an amazing Sunday on the Bay.

The 5:58am text messages (early after the previous day's disappointment) said have a lie-in. I was full of flu so that was a blessing. But by 9ish, we were go. The arrows were lining themselves up for southwesterly. Me & the Proto legged it down to Brighton-le-Sands expecting to go to the Cap'n Cook bridge for the SW facing beach over there.

But the wind was 220 degrees, ie perfectly cross-shore on Brighton. And it was blowing. Weyhey. Proper bloody kitesurfing action.

Wind a bit off & on, but plenty for us to get going with the 16 Crossbow. Now officially out of its bag. And a bargainous purchase it was too. $1,150 second hand off the other Bay, the 2006 model, a bit of use, nothing wrong with it. It's $2,300 RRP ($1,900 new with discounts). Takes a bit of getting used to, flying very differently to the 12 Boxer that I've "grown-up" on. Slower, less easy to throw around (due to the size), but so much more control. Flies itself enough to be able to start messing around on board control. Love it.

The missus came down with us. The last time she saw us being about a year ago, so she was expecting a day of tangled lines, kites falling out of the sky, no wind, disappointment, cup of tea in the van, and losing something-or-other.

As it was she brought the camera, and it took pictures of me doing my magic upwind. Cuspy & Proto doing their magic too. She was mightily impressed!

[Cuspy just avoiding smashing the kite on the water, Photo by KT]

Proto had to go early and pack for his trip to the homeland. So he's gonna be out of action for 2mths. Probably worried he'll come back to find me doing jumps. And able to surf!?

But Cuspy was down so me & him continued til the wind dropped. Up, down, messing around, lots of upwind, down by the Novotel shark net. Amazing. The thrill of flying across the water. Some turns. Some board control.

A full day of beautiful kitesurfing.

[Me in front of the airport and city, Photo by KT]

Playing in the swell at boat harbour (Kitesurf Cronulla #25)

2006-04-02T15:57:00.000+10:00

Winter's here for sure. Yesterday the southwesterly morning forecast told us to get our arses out of bed and get down to Boat Harbour (Cronulla) before breakfast. We fannied around and tried the small (south-facing) beach by the George's River Sailing Club (by the Captain Cook Bridge). Not a bad spot actually, for a southwesterly. But only if its actually blowing.

Before heading back to the City with our tails between our legs, me & Cuspy thought we'd check out the Boat Harbour, where there might be more knots, it not being sheltered by anything. I was slightly nervous about the swell. Especially seeing it as we drove down the dunes to the shore. But round to the right behind sheltered by the reef, it was bearable.

A surprising amount of wind though, considering how poor it had been inside Botany Bay. We tried the 12m Switchblade first. But too hard with the swell, and the surf, in what was light wind. So we moved up to the 16m Crossbow - now a whole two weeks since we bought it. It was hard work.

The two other's kiters out there - a couple?, and later on a bigger posse of kitedudes and dudettes - had moved on from 11m's to 16m's. And then decided there was more value on standing around than being in the water.

We struggled on. Met one of the guys who was friendly and had some helpful tips.

Of course decent wind and smooth waters are very forgiving of lacking talent. Today's conditions were not!

Kites stayed in the bags, but we still had troubles

2006-03-09T16:22:00.000+11:00

It was my birthday on Sunday. So me & the wife, Proto & his & our
special guest from windy Perth, and Cuspy & his went down to Botany Bay.
We decided we'd hang out at Kurnell, at the National Park, so if the
wind didn't materialise then we had a nice picnic venue...somewhere nice
for the ladies!

So we hoped for a while for some wind to get the kites out. None came.
So we spent the afternoon scoffing muffins & chicken, and ogling people
and boats with our new 'noccers' (that's Binoculars!).

The kites didn't leave their bags, but there was still of course room
for things to go wrong. Of course there was. This was a kite-day-out.

First up was Cuspy's new car battery. Well it kept going flat. That was
a good start.

Then later in the afternoon we were graced with the company of Fish &
Jade. Fish only came to pick up his deck (the one that went camping)
from Cuspy. So we strung him along for a while that we'd left in it in
the garden in the mad rush out of the house. Would it rain?

But Proto came up trumps - winning a bottle of wine from Fish just as
darkness was falling. Jade had left the keys in Fish's car, half an hour
before the National Park gates would lock us in! No luck with the NRMA
(like the AA) or locksmiths. But while Fish had been on the phone, and
me and Cuspy were choosing our battering ram for the back window of the
Susie (Suzuki), Proto and Perth had been quietly utilising some innate
northern knowledge. He'd broken a bit of wire out of the fence and
managed to shove it down the side of the door and pop the lock up.
Screams of relief all round.

I'm s'posed to out on the water right now as I type. The arrows are
good. But the work situation isn't. Something has to be resolved here.

Since our last almost-festive wind week, I did get married to the
beautiful K, and honeymooned, and learnt to Hobycat in 5 knots, and my
grandpa died at 94 (he was a fan of this kiting tale:
http://waitingforthewind.blogspot.com/2004/01/kiting-5-sundays-outing-wa
s-frankton.html)

#23 - Kitesurfing 4 times in a week! Wind blowing as well - what's going on here?

2006-01-28T11:06:00.000+11:00

Went for a Friday evening, frantic drive & set up to squeeze some time in the water before nightfall. The arrows were green green green go go go. It was 12m wind...have a look at the chart:

I had some excellent goes - the wind close to overpowering the kite - I dropped the lines down two notches on the leading edge of the kite.

Proto was a star - four or five times he went out and returned to where he started. Looked f'in fantastic - though still bending those knees too much mate!

My antics were slightly less brilliant - but great progress all the same. I did loads of upwind action - but couldn't make it back to where I started. But that's for the next session.

It's amazing how you forget about the sharks when you're hooning along rather than spending your time in the water with legs dangling as bait.

Anyway I'm to be wed in two weeks time. And Kt is starting to worry that I've become obsessed. There's definitely something in that - but the arrows are green at the moment. Everyday - and that's a rare occurrence for Sydney. I know we've got a wedding to organise and I can kite for the next thirty years. But it's so exciting right now. On the cusp of greatness!

Very excited about the big day - loads of friends and family coming over. Some time to appreciate Sydney - and enjoy ourselves. And the honeymoon is to Fiji. I've been given very strict orders about not taking the kite!

Work to do...

#22: Officially on the cusp - discovered a new sport called kitesurfing yesterday

2006-01-27T12:18:00.000+11:00

Seabreeze forum

Oh my god. A top day out on the Botany Bay. I think me & the Proto
cracked it yesterday. "This is a different sport" I heard as the Proto
came in from his first session on the 16.

The ingredients for such a top day...were of course some green arrows;
and Cuspy's 16. We borrowed it last week and fortunately hadn't returned
it yet. We flogged the trusty 12 for a while first - having some fun on
a few Brighton-le-Sands downwinders - the kitevan following along the
beach. Anyway we then braved the 16. And kitesurfed.

Proto went up first. I got in the van to fetch him at the end of a
downwinder again - but no. Flippin 'eck, the boy was coming back to
where he started from. Some real, genuine, relaxed upwind action from
the master. Great to watch. I was gagging for a go. Once out there - the
kite was flying perfectly. It's a Boxer - just like my 12 - but with
short lines and no dog-dick. So we put my bar & lines on here. It was a
dream.

I just couldn't believe how easy it was - no need to aggressively
figure-8 just to stay up and keep going. And plenty of time to
appreciate, and to think about the board and my feet and going upwind.
Yes - going upwind. Unbelievable. I'd been out on Thursday (6am,
before-work!) for my second ever wakeboard session with some guys from
work. That I think was good just to get some confidence with the board
crashing over the wake at a good speed. So I put all that to the test
with some pretty good speed over the waves in Botany.

Australia Day 2006. February 26th. To be renamed Kite Day. The day we
cracked it. Our chief groupie was there again - I think she was slightly
more impressed than our antics at The Entrance a few days ago. Though
there was possibly less amusement and giggle-some behaviour!

This is the place we start off from in Brighton

The amazing thing in all of this is that it's essentially taken the pair of us two years to work out that to kitesurf, you need wind, and you need the right sized kite. Astounding. There we've been there last few months flogging a dead horse with the 12 in all sorts of wind. And even a few days back flogging a dead one with the 16 in no wind at all. Then yesterday it all came together. Now we just have to buy a 16. Sell the 21. No we'll keep it for amusement value. Maybe it will even fly ok on a sub-12 knot day?

Bring it on.

http://waitingforthewind.blogspot.com

#20-21: Takes of joy and woe from a windy weekend in New South Wales

2006-01-23T17:30:00.000+11:00

Best wind we've seen in ages. Sydney's a sht place for wind. Except
this weekend. Green arrows green arrows galore.

But 4:30pm Friday I was still stuck in the office. Green arrows tempting
me out though. So it was a quick word and a promise to finish things off
on Sunday, a call to ProtoCole, himself ready and waiting at home. I was
in the lift by 4:38 and - having risked life & limb biking through
rush-hour across the city - to the flat, load the van, to Proto's place
- we were on the road, kitted up, the 12 pumped, the lines untangled and
helmets adorned - in the water by 6pm.

Wow. Perfect wind conditions, if anything a tad too windy. No: rubbish,
no such thing? We'd bought a 2nd hand 21m Best Nemesis earlier in the
week - hence the decent wind. I'm hoping we never have to pump here up.
My 12m Boxer - workhorse she is - flew like a dream. Proto kitesurfed.
Yes - kitesurfed - no messing around with lost boards or any other
Chaotic behaviour. The Cap'n himself even got out there. Loved. Loved
it. Loved it.

Wow - what a rush and amazing feeling once you get going, out in the
middle of Botany Bay. Some air; not intentionally of course. But
controlled once up there. And time for a nanosecond of reflection,
realisation, and a crash landing into the water. And controlled
kitesurfing. Best session ever. I even dabbled in upwind action? Not
100% conclusive - I was sure I upwinded, as was the dude on a 16m we
were sharing the beach with. Proto's a tougher judge of angles. Either
which way. I was out there with enough control to even contemplate
working out upwind.

Two sessions each. In the bag. Quit while we're ahead. 7:50pm. Stopped.
Packed. In the van, wind drops. Buzzing. And it was still only Friday!

Kitesurfing rocks

----------------

Then there was Saturday. The big adventure up-north. Been biggin it up
all week. Getting excited. Up early, picnic packed, Westfield, Bondi
Junction bit o' shopping, get a car radio installed. Checking out new,
uncharted territory, at The Entrance and the lakes nearby. Virgin
kitesurfing soil, just waiting for two mavericks to discover, to tame,
to make their own.

Well it was a stunning day - the weather. We had guests - some of
honour, having flown all the way from India to experience this momentous
day in the history of Australian kitesurfing.

Here's Tuggerah Lake 1.5hrs north of Sydney Town

E & G were queens of patience, G by now clearly learnt the art of
humouring the ridiculous antics of her worse half, whilst simultaneously
dealing with the relatively well behaved 6mth year-old.

1st up was that penis-shaped intrusion into the lake from the Western
bank (Chittaway Point).

Beautiful on first inspection. However deemed unusable after we heard
the squelching sound of my lower leg struggling out of the stinking mud.
Don't kitesurf at Chittaway Point. Wind was up though - so off, keen
adventurers to find a better spot. No worry, still early, and the wind
should last all afternoon?

Rocky Point? Less mud and more rocks for sure - but no decent landing
spots for us downwind wonders.

Baby fed. Muffins inside of us.

The Entrance it is then. Off to the Eastern side of the lake. Much
scoping out of mud, jetties, wind (now slightly offshore), toilets,
where can the ladies buy an ice-cream, bike hire, mud, picnic tables,
shade, picnickers, domestics, litter, bright sun, some wind, Long Jetty,
Picnic Point, Long Jetty Picnic Point Jetty Long Point Picnicky. And
after much indecision we settled on Long Jetty. Actually, the slightly
less long jetty with all the people on it rather than the longer-one
with no people on it.

Mud. Wind dropping. Kites up. 16 and 12. No 21? Too scary. Too much mud
to navigate. Jetties to negotiate. Nails to tangle in. Seaweed to tangle
in. Our special observer from India was in hysterics.

The kite flew - the 16, sort of not really. We were using the lines from
the 12 and it just wasn't working. Back to the trusty 12. The workhorse,
the star. But even she couldn't fly in these offshore-ish, sub 12
knot-ish conditions. Don't panic we weren't really kitesurfing in
offshore winds. More wading around in the mud in the shallows of the
anyway-shallow Lake Tuggerah.

So after much struggle, and patiences tested, to the soundtrack of
chuckles from the jetty, Proto actually got up on the board. For a good
minute. Maybe two even. I collected him in the car - I drove the few
hundred yards to the next jetty. The pain of it all.

Well there we are. We did get some decent chips and fishing
entertainment in the town of The Entrance before the quiet drive back to
ol'Sydney.

Next time we'll be hiring one of those tourist boats with outboards and
shade to do a serious downwinder across our Lake Tuggerah. If we can
ever persuade ourselves to do it to ourselves again.

Thanks Cuspy for the lend of the 16. Thanks E&G for the shoulders to cry
on, the patience. Thanks the bub for giving the day meaning & purpose.
And Kt for the greencard! x

#19 - What more could go wrong?

2005-12-30T15:32:00.000+11:00

Wed pm, late December. Green arrows galore - best day on Seabreeze yet - 20's no gusts. Left wk early - week before xmas so things quiet, and most of the office at lunch every afternoon - so took the chance to get some action in.

Scootered home, picked up the loaded van, straight to Proto's and we're blowing up kites in Brighton before you know it. Sun shining. Wind blowing. Green cards and green arrows for the afternoon.

Getting my shortie on when the phone rings. "Private Number". That means work....do I...don't I....

Well I did. "Just thought I'd let you know he's just walked into the office". Now "he", ie the boss, was supposed to be many hours away in a different state, on hols. NOT in the office. Fk. Fk. Fk.

Ok at this time of year - you don;t want to ck things up - half the office might well be p1ssed but you're not them and you work for someone different. So - over to Proto - who's enthusiastically pumping up the 14m...

OK, we had to leg it back. Drop Proto. Van back home. Quick change to suit. Back on Scooter. 45mins. At my desk. Calm.

He understood. Disappointed clearly. But not as disappointed as the next day - when we went for a re-run to find the wind was shitty, and the greatest fun we could get was by tormenting ourselves with the print-out from yesterday's Seabrook charts. Green arrows green arrows all the way through til 8 o' clock.

Not been a day like it since.

#18 - Not keen on Dolls

2005-12-12T11:21:00.000+11:00

Out at Dolls Point Saturday. Cuspy'd bought his brand new 12m Switchblade along so we were all gaggin for a go on that.
Wind was sh1tty to start, Cusp finding it hard to learn the new ways in shoddy conditions. But then it picked up and he got some of his money's worth. Proto had a go as well.

Cuspy was just picking up the kite to get set for me to have a go when some bloke said "Oi - there's a big Southerly coming in". At that moment Cusp was still trying to get the lines right so I didn't launch. Fortunately.

A minute later 30 knot gusts came in and swept sand over the beach. Very dramatic moment. Same bloke - thank god there's some sense on Dolls - screamed at some other bloke not to launch, while a way-overpowered 20m red was given a helping hand.

That was that.

The curse of. I didn't even get to fly the kite.

Don't like Dolls. Too many other kiters messing up and doing stupid stuff. Bloke with flouro yellow number spent most of the afternoon pissing off the sunbathers at the northern end of Dolls with lines and kites twisting all over the shop. This flour-guy's afternoon ended with a bollocking from some bloke whose girl had been hit by his kite.

Saw four kites drop badly on the beach. And in our midst is the casual bathers and family swimmers. Too hairy for me. Back to the north end of B-l-Sands, or give me Kurnell anyday.

#17 - Back to Kurnell, 2 days on the run

2005-12-07T18:06:00.000+11:00

It was worth leaving the keyboard and getting down to Kurnell again.

Me 'n Proto had a few good runs. Incident free. The wind not as strong as Saturday - but just enough for the 14m. Even my 12m sort of flew.

So all in all a top weekend for the kite thing. Lots of excitement about Cuspoy floggin all his old gear and buying into a Cabrinha Switchblade. Met bloke on beach - Ad - flyi9ng a 16m - makes the whole thing look dead easy, loads of easy control, twice as much power/depower. Thinking of putting a 14 on the wedding list.

...
and to finish off previous comments...
The upshot was we spent over an hour f'in around trying to retrieve the board form the middle of Botany. The tide/wind was fortunately pushing it gradually inshore as it progressed towards the heads and the the big open sea.

We were saved from the wrath of Stevie at Kitepower by a bloke with a telescope. After the jetskiers did a shot job of not finding it, we were hollered over by bloke on balcony. He'd been watching the commotion, and gone and had a look through his scope. And could see exactly where the bugger - light blue - nice colour - was.

That was handy - then Proto bravely faced the shark-infested waters to swim out and retrieve it. He wa lucky the low tide kept them at bay.

Looking fwd to crackin this sport this summer.
Cuspy's last chance!!!
Tho Proto might be proving that wring at the moment!

#16 - Another one for the blog

2005-12-04T13:58:00.000+11:00

We broke the 3-month kite-drought yesterday, with a trip to Kurnell with ProtoCole and Cuspy, plus the kitechicks and new groupie - Archie.

The wind was 20-25 but quite gusty, westerly - so cross-shore at Kurnell. Pretty reasonable conditions.

Proto did alright. I did OK. Cuspy proved he was still on the cusp.

Til I saw Proto running back up the beach - - Cusp'd lost his board. Eh? He leashes on with one of those reel leashes. But he'd come a cropper in the middle of the Bay and the shoddily attached leash had come undone. I think maybe I have to take some of the blame for that. But anyway...

I had thought we'd covered most of the ground on kite-mishaps (read the previous 30 odd entries below!). Here was a new one. Cuspy got two jetskis to go in search but that was to no avail. And of course it wasn't just one of our old boards. No it was the Demo one we borrowed from Kitepower that morning. The one that had reluctantly been lent to us as the owner wasn't keen on his board being in Kurnell for the day.

[ I'll finish this later - as the butterfly effect has just been proved: The beans I had for brekkie appear to have brought us a single green arrow at the airport. And we're tracking above 5 at Kurnell. Plenty enough to torment me and Proto. And the two groupies for today...hopefully I'll be concluding this later with tales of upwind action and beautiful consistent 15 knot wind that came up behind that single green arrow.]

#15 - All the stars were aligned on Saturday

2005-08-22T18:51:00.000+10:00

Been a long time since I've been out with the kites. But I got rudely awoken by ProtoCole early morning Saturday with a "get up the wind's blowing". Within seconds I was regretting the 3am triple-gin tonics. Though a few hours later I was not regretting the wake-up call.

Had a FANTASTIC session. Totally rekindled my excitement for this emotional rollercoaster of a sport.

All the stars were aligned on Saturday...
...we had great wind, perfect knottage for me
...a low tide
...the clouds were hiding the blinding sun
...a Westerly so we could go to Kurnell for cross-shore. I like Kurnell
...so no dogs or children or canoes or bathers or fishing boats with loudspeakers...

Perfect

The gin wasn't doing me much good though so I was keen for ProtoCole take the first few runs. My stomach settled though and I had the best session ever - zipping across the water at great speed and some control as well! Back forth - all downwind - but it wasn't the day for learning the hardway. We were keen to have some fun. So there was plenty of walking back up the beach!

Proto was good and did two great recoveries relaunching in the water. I also managed one.

Obvious - but having good wind makes all the bloody difference. As the afternoon drifted by I went out again towards the end in dodgy gusty wind. And it was a crap sess. Obvious really.

Anyway. Back into it. Can't wait to get out there again and start properly trying for some upwind action.

It's not just me who can't get it up...

2005-07-22T17:16:00.000+10:00

As I say, not just me. And also not just me who gets the shits over the shadows in the water cast by my board. And the other classic is the shark that keeps following me round, slightly downwind and downsun of me. My heart still misses beats when I see the shadow of my kite on the dark menacing water at the 'Nell. Clearly some of the side effects of pastimes-of-old catching up on me.

Here's what Keeny has to say about it all...

As for Kurnell, it has a tendancy that if the tide runs downwind you’ve got no hope of getting your kite relaunched because you can’t swim fast enough.....pommie p told me that when I got out and thought I’d all of a sudden turned into a useless kiter....very much relieved at hearing that! I did also have a minor panic attack because you can see through the water there and splashing around like an idiot being pulled further away from the other people I started to think OMG I could be on the menu....it wouldn’t matter if I couldn’t see the sharkies come get me but I would’ve on that day. At one point I freaked myself out because out of the corner of my eye the board in my hand was causing a shadow beneath me so I had to think happy thoughts to calm me down as the mind can play nasty tricks on you

Satellite maps of Botany Bay

2005-07-20T23:33:00.000+10:00

This is my toy of the day - google maps are now in Australia - here's the link to Botany Bay.

Here's the Bay and where we go...

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-33.985519,151.193504&spn=0.077299,0.160795&t=k&hl=en

The airport to the north.

On the west of the Bay of Brighton-le-Sands, with Dolls Point in the bottom left corner.

Kurnell is the north facing beach in the bottom/right.

Cronulla beach and the Boat Harbour 4x4 park face south to the opensea.

#14 and a couple of aborted attempts - blowing in Botany

2005-07-20T22:55:00.000+10:00

Kiting 2005 #14 (Sat 9 July): It's mid-winter in Sydney and a tad chilly. Sydneysiders are in denial though - and no houses or apartments have central heating. So I sit writing this close to the electric oil heater, with it pathetically trying to heat the living room.

Its a real shame I have to work. It's definitely getting in the way of my hobbies. And my marathon training is conflicting with my kitesurfing, as is my cycling. And this weekend so was my drinking. And ProtoCole's impending baby birth has screwed his Saturday mornings with antenatal baby classes filled with emotional videos.

But around all that stuff I've managed to get down to Botany Bay three times over the last two weekends. Lets go back to the first...here I quote from Fat Chicken's other blog...

"...we did a great bike ride on Saturday. The forecast was rain but we decided we'd touch base at 5:45am. I looked outside and annoyingly the rain had stopped so there was no excuse to snuggle back up in bed. Having gone to bed at 1:30am I wasn't feeling that inspired. But I was driver and organiser so I could hardly drop out. Picked up J and Z on the way up to Kurungai National Park (1hr north of Sydney). Was starting to get light as we got there.

Fortunately the first few kms are down hill - from the entrance of the park heading in the direction of West Head. I came round gradually as the sun rose and a beautiful, stunning morning was upon us. The ride was short (50kms) but its reasonably tough because of the hills. The first highlight is the views from West Head over to Palm Beach - just beautiful, especially on a still early morning with the sun rising and not a soul or car around.

The second highlight is the breakfast at Akuna Bay Marina. The cafe's apparently just changed hands and they did us an awesome chicken/avocado etc open sandwich. Just enough fill to contemplate the never-ending ascent past the turn off to Cottage Point and back to the van.

I was dreaming of a snooze in the sun on the drive back, but got a call from "On the Cusp" who was off to Kurnell for a bit of kite-in-gale-action. So I obediently made my way down there...but that's for another blog..."

So here we are down in Kurnell and the day's hours of light are slipping away. OnTheCusp was out on the water and KeanKayla pointed out his flouro-yellow 12m snaking around downwind from us. And was it windy. Bloody hell. Really windy. Norwesterly, so perfect for Kronulla.

I watched OTC for a bit, while collecting my nerves. My legs were stiff, I was tired and it was VERY windy. My excuses were primed. But, NOOO, I must go out. It's never bloody windy and this was well over 20 - there were ten kiters out there having loads of fun doing exactly what I want to do. So I got the stuff out and starting pumping up my 12 Boxer.

I kept an eye on Cuspy and just as I'd finished pumping I noticed he was trying to land the kite. I legged it down the beach to help him (he'd drifted a few groins downwind) but a friendly windsurfer had helped him out.

But it was good Cuspy had landed as I now had him to help me launch. I'd been uncomfortable with the idea of doing it on my own. Having been out with ProtoCole most times since my heady early days of madness I've forgotten what it's like to set up alone and ask some random punter for a launch. So Cuspy's landing was what I needed. He was keen for a break and was more than willing to keep an eye on me as I went out. Phew.

So off I went. Bloody windy so I depowered the backlines before launch. Got out there, bodydragged away from shore and into the middle of the experts jumping around and the odd windsurfer zipping by.

Its funny how kiters cluster together dispute the obvious dangers. I can understand the comfort from being near others - the chance for a launch, and a landing, and friendly faces if you get in trouble. But I do worry about tangled lines and craziness - especially as the show-offs jump over the shoreline when others are launching - not all of whom (myself included) are 100% in control!
Anyway out I went. Bloody hell it was windy. The depowering meant that turning was muted. I had very little control. Overpowered I think they call it. I was being gently lofted as the gusts wafted over the Bay. It was easy to stand. Even on the small board I'd borrowed from Kitepower to trial. But not easy for me to control. I was shitting my pants out there. I messed around for a bit then made my way back into shore. I was just totally uncomfortable in that wind.

So it was over to Cuspy for him to show us some magic.

There was another chick out there as well as KK. Without tricks but she looked good. I'd be happy to be at her level right now. Very happy.

We took more boards home with us as we were planning an early one Sunday. The wind was promising us all sorts of fun. And did it blow. It was a classic winter kite day. Again seeking solace in thermos-tea. We even bothered to check out Boat Harbour, which was great to see - huge surf crashing around. The van got a bit of 4x4 action and covered in salt water and sand from the wind. ProtoCole and his enlargening wife joined us. Which was a shame as it doesn't enamour the better-halves when they get dragged around in shitty weather without even seeing any decent action.

So on to the weekend just gone. I'll be brief. I went cycling again. Proto and the Belly were at antenatalisms in the am so I cycled with J round Bellevue Hill and down to La Perouse. And then squeezed a couple of hours in the office in.

Then I got the call. Proto'd had enough of birthing vids and the wind was PERFECT. It was a hasty last-minute-one again and I was already preparing myself for disappointment. Which was prophetic. Raced down there. I forgot my 12m so we got out Proto's 14m - - that's the 14m lead balloon that we've had so little fun with in the past. But we were proven wrong ... after some adjustments the baby flew well. Proto did some good turns. It was my go .... as the clock ticked toward 5:30 .... the wind dropped. Oh well. Heydiho - it was good to see Proto out there and I reckon a victory just to get the 14 outta the bag and flying nicely.

Training for the Sydney Marathon

2005-07-06T21:35:00.000+10:00

When the wind fails to blow - - often now winter's set in, or at least less predictably - - then I run around training for the Sydney Marathon. Having worked out the blog thing and quite enjoyed writing for Waiting for the Wind, I thought I'd pen my progress pounding the pavements. Read all about it at Marathon Musings at http://ifanyonecan.blogspot.com

#13 - New spot up at Palm Beach - shoddy wind again though

2005-06-20T08:14:00.000+10:00

Kiting 2005 #13 (Sun 19 Jun): Sunday was the second kiteday of the weekend. Me 'n OnTheCusp went up to Palm Beach. Again it was s'posed to be an early start but one of us was in dire need of bacon sandwiches and other cures before we could begin. Not a problem though as the wind didn't really get going til late afternoon.

We met up with KeenKayla, who even out-geeks me I reckon on the kite-obsession thing. To the extent I think she may even be impressed with this whole blog thing (it being difficult to gain much enthusiasm from my mates). She arrived without water kites though which is a bit dubious. But is equally keen to run (fly) before she can walk, already talking about IKO instructor courses. I've been gibbering on for a while about the course in Boracay which teaches you up, but takes a month which would be difficult with work. Keeny tells us she's at the going upwind stage, and jumping but with no control, following on form her successful few weeks in Fiji, as opposed to OnTheCusp's windless week.

We had some fun with the land kites, I got to fly OnTheCusp's 4.5m for a while.

Wind was offshore, west to norwesterly, so for water action it was the Pittwater side. I had couple of goes but it wasn't quite blowing enough and the kite was prone to leadballooning, while I was a bit nervous about the proximity of the car park in what was direct onshore. Given my lack of ability on the upwind side that gives me little room for manoeuvre.

OnTheCusp did much better, living up to his name he showed us some reasonable upwind board action, returning to his point of departure at least twice.

It was a good day despite my not getting too much time in the water. Met some new people. Hanged out at what is admittedly a much prettier place than Kurnell. And finished with a top curry.

My discovery today is this site, where these blokes have put up the designs to make your own kite: http://web.media.mit.edu/~saul/zeroprestige/kitemake (Cuspy - this could be something to do in the nowindtime we were discussing yesterday).

This is the other thing I've discovered today, a hybrid foil/inflatable kite. very cool?? http://www.ikiteboarding.com/article_detail.aspx?id=146