A kiting log

I decided to go to the beach tonight.  I stopped at the kite shop and after talking to Jeanne for 45 minutes or so I made it out to Seaside.

I knew as soon as I opened the door to the car that there was too much wind.  But, the last 3 times I tried to fly there was too little... so too much wasn't going to stop me until I'd tried it.  Still terrified though...

The beach was deserted... just the way I like it.  I love fall, I need to go out there a lot more and take advantage of the space!

Anyway, I laid the kite out near the dunes and it filled right up like it's supposed to.  I laid out the lines and realized why people like the velcro on the zipper mod... my downwind lines kept getting stuck under the kite as it flapped on the sand.  But I decided I could tuck that edge under and hold it with some sand too and that worked out ok.

I pulled on the bar and up she went.  I got dragged about 15 feet and never did reach the zenith.  It wasn't an out of control drag... but it was strong and fast and I was a bit nervous.  If I had had someone with me to grab my harness it would have been fine.  But since I've never flow this kite before and didn't know what to expect I decided to land it.

Well, when I went to land it got all twisted up.  It basically bow-tied itself.... one end did loops while the other end didn't.... strange!  A foil kite with a harness can't do that so easily I guess.

I released it to the leash and let go of the bar... no problem, it flapped like a flag and then landed as it's supposed to.  I manged to walk hand-over-hand to get to it and let the air out.

While I was unfastening the strings I realized that I had probably set it up wrong.  There are 3 'pigtails' to fasten to on each end... one for the trailing edge lines, the brake lines... and two different positions for the leading edge... one says 'more bar pressure' and one says 'less bar pressure.'  I think that I did the left side on 'more' and the right side on 'less.'  That would explain the flipflopping!

Anyway... I didn't have too much trouble untangling the lines.. but it did kill an hour just with that one attempted launch and then putting things away.

I got the 26 SkyTiger out and flew it for a while... Plenty of wind for skudding... but with a North wind you can drag down the beach without worrying about the dunes.  It's nice... but tiring.. and it was starting to get dark.

I had one guy walk up and ask me about my kite... I like when people come talk and ask questions.  Usually they are just worried that I'll be blown away. :)

The wind was gusty and lessened as the afternoon went on. Not enough to fill my G2 ... and the Hi-60 wasn't fast? enough to keep me moving on my skates. I'd get a good run (tack) here and there, but then I'd try to go upwind too much and stop.

Ohwell, still fun.

( More pictures )

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Senator John Kerry kite surfs off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, July 20, 2004. Kerry has stayed for several days on the small island of Nantucket, off the coast of Massachusetts. REUTERS/Brian Snyder US ELECTION




(From here)

Well the wind was just right for flying on the bay side of the island tonight... at least it would have been if I'd been able to get the kite full and up off the ground. It was probably barely blowing 5 mph (I need an aneometer!).

There isn't much beach to be found in Seaside Park.. so we headed up to the park in Lavallette. Unfortunately, the parking is permit only and we got a ticket for $31. I wonder how much a permit costs... For the future, I think launching from pedals and paddles might be possible if the wind isn't blowing towards the bridge. I don't know.... I hope I get to go out when other kite surfers are out so I can watch them.

So I spread out the kite and laid out my lines along the shore. Long story short, there wasn't enough wind to inflate the kite. If my helper hadn't held it upside down and gotten a bunch of water and wet sand into the leading edge air intake meshes it might have flown... I'm not sure. It was a learning experience.

Of course as I was packing everything up (Yikes, Sandy!) the wind picked up some and the kite was trying to prove it Could fly... but since it was sunset I didn't expect the wind to stay up anyway.

(Some pictures from the back yard)

(G2 Review with Pictures)

(Guerilla 2 photo gallery)

I've signed up for the ksurfschool yahoo group as well as the ksurf group... but thus far I haven't gotten very good advice from anyone there... They seem to be stuck on the mantra of "take lessons."

Fine. Lessons are indeed a good idea... But really, every time I post I feel like I have to mention that I AM taking lessons... I just want to discuss things with other kiters between lessons. And the internet is a good place for that.

It's starting to get annoying.