Magic!

Went down the lake at 2:30pm expecting the wind to be up for the forecast 4pm blow ... didn't think it was possible to have ABSOLUTELY no wind, but there was. Or wasn't, if you see what I mean.

Sat under a tree for a while, went for a swim and then sat under the tree some more. Once I'd dried off, I thought I'd unpack my Speed and make sure I hadn't tangled the bridles etc when I had packed hurriedly last time.

I'd finished poncing around when the wind picked up and people started hitting the water. I pulled out my anemometer; although the lake still looked pretty smooth and there were no white-caps, we were getting an honest 12 knots, so I thought - why the hell not?

Launched the kite, grabbed the board and away! For probably 20 minutes the wind was in that 12-15 knots range and the water was super-smooth! Magic! Was easy to make and keep speed too ... then the waves arrived but also a little more wind and again, it was easy to play silly buggers on the waves.

Did some toe-side riding and toe- to heel-side carving turns, some pop'n'load jumps (and one real stonker that had me flying!), some 'surfing' around the waves and had a great time riding upwind! Also dunked myself a few times and trying a jump, I managed to leap one foot out of the straps, sink the other and flip myself over onto my back - splat! Naturally, I did that right in front of a boat full of cool wakeboarders ...

Had a good hour or so then the wind died off and I had to slog back to the beach, then body drag upwind to miss riding into a wall thing ... landed the Speed then sat and waited for the wind to pick up. It didn't pick up over 8-12 knots and although the locals were riding, I called it a night.

Great session though, I enjoyed muchly!

PS. talking to one of my more sensible kite buddies, he informs me that because there are no IKO approved schools in Japan (not correct) then the international sailing/water rules don't apply O_o and it may be chaos here, but at least people are polite ...! So, much like the roads then huh?