Joy from the North

Had a couple of beers now (cos I earned them) and on an empty stomach, I'm having a hard time remembering what happened today exactly... went a bit like this.

Got to the lake at 12:30pm-ish. Gloves Man was waiting to get on the water but Junkie Sensei and Old Duffer were waiting for the wind. I took the S3 15 over to the lake with the 2 boards.

Set up the kite and it filled nicely but the wind was up'n'down. Noticed that the endline was looking worn, around wear it bangs up against the tube it threads through... hmm, that doesn't look good. Should be ok, no worries mate.

So I head out on the Flydoor cos the wind is light. I'm riding around ok, not flying upwind but not getting sucked onto the beach either. Noodle noodle doot-de-doo.

Clunk. What is clunk? Oh, the end has snapped off the end-line and my leash is flailing around. Gah. And naturally, the ring falls off when I hook it onto my spreader bar.
What to do, what to do... tie a knot in it and attach the leash to that - but now I can't do rotations or loops without the leash getting wrapped around the QR etc. Hmm...

But the wind has picked up so I swap out for the Flyradical and whoop it up. Gusty and punchy, kite is misbehaving and I have a few tip-wraps, clams, and drops but am getting the hang of either avoiding them (feeling what's happening) or catching them before the bad happens. And then...

And then...

And then the wind switches to the north. ZOMFG smooth, consistent wind!!! Let the good times roll! Which they did for quite a while... I even start to cope with the leash/safety line situation and start doing some nice rotations - even some kewl front rolls. This is more like it! Even the sun comes out... happy times.

Wind starts to drop... I work for a while and enjoy the gusts but now it's starting to rain and the sun is gong time. Time to pack up.

Good day - hopefully, a sign of things to come... from the North.

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Moment of the day was when the wind switched to Northerlies. Hallelujah!!!
Mood of the session was anxious annoyed ecstatic.
It sucks when shit breaks.

Weather was reported as 14 to 9 to 10 knots, gusts to 36 (ROFL) and 10°C at 78%.
Wind felt like 30% underpowered, 65% having a good time, 5% OHH SHIIIIIIT SON!!!

What I learned today...
• Worn bits should have attention paid to them :-/
• Unpleasant kite behaviour post-jump seems to be the result of redirecting directly downwind too soon or too aggressively and sending it too far to the edge of the window.
• Better to leave it later and redirect hard.
• Also better to send it with a hard turn, sheet way out and let it run! Big yoink!
• It IS getting cold... thin gloves would be nice. Something to block the wind around my arms too. Don't think it's time for that... scary... 6mm gimp suit. How the hell do I get in that small hole in the top?!
• That's all carry on pass the gin.