More of the same... and that's a good thing. Unlike pumpkin pie which is crap.

Same as last time... except I gave up on the Bullet (and Miyachi wanted to charge me rental) and went with the Flydoor. Wind built until I could have fun on the Limited.

Can pretty much do rotations to full boost height, and am even dropping some grabs... might be able to work in a foot-out or board-off eventually. Still handed though - they're great on one tack, sucky on the other.

Bullet? Bah!

Lightish winds forecast, but it's winter so the wind should have enough oomph. Went out with the Speed3 15 and the Bullet but struggled for a while. Gave up on the Bullet, finally deciding I hate it. Took it back and got the Flydoor... much better. 

Wind picked up, switched to the Limited and had a good ol' time playing silly buggers. Foot outs are easy when you don't have a harness getting in the way of your stomach, keeping your hand from your board. Grabbing the fins though hurts.

Good long session, gonna be sore tomorrow...

Weather was reported as 6 to 12 knots, 15 degrees C.

It's Thursday... isn't it?

Missed the day before cos I forgot to check the weather. Today was supposed to be ok...

Looked good when I got to the beach, took the Speed3 15 and XB13 to the beach but the wind dropped off. I struggled for a while - was playing with the Naish Bullet 5'4" demo at the shop - then the wind picked up and I got onto the Limited for some boosting and footouts... whee!

Wind dropped again and I tried the Bullet, but I don't like it - seems hard to ride, compared to my Dialer.

Gave up and got packed up... then realized it was actually Wednesday and I am supposed to be going to work :o I was 10 minutes behind schedule but traffic went my way and I arrived on time... phew!

Shoulda flip-flopped

Great forecast, even though it was all NW. Got to the lake and there was nothing. And I mean n-o-t-h-i-n-g. Waited around and something arrived, so I got changed and took the 21 and 15m Speed3s over to the lake, with a plan to swap the 21 bar to the 15. Which I did.

Good to be back on the 15... wind picked right up as I launched it so it was full-on for a bit there. So much fun to jump! Punchy and gusty and became less fun as the wind shifted more to the west...

Came in and packed it up and got the 10m but after my first two tacks, the wind dropped right off. Gave up and went home.

Weather was reported as... tosh. Whatever it was, it was a pile of bollocks cos there was nothing when I arrived at 1:30 and I probably should have been on a 10m until the time I actually got on the 10m... then I should've been on the 15.

What I learned today...

• 6m extensions are too long for the 15.

Redialed

Actually looked enough wind to contemplate my 10m, and Miyachi had the Bandits there for demo so I borrowed the 8th edition 11m for a run. Ok powered, falling to under so I swapped it out for the XB. Bar pressure was light for sheeting, medium for turning but crisp. Flapping behind the LE robbed power when sheeted out. Vague at the zenith... didn't like it.

Had another good time on the Dialer, but fell and hit my spreader bar hook on the rail and damaged it. Dang, something else to repair but I expected to ding up my first board. And an excuse to check out a new board... or maybe a Dynabar.

Really seems I'm going to end up riding the Dialer in lighter wind and saving the TT for really good boosting day... shame I can't surf worth a damn.


Weather was reported as 12 to 16 knots, gusts to 22; 15 degrees at 55%.
Wind felt like just to under powered.

What I learned recently...

• front foot pressure is important to make gybing your feet easy
• still no clue on tacking

From crap to cool

What started out as a shitty frustrating day of wind drops, tangles and swamped kites, ended up pretty bloody good. A cackle-fest on the Dialer... once the wind picked up before, during and after the rain. We rode til dark, what fun!

Farewell to Fusion?

God what crap wind. Up, down, shifted 90 degrees and back... had to walk up the beach both directions! It was so bad, even the super-stable XB hindenburged at one point.

But got to ride some in between all that. Was desperate to try out the new gear so I kept going even when I thought, "fuck this, I'm going home to finish the deck."

Got a good long blow before the rain came in. The Mystic Star seat/waist got pushed to the limit from light to way over. The new Limited had to deal with wind at 90 degrees to the chop. Both aquited themselves well.

The Star was no worse than the Fusion for wedgies, both ass and crotch. Spreader bar ride-up was better than both Fusion (probably) and Renegade, while it was easier to get it down by far. As for the back, comfort was overall better than both. When the wind is right, we'll see if I can board-off. I still think for over-powered boost-fests, I'll need a pure seat but it's good to know that I can consider the Mystic range now too... although, there's no real good place for a front leash point.

The Limited is at least as good as the 2014 but I don't have the skill to really comment.

... got some epic carves in on the Dialer... might I have started the nailing if it? Getting some air under the fins too.

The weather was borked.