More of the same but better

Another session at Tsu, forecast for 3 p.m. looked better than yesterday.

Got to the beach, and there's Jun and 3 other guys getting foils ready. Neat! Wind was super-light though, bit annoying. Set up the foil again, but gambling that the wind would pick up, I took the 15 to ride.

Flailed around in the water again, with no success and so I came in for the 21. As I launched, the wind dropped right off and the other guys kites started hitting the water. Jun couldn't relaunch and the other guys (Diablo, Chrono) just made it back to shore. I helped Jun untangle his lines and by that time, the wind had come up a little.

I reckoned I could cope with the 21, so I headed out as the guinea pig. Yep, riding ok. Nice cruise around . . . the wind picks up so I go back for the 15. More excellent cruising; nailed a lot of my foot changes . . . hmm.

Jun dropped his kite again for a longer swim, and it felt like it started to rain so I called it a day. Rain didn't appear so I could have gone longer but oh well.

So . . . early . . .

Good forecast at Tsu, so I trucked out early (9 a.m.) after very few hours sleep. Wind was ok but not up to the forecast--I wanted to ride the Duke but there was no waves. Tide was very low and going out, the wind was ok though.

So I went out on the foil and the 12, but I thought I'd try the rear wing further forward . . .

Yeuch. Too twitchy and reactive to the boiling ocean. So it was an OK session but it could have been better! It was good to chase Jun around on the water though!

Watch out for the fish

Well, damn my eyes. Not supposed to be any wind but I went anyway cos I had to get out of the house.

Absolutely nothing when I arrived at 1, so I went and did some shopping. Got back about 2 and it looked marginal, but I thought I'd have a shot.

Dodging the tow-launch paragliders, their boat, the SUPers and the kids swimming . . . and had a butter-smooth ride out there. Except for the time I hit the dead fish and fell off.

Fabulous. Dropped the kite once, but in the shallow end so got a relaunch ok. High success rate with changing feet and downloops . . . good fun!

Packed it in after about 2 hours. Excellent!

Then the wind dropped

Gah. Another "why did I bother" day as the wind was up and mostly down and nothing went according to plan.

I got 15 minutes on the Duke. Then the wind dropped.

I went out on the foil with the 7m but that sucked cos it's really too small. Then the wind dropped.

So I got the 10 again and that was ok, but the riding wasn't up to much. Then the wind dropped

I gave up and went to work.

I love the D

Over the hills and far away.

Jun had just finished his morning session; he was out on the foil. I was hoping for the Duke ride and got lucky--the wind picked up and I had a rocking good session on the D for two hours, hackin' and slashin'.

Took a break, thinking I'd have a little fun on the 15 and the TT but the wind died away and it sucked so I packed up and came home.

Swim, narrowly avoided

I knew it was going to be light, but it turned out lighter than Thursday and dropping. . . . I got some runs and some funs in before it just died right off. But this time, I managed to squeak back to the beach.

God I like riding on flat water.

Ride, swim, walk

Went to the lake to get out of the house and spent some time tuning up the Speeds. All the lines were in need of a tune. The mixer on the 12 had stretched a half dozen mm, the 15 had shrunk 3/4 of an inch (my Amsteel pulley lines made in NZ), and the 21 was perfect.

By then, the wind had picked up a little so I thought I'd give the foil a run. Took the 15 and the 21 to the lake, but thought I was even pushing it with the 21.

Hot-launched, but it needed serious pumping. I got out on the water and was up, riding, and going upwind fine so it was all good! Had a nice time just flying, playing with the load n' float of the foil, trying out the downloop transitions . . .

. . . all went well until I duffed a downloop and then noticed that the wind had dropped. How did I notice? Cos I couldn't relaunch the kite :-/ I did manage a half-successful attempt at a reverse launch, but there just wasn't enough wind to over-come the now soggy wing tips and it wrapped a bridle and I couldn't get air into the center to open it out. Total wind drop-out.

So I wrapped it up and started my swim in. Got the lines in easy then started the roll up. Much easier having a floating board to dump it on!

I was making my way in, when some fisherschmucks in a boat came past. I was sure they were just interested in having a gawp, which was confirmed when they asked the dumbest question, "Are you ok?" To which I of course replied, "Yes fine thanks" and finished my swim. Tossers, if you'd actually wanted to help perhaps offering it would have been a good idea . . .

Not so much water in the kite, but it still got terribly sandy as I laid it out on the south marina beach, reading for the hike up the road . . . which was actually the worst bit of the whole ordeal.

Oh well, such is life.

Another great one

There wasn't really supposed to be any wind, and there wasn't much in truth either--6 knots the webpage said, but I think it was more like a steady 8, maybe 10. The 15 stayed in the air but only just; had to trim the heck out of it to stop it stalling, and thank god I didn't put it in the drink.

But I had an excellent session, cruising on the foil, riding the swell. Managed a few feet changes and nailed some downloop gybes which are really nice to do.

Brilliant.

Well that was fabulous

Probably best day ever riding a directional. Good ol' Mako, I think I got the hang of it. Finally. Still want a decent surf kite though . . . and maybe a bigger board :D

I need a bigger surfboard

Brilliant forecast. Total let down. Well, not total cos I stayed at the Yacht Harbor for 3 hours and did manage to hit some good "waves" but it was up and down again, and I spent a lot of time going downwind and being annoyed. Wanted a break from the foil and wanted to ride the waves, but the weather had other ideas. . . .

What a surprise

In a good way this time. Slight puff of wind, hoped to ride the foil . . . but the wind suddenly picked up and stuck around. Huh. Laid out the 15 and went out on the TT for a jumping good time. Apparently I'm a bit rusty.

Wind dropped a little so I went out on the foil and had some of the most perfect rides, until I fell and landed on my face. Felt like someone kicked me in the face. Gave up and went home before they could do it again.