I am the lawnmower man

There was even grass clippings in the water.

Missed a 16 knot plus session on Tuesday at Mie, today's forecast looked the same so hopefully...

Got over there just before 2... hmm, 12 knots on the yacht club. Feels like too much for the 21 so I go for the 16m XB. Go out on the Dialer; would be having fun but there's so much weed or grass in the water, it's wrapping the fins and creating so much drag I just can't ride...

Decide to put extensions on the 16 and try the TT: 6m left-overs from the old S3 21. Yeah, kinda works... mow the lawn mostly but hey it's summer - what can you do. Wouldn't riding at all without extensions...

Weather was reported as 14 to 10 knots; gusts to 18 at 2pm, 29 degrees C at 80%.
Wind felt like I should have been riding upwind - just - but wasn't.

What I learned today...

• Extensions work.
• Grass in the water sucks!
• Old skool spreader bar pad is the shizzle.

End of month pile-up

Forecast changed overnight... light wind forecast but same in Hikone and Otsu, which usually means rideable wind.

Got down the lake at 1:30, set up the S3 21. Out on the Dialer... easily riding but not going upwind. Do some walking until about 3 when the wind pick up. Switch to the Limited at 3:45... gah. Have as much fun as I can til just after 4, when I get off and head to work... just as the wind is cranking up :(

Weather was reported as 8 to 10 knots (balls), gusts to 18; 30 degrees C at 50%. Hmm.
Wind felt like I should have been going upwind to I should have been getting a smaller kite.

What I learned today...

• Wear the goddamn wetsuit. Power wedgies blow.
• Actually do need a spreader bar pad - not for the spreader bar, for the loops the webbing goes through. Ouchie.
• My elbows are killing me :(

And that's 5. Well, gosh...

Supposed to be the day today, forecast looks good... even looks good when I get to the beach. Early for once...

Should have gone for a bigger kite, but there you go. Went out on the Dialer but just wasn't in the mood. Changed it for my first Flydoor but that was too heavy and dull. Went and got the new one but that equally didn't spin my wheels. Tried to ride the Limited all the time but that was an exercise in frustration.

I did try a few very lame, very low kite loops to see if it would kill me. It didn't but the sun burn might... damn, I gotta put that stuff on in layers before I get anywhere near the lake :(


Weather was reported as 9-6-12-12-12-10 knots, gusts to 20. 28 degrees at 58%.
Wind felt like mostly underpowered with gusts to meh.

What I learned today...

• If it looks like a 13 day, rig the 16... cos summer SUCKS.
• Seems I've gone off my Flydoor - feels draggy, hard bloody work and just not fun any more :( maybe time to change the stance. What am I going to do when underpowered?
• Put the damn short john wetsuit on. Wedgie central...

Oh stop - 4 now?

Well, it was better than yesterday but just not enough to ride the Limited upwind easily... but it were better n' nowt!

Weather was reported as 9 to 12 knots, gusts to 20 after I left :-/

3rd for the month?

Lame.

Forecast was for crap and I only drove by on the way home from the hardware store cos why not. There was a bit of wind and so again, why not.

Bit of riding around to keep my hand in... lots of walking. Ah well...

Weak-ass typhoon is weak-ass.

Went to the lake expecting to ride the 21 AT BEST and having a back seat of things to meddle with to fill the afternoon. Instead, the wind was up, steady and rising. Huh...

Went out on the 16 and the Limited, and actually had a bit of fun.
The wind kept picking up and so I went and got the 13.
The wind kept picking up and so I went and got the 10...!

So that was a nice surprise. I got a little underpowered on the TT so I thought I'd change it out for the Dialer, but only got one good tack till the wind lulled enough for me to realize that I couldn't handle any walking so I decided to call it a day.

Pretty good day considering the crap forecast; the typhoon might have nailed the southern parts but we got almost none of the weather...

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Weather was reported as 9 to 12 knots (LOL) gusts to 20; 29˚ at 67%.
Wind felt like 15 to 20 knots fairly steady. Picked up steadily, held, then dropped off...

What I learned today...

• Relearned - the 16 isn't that much of a dog as I remembered. 'Specially not after months of flying the 21!
• Find the top end of the Limited is... limited. Bottom end if fabulous so I can't complain too much but I think I might try moving the pads to the heel-side just a tad, as they're now centered or a little to the toe-side, it seems....
• I so prefer to be just powered on a smaller kite now, and seem to jump just as high.
• Now I need to stop being a chicken shit and start stunting it up.
• Loops on the XBs are tricky... sheeting all in chokes the shit out of it, sheeting right out is violent - in the middle somewhere is better.

Downwinding

Forecast was good but it failed to deliver. I barely got to ride and it was all downwinders but strangely satisfying.

Especially when the cool kids couldn't keep their kites in the air... once slamming down a few feet from my head when I'd fallen into the water. Gimp.

Weather was reported as 8 to 10 knots, gusts to 15. 27 degrees at 66%.

What I learned today...

• There's a rip on a seam and a hole in the canopy... poor old S3 21 is showing its age.

And now it's time for a bucket of sangria...

Light wind expected, but it was same in Hikone and Otsu and that usually means it's rideable.

Well, it was for a half hour or so but then it was up and down and gusty nasty - got lobbed and backrolled the "jump" riding it out - and then lulled to nothing.

So it sucked, but I hung around for as long as possible, being a sad desperate tosser. Sigh.

Weather was reported as 10 to 12 knots; 26˚C at 66%.
Wind felt like crap.

Skirting the shore

Not some clever pun about summer fashions on the girls but a statement of the distance of my tacks today...!

Forecast was worse the risk of a day without responsibilities... looked ok-ish for the 13 when I arrived at 12 but I knew it was supposed to pick up so I risked the "small" kite.

Hard work to start with, working the kite to get moving and upwind. Gets easier, and more fun.

2 hours later, I'm pretty done - arms etc sore from working the kite hard, legs etc sore from doing stuff... time to call it quits and head to work.

Wind was 8 to 16 knots when I arrived and was pushing 20 when I left. It was good... except for the sunburn.

Forgot to add: SOME-THING-IS-TOUCH-ING-ME!!!

Stood on something slippery, thick and muscled that squirmed underfoot and gave me the heebie-jeebies... I jumped and squeaked like Grant Imahara.

Improvement impresses

Another light wind day scheduled... but the wind picked up gradually and it turned out to be oddly fun, doing rotations and getting real close to perfecting back roll transitions after some pfaffing around on the Dialer.

Having to go to work meant I cut it short as the wind was picking right up... sigh.

Sigh...

A few tacks were had but it was just too light to ride much, and it was up n' down playing silly buggers with my lust.

Weather was reported as 8 to 12 knots, 24 degrees at 65%.

Too light

Wind was up, the forecast wasn't. A few of us had gathered... to be disappointed. Riding a few tacks but walking til it drops right off and dies. Oh well, at least I got out of the house for a bit.

What I learned today...

• Need to pre-stretch my DIY pigtails... yikes!
• Need to do the mixer!
• Need to learn how to make a directional go upwind when the wind is light.

Forgot but not forgotten

Eep, forgot to fill this out...

Good ride on the 21 and the Limited. Wind picked up til I was uncomfy so I swapped for the XB but then the wind dropped. A few tacks on the Dialer but it was a waste of time so I packed up and went to work...

Worth the effort

Had the day off and looking at the forecast wasn't really sure I wanted to bother with the trip... ended up glad I did though, despite having to avoid the lo-oong traffic jams on the highway by taking the "local" roads.

Thought the wind was good enough when I arrived for the S3 12 and a boost session, but I was wrong. A couple of tacks were a waste of time.

Out with the 21. Ride for a bit but then it drops. I messed with untangling the twisted mini-5th and by the time I'd done that, I was thinking the wind had picked up some.

Yeah, it had. Gradually went from holding ground to fully depowered kite.

So that was fun... gave up when I was too tired.

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Weather was reported as 12 to 16 knots, gusts to 25 :o 27 degrees C at 75%.
Wind felt like underpowered a lot to approaching uncomfortably over-powered. 25 knots might explain that...!

What I learned today...

• Have to sort the 15 out!!!
• hop-to-toeside carve transitions - need more board input, it seems.
• Orange and peach frozen sherbets are in season! w00t.

Moby Dick gets me moving

Another afternoon off... same plan as yesterday, without the having-to-go-to-work at the end of it...

Yeah, it's light. Time for the Moby Dick to come out and play again. Try the Limited - not much joy. Try the Flydoor - better. Wind drops, I take a break and bring the Dialer back.

Wind picks up, have some fun on the Flydoor... harness bugs me though and while I'm enjoying the stunting, I wish I had the seat harness on.

Pick up the Dialer to change it up and head out... I can ride it, but I'm not carving anything - kite too slow! Play with changing footing and stuff... pretty good fun actually.

Get off the water and head home... pretty good day, actually!

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Weather was reported as 6 to 12 knots; gusts no more than 18 at 10am; 19 degrees C at 64%.
Wind felt like more powered than was comfortable with the waist harness...

What I learned today...

• Back/Front rolls - the S3 21 just lifts you way the hell up in the sky and you dangle around looking upwind for ages :)
• Need a seat harness for that mad power of the 21.
• ... maybe the 15 would have been better...

Republican Jesus* back in the game.

Got the afternoon off, the forecast looked ok so I headed to the lake. Took the S3 21, with the supplies to get it back in the air, just in case the wind wasn't happening.

It wasn't, so I replaced the broken bridle lines and replaced the pulleys. Determined to test fly it, I changed and went over the beach.

Spent another half-hour maybe sorting out the bridle - clearly, when the Z-line broke it looped through the B and C bridles and then I did knotted the two broken bits together when I packed it up... slow and steady sorts it out.

Inflates and launches fine, everything seems to work. A few crappy tacks then I have to go work...

Find a shop with blue Monster and orange juice ice on the way, so I'm double-happy ;)

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Weather was reported as 14 falling to 8 knots... it was mostly unridable by the time I got the gear out though :-/

What I learned today...

• Still a few kinks to work out of the S3 21... notably, the too-short mini-5th.
• Sunblock time.
• Found another lose thread on the Switch wetsuit... between that and the hole in the Hyperflex, I'm a bit frustrated. Might have to brave the cold water in the short john.

* Big, fat, white, slow and saves! sessions.

Directional practice was good...

Hmm. It seems we're not past the gusty lame season yet...

Got an hours fun on the Dialer, but the rest of it was crap. Gusts too much for the 13 but in-between, not enough for the 13. Set the 10 up cos I thought I would be able to use it but... only on the Dialer.

Sigh.

Tried some kite loop preparation OMG what a waste of time with the 13... forgot the 60cm bar and it just doesn't work on the 48cm.

Weather was reported as 13 to 10 knots, gusts to 22; 20˚C at 54%.
Wind felt like crap. Uncontrolled in the gusts, just enough some of the time and not enough the rest.

What I learned today...

• Fuckin' making an LEI go upwind is a lot more work than the Speed3, especially the additional bar pressure. I'm unfit, again.
• Dialer turns better with more aggressive weight shifts, front and rear...

Gusty but crappy.

There's the full gamut.

Tsu again. Forecast was good and the wind arrived; it was just late - as in, when I was packing up.

So I went out on the Speed3 12 at 2pm but wasn't having joy. At 3 I changed to the Pscyho4 19... better. But over-powered in the gusts and being blown downwind, yet I can't really jump properly. So it was a bit crappy...

Got lazy on the landing, just thought I'd pull the safety but I misjudged the distance to a log and ripped the kite :( the old "I've decided to sell this kite" curse strikes again. Not a biggee but damn annoying...

Weather was reported as 12 to 14 knots, gusts to 22. 22˚C at 41%.
Wind felt like a little overpowered in the gusts and underpowered at the other end.

What I learned today...

• Choose your landing spots and methods more carefully.
• Choose your kite more carefully - 13m XB would have been better.
• Might be time to dig out the t-shirt and short john suit.

Gusty but scary. And fun. But scary. And fun.

Was out about lunchtime and noticed the wind was up. Huh, should've paid closer attention to the forecast. Run around organizing stuff.

Get to the lake just after 2. Wind looks ok, JMA seems to say it'll drop later so I'll go with the S3 12 and take the XB 10 just in case.

Head out with the 12... ah, this should be fun!

And so it was...! Some rather big boosts - I could see the whole of the roof at the club house, and that's a 3 story building :o about 2m up over the road too.

With the wind though came the gusts... poor kite took a beating in the punchy shifts. Yikes...

Get dropped a few times when the wind just dies at the top of a jump. Get lobbed a few times when rotations go screwy... after a particularly big lobbing, I must have unhooked myself cos a few minutes later the bar goes flying out of my hands and the kite ends up in a mess... kinda fly it back to shore, dump it and recover.

Head back out, a little less sure. Wind has dropped a little and is a little more stable, but now I'm screwing up jumps to port, like the bad old days - nearly rotating backwards without meaning too... bad combination of kicker and wind angle?

Dunno. I'm starting to fade so call it a day... and what a day!

Weather was reported as 20 falling to 8 knots, gusts to 28; 18˚C at 58%.
Wind felt like a moment of "Imma gunna die", lotsa moments of AWWW YEAH and a few moments of woohaa.

What I learned today...

• Kite handles real funny when wet.
• Elevator rides are fun but scary. Especially when the lift stops.
• So-ooo out of practice! But at least my fitness isn't as bad as it was.

Gusty but epic!

Good looking forecast today for the afternoon... hit the lake after lunch.

Take the 12m Speed3 to the lake and the Flite. But the wind is good! Too good for the 12m and the waist harness so I go back for the seat and 10m XB, just in case.

Nope don't need the 10, the 12 is boosting epic! So that's nice. Wind is a bit gusty... some nasty moments with the kite but if I keep on top of it, it's all good. Lots of great jumps and some nice rotations, although I did balls up a front spin transition and tip tangle the kite... lucky.

3 and half hours! Bloody good effort on my part... I'm going to pay for it tomorrow though.

Moment of the day was boosting off a wave, down-looping the transition and carving down the wave, running out in front of it then carving back up to boost out the top of the same wave! What fun!

Weather was reported as 10 to 14 knots, gusts to 22; 18˚C at 40%.
Wind felt like more than that! 20 to 25 I thought, in the good bits.

What I learned today...

• Don't eat lunch so soon before putting on a harness.
• Need drain holes in the legs of the Cyclone2.
• Adjust the straps on the Limited.