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.

It's a good news, bad news kinda thing

Sun's out, wind like yesterday but a work day so I got the lake to myself. Cold though, and my gears still wet so I go with the 6/5/4 suit. Ugh.

Got to the beach with the Duke, Fun Foil, and 10m XB but it was howling so I went back for the 7m kiddie's toy. So small, thin, tiny, far away from the bar!

Was fine for a bit, then the wind dropped so I was working it hard. Not so bad, I could get consistent pull out of it that way, but it was hardwork.

Went back in for the 10m. That was better, had some good foiling runs and tried some gybes and S-turns, which was fun. Got to surf a wave accidentally too, until I ran out of speed and pull and sank.

Nailed the bottom HARD at speed, twice...fuselage is bent again. But I got some epically nice rides after that, long foils at constant speed and carving turns.... Huh.

So, plan B rev. 2: ride it as-is until I can foil consistently without slamming into the bottom, then cut it down for the extended fuselage. Tempted to get some aluminum stock and shift the mast mount point too... we'll call that plan C.

There was something else I meant to add, but have forgotten. Oh well.

Goodbye J-winter

All excited about using the 7, even thought I'd need the TT but no, the wind is just jerking my chain. Maybe 10 minutes riding, 5 continuously... bah.

I didn't set up the 10m.

Forecast looked good. Got the chores done then went down the lake. Miyachi watched the little guy and I went out...

Took the 10m and 7m to the lake as there were gusts blowing sand around. Thought about setting up the 10m...

Thank Jesus! I didn't set up the 10m.

As I was about to start pumping the 7m, I heard a "Help-u me" from behind and turned to see  Niki-san sliding towards me with his kite at the zenith, horribly over-powered. I grabbed the back of his harness and we walked/levitated back up the beach so he could dig himself into the sand and lower the kite to land it.

An auspicious start! Went out on the 7m and it was ok for a while, then it dropped, then it picked up.

Thank Jesus! I didn't set up the 10m.

Yeah, so, at first I had a hard time getting the big air but then I dialed in the board and kite and... yeah, fuckin' whee! That was good for a while then the wind picked up some more and gets gusty with it... start getting dropped and missing landings - need to learn - sorry man-up - to loop it.

Had to go to work so I came in after 90 minutes... long hard 90 minutes though!

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Weather was reported as 14 to 12 to 15 knots (LOL) with gusts to 28 (at least); 13˚C at 68%.
Wind felt like 25 knots dropping to 20, gusts to more than 30. The last 20 minutes were pushing the 7m over its limit... awesome! So it was WOOHOO for 20 minutes, Hohum for 10, AWW YEEAAAAH for 30 and OMFG for the last 20.

What I learned today...

• I probably could do with a 5m.
• Thank Jesus! I didn't set up the 10m.
• Should have taken the Mako with me, but the Limited did well in the waves anyway.
• Need to learn how to loop.
• Thank Jesus!

Wind burn, sun burn, hail burn? Ouch.

So it's been a while. Forecast talked big and for a change could back it up... sand was flying.

Was 10m weather when I arrived then it picked up so I went out with the 7m. First launch was hairy, so I put it down with Miyachi's help and we waited...

The hail had died off some and the gusts were less vicious so we tried again.

At first, the hail in my eyes was killing me and I nearly gave up on the whole shenanigans cos I couldn't see and my eyes kept hurting even after I shut them :o but just as I thought I couldn't take it any longer, the hail stopped.

As always, with 10 or 7m weather it was gusty as hell so although the jumps were epic at times, the landing left a lot to be desired... I really gotta learn to loop for landings - this years goal.

Wanted to get some Mako-fun in so switched boards... whee!

Wind's starting to get nasty again, my legs are tired so I pack it in.

Which is probably just as well cos the cops, fire-fighters, lake police boat, and SAR helicopters are starting to freak me out... turns out a fisherman's boat was found capsized so they're out searching for the guy. Doesn't look good...

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Weather was reported as 22 to 24 knots, gusts to 40...! 4˚C at 63%.
Wind felt like comfy powered to well-powered with a few moments of uh-oh... but I was pretty cautious with the kite most of the time.

What I learned today...

• Wear. The. Glasses.
• Seat harness is comfy. New speeder works fine.
• The waist with the clip has gouged a hole in The Impervious. Gah. Something else to fix.

A long 2 hours...

Good forecast, good wind. Started on the 10m but the gusts to 36 knots at 2:40 were too much to handle so I got out the 7m XB for the first time. Lulled a lot in the last 30 minutes of the two-hour session so that sucked, but the first 45 minutes out on each kite was good.

No massive boosts - think I need to get the seat harness out to hold it all down. The waist harness did a lot of riding up too which was annoying.

Only 2 hours, but I'm knackered...

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Weather was reported as 18 to 22 knots, gusts to 36; 6˚C at 65%.
Wind felt like totally underpowered 10%, just underpowered 50%, happy powered 30% OOH YEAH 18% and Imma gunna die 2%.

What I learned today...

• Front foot further forward to flatten the board for better low-wind performance on the Dialer. Maybe :o
• Really fuckin hard to fix a waist harness when it's ridden up and you're trying to keep hold of a surfboard in the fuckin surf.
• Really need to sack up and loop the smaller kites on the landings cos getting dropped sucks.
• 7m loops fast but doesn't pull like a beast.
• Didn't need the 6/5 suit today either, despite the snow.