Phangka and Squallus again

Stopped by KBA in the morning - no spare Dakine spreader bar (O RLY) so I bought a new Mystic Supporter seat harness - XL but aside from the "Power Belt" only closing an inch, I think it fits ok. Can swap the spreader bar to the Dakine if I replace the D's hooks... not sure about the click thing though :-/

Headed out to ol' faithful - late cos someone who shall remain nameless decided to wander off shopping - but it didn't matter cos the tide was still out. A little wind at the Peaks, so I pumped up the 16, walked out over the sand to the the far off water...

Nope, slightly planning downwind. This blows.

OH look a storm is coming in - neato! Now I'm riding! Hmm Mark from NZ is heading into the shore - maybe I should pack up NAH just one more jump OMG and that's only 3cm of water splat! O SHIT the kite has unhooked somehow and then yoink! O look the D-ring has ripped out of the harness and my kite is skipping downwind... joy!

Sam made a valiant effort to hold the 'bow but he had to let the CL go... kite finally settles just short of the shore and Mark outpaces Olivia to rescue it!

PISSES down and blows like a bastard - that broken harness might have been a lucky thing...

Wind and rain finally passes over, but there's no blow left. KBA packs up and heads home... Mark and I try to fly the kites (to dry them off!) but there's nothing... he gives up. As I'm walking back to land though... it picks up!

So I finally have a few inches of higher-than-low-tide to play with and some wind! Get about a 30-minute ride before sunset, with some great jumps and nice sent rotations... I pack up cos a. it's getting dark b. the wind has picked up enough that I'm happy over-powered but worried about the landing and c. there's lightening blasting the other side of the island 0_o

Mark helps Olivia land the kite...

Get back to the hotel - tired, hungry, in need of shower and beer - to discover there's a fucking street market blocking BOTH streets that access all the hotels - and ours - down off the main road... don't even start me >:( spoiled the day and my feelings about the place, did the little wanker with the whistle who said "This is Thailand -- go back to your own country"


Wind felt like 8 knots initially, then 30 knots in the squall, then 15-25 in the last bit...


What I learned today...
• Sometimes, gear failure is a good thing :o
• Gray has some mad-ass stories!
• Best just to land the shit when clouds roll in like that...

Phangka again

Same plan with Buzz as yesterday... we drove to Nathon about 3pm and there was N-O-T-H-I-N-G - I couldn't even tell you which way the wind wasn't blowing. Drove to The New Spot to see if B was there; a little wind from the north but not enough. Headed back to Phangka bay - it was cooking!

Stood around watching the KBA lessons taking up the whole bay, wondering how long till the tide came in, and should I go home for the 13... when B arrived. We both decided on the 16 and a small board... wind had dropped by the time we'd set up though, so I chose the big board and shot upwind of him.

Crowded today! A trio of Frenchies turned up but shared 2 kites between them... Sam and Gray went out too so there was about 7 of us on the water :o

I played "race upwind" with the Dyno guy... then decided that was boring and started doing jumps. Not as much wind as yesterday so I start doing rotations... get some nice ones in too!

Then... poink! spreader bar hook separates on the RHS and as I ride along looking at it going "WTF do I do now!?" the LHS gave out. The kite shot to the zenith and looked like it's just going to sit there, on my safety leash so I pulled it in and released the QR. Easy wind up of lines and walk into shore, which was nice. And I wasn't 30 feet in the air when the hook gave out too.

Le sigh.


Wind felt like it was on the low side of 15-20 knots but it picked up as the sun set... while I was watching from the side lines :(


What I learned today...
• Carry a spare spreader bar if you're using Dakine :-/
• I've been pretty lucky with gear failures so far...

Primo Phangka!

Went down to Nathon to meet Buzz at 4pm-ish... sat around chatting with Gray and Sam (KBA guys) on the beach cos there was NO wind :( Buzz arrived a bit late but said it was rocking down near the new spot at a place nicknamed Twin Peaks cos of the two mountains duh. Seems they generate thermals... Buzz took off, I ran around looking for the wife who was out shopping, rounded her up and headed down that way...

KBA was already on the water, Buzz was pumping up when I arrived... I decided to go with the XB 16 cos there wasn't enough clean beach to launch the 21 - another good call cos the thermal picked up toward sunset!

I got set up on the limited real estate and branch etc strewn beach - managed to tangle lines :( - and had an interesting launch with Buzz holding my kite while flying his - we got there in the end!

BAM straight out and riding good - lovely flat water, super-smooth wind... fucking awesome! Good jumps, great back-rolls and easy jump-transitions. Went at it a bit over-enthusiastically and then realized I only had about 30cm of water under me at times... but no prangs!

Was great to be riding with Buzz - he shot way upwind of me (I was upwind of KBA students) and we did stereophonic jumps :)

Rode until the sun set... didn't want to quit! Packed up in the dark... awesome spot! Best session to date!


Wind felt like about 15 knots when I got on the water, up to about 20 knots when I got off. One single punch from a gust that felt like maybe 25 but otherwise, super-smooth!


What I learned today...
• You don't even have to do up the harness leg straps at all :o
• Should take the Flyradical with me.
• It's inspiring riding with people who do something other than just cruise back and forth!
• The wife is actually turning into quite a handy little kite monkey...