I really hate wax

No joy again today. "The next three days are going to be great" seems to be the local joke.

Got desperate and headed out for a run. The Axis board stuns again with how good it is, and wax annoys me again with how shit it is.

Give up after a few runs and walks. Again.

Right. Plan D.

Home to drink beer.

Waste of time, wind wasn't picking up. Fucking frustrating.

Ah, tis the season

Good forecast, nothing delivered except for about 10 minutes riding. Bugger.

Bah

No work today for a change so naturally, the wind chooses this weekend to not blow. Bah humbug.

Tried a few tacks on both boards, and while I could get upwind occasionally it wasn't fun. Gave up and test-flew the S3 12 to check for how much I need to resplice the FDS to take tension out of it...

:(

Forecast looked ok, but I got ripped off. A handful of tacks, barely going upwind, for about 30 minutes. The racer boys impressed with the foil boards -- Sonic 11 guy was amazing.

On top of that, it rained so I have a soggy kite with no chance of drying it out cos it's rained every day since we got home...!

Let down, big time

Same forecast as last weekend, but it haut didn't pick up enough....

Tried to ride the landboard but the sand was too soft, the wind too light. Ah well.

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.

Psych!

Forecast was awesome, and the first 30 seconds I was worried the 10 would be too big... nope.

First skunkage of the year

:-/

Forecast looked great, out-the-window looked great so I came home at lunchtime to get my wetsuit, harness etc.

Got to the lake at 4:30pm... wind seemed a bit low so I set up Ol' Relentless. Jump in the water on the Mako... tack out, tack back aw crap going way downwind... longer tack out and BUGGER the wind has died and I'm out in the river mouth. Had to body drag back over the river wall, avoiding the trees etc and walk down the beach.

Change to the Flydoor and one tack out, one tack back and the wind has gone again :(

Get out, wait around for a while then pack up. Bollocks. At least there's a hot shower this time...

Weather was recorded as 16 knots at lunch time then 12 at 3pm, falling to 5 at 5pm... and it was lully - the other two guys kites kept falling out of the sky and the 21 kept sliding down the window. Naturally, the wind picked up to 12 knots again after dark. And now it's snowing. It was between 2 and 3°C too...

What I learned today...
• Winter can still bring crap weather.

No joy

Forecast looked great ... wind failed to deliver :(
Got literally 2 tacks out then it all packed in. I gave up and went and stood by the fire on the beach ...

Skunked

Majorly. Shame, the forecast looked so good too!

Vexing Venturi

Wind looked good at 1pm but I had to go to the dump and they dicked me around with their brain-damaged system so I didn't get to the lake until 3pm - had to clean the car (ants & termites in the trash!) and repack with kite gear ...

Set out with the Naish Venturi race board - biggest size, 190x70 0_o - on loan from Naish and yadda yadda long story. By the time I got to the lake, the wind had dropped to 6 knots - the SA2 stayed in the sky easily though. Had a tack out on the Flydoor to see what was up - slogging out, slow run back to shore from like 10m out. Got into the water with the race board ...

Yikes what a monster! Big, wide, floaty. Tried to water start with feet in both straps on the windward rail but the tail would sink and I'd get lobbed over the other side. Ended up putting my front foot in the center of the board (riding strapless!) and got a few rides like that but there wasn't enough wind I think.

Put a rear strap in the center and that was easier to get up but still not really riding. At this stage, it has no more bottom end than the Flydoor. Fins feel really draggy, but turn hard when ahem I unbalance myself and turn the board. Easy to kick them under the water. And hitting water weed is like running into a wall. Miyachi reckons it's easier to start with the front foot in, and the rear foot out of the straps and just ahead of them, on the rail. We'll see.

Aside from the frustrations of cutting the toe I dropped a brick on yesterday (!) and dropping the kite in the water, then the board floating into the lines so I couldn't relaunch, I think I'll try it again.

Moment of the Day was non-existent. Pretty dull all round.

Wind speed was recorded as 6 to 4 knots but it was down to 2 I reckon - flag barely moving, couldn't keep the kite in the air without working it ...

What I learned today ...
• Race boards - not as easy as they look like they should be ... I mean really, the thing is as big as an aircraft carrier, it should be child's play!

Skunked but productive ... sorta.

Looked like enough wind to try a ride on the web cam, so I trotted down to the beach. Got talking to Miyachi and it turns out that all the Naish gear at the club has been sent by Naish Japan to Locus so that the club is a Naish demo place. This includes Parks, Chargers and 3 2012 Venturi's ... so while Miyachi was setting up the biggest one for me, I went to the beach ...

No riding but I also had my anemometer with me so I have some data at least ...

Moment of the Day was getting the biggest Venturi set up just for me!

Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 6 knots. I concur.

What I learned today ...
• The Speed 2.5 Silver Arrow will fly in 1 to 2 knots but you have to work it. Basically, if you can feel the wind, the kite will fly.
• At 4 to 6 knots (solid average of 5 knots) you can get up on a plane but will lose it as you have to turn the kite to re-stroke. I'm thinking a high volume board with float will keep you rolling and let you build up apparent wind ... hence me bugging Miyachi about Venturi.
• That leads me to conclude that at 8 knots I can be riding downwind and by 10 knots holding a beam reach easily, probably going upwind. That my fat ass on the Flydoor XL.

Called off

on account of the lightning O_o I class that as skunked too.

The Royal Skunkage

Checked out the live cam at Locus and thought it might be worth a drive-by. Drove-by, thought it might be worth getting out of the car and having a closer look. Had a closer look and thought it might be worth unpacking the kite. Unpacked the kite and AH-HAHAHAHA says the God of Wind, here have this big skunk to go with your zebra pants.

:-/

Packed up and went home.

Then Shang Tsung says - The Movie!

Forecast looked iffy but thought I'd try anyway. Went to the lake and pumped up the kite, waited around, talked to So, launched the kite, fought to keep it in the air, tried to ride a few times to test the board mount for the GoPro, waited around a lot ... no joy today.

What I learned today ...
• The self-land technique - the one that doesn't involve pulling the safety. I might have it sussed ...
• I really need that Speed 2 19m ...!
• Need to red Loctite the bolts on the board :(

What is it when it's almost gravy?

Custard? I'm not a huge fan of custard, after all ...

Went to the park in a southerly. Supposed to be 10 knots but was not very much. Could get riding but couldn't get up the speed to really get cracking but it was better than nothing.

Weather looks crap till Wednesday next week. Fingers crossed.

It was Winston Churchill ...

... who said that low-wind kiteboarding is the best way to ruin a nice walk. Or maybe he was talking about golf.

Skunked again ...! Poor little Rebble not up to the task ... that's ok cos I have a cheapo 12m Pansh Ace on the way :D

Skunked

My 5m/s turned into nothing, due to a soggy surface and the wind dying off right as I set up - I swear :( So I put the Rebble away and went home. I need that Twister, Ed!

Had a nice tu-tu on Sunday though; took the Cult out for a test flight (thanks Rip!) and when it started rocking I figured it was worth unpacking the 19m Synergy. I was right - filled up nicer this time due to better wind and although it was borderline bottom end conditions, I got it up and flying.

Forgot the camera of course :( but had a few nice little jumps and some big ol' scuds - the beach looks like the farmers have been plowing it for planting :D And again, just as I've finished rolling the kite up, the wind picks up again ...!

Note to self - don't put car keys in the bottom of the bag and forget about them!