Fall squalls

Good boosting session for a half hour or so, then light cruising on the AS. Nice. Started off on the SB 14 but it showed a lack of class when the wind picked up, buckling in jumps . . . it's gotta go.

Whoa, where did that come from?

Crappy forecast, but it turned out pretty good.

I'd set up the foil, but didn't need it. Went out with the 14 to make sure I had power, as I really wanted to ride the Duke.

Got my wish. Picked up to the point where I almost thought about getting a smaller kite or board, but depowered fully and just hung on. It was good. Tack and jibes were fine, which is nice. Board is a hack n' slash machine, might need more fins cos I'm lazy and aren't loading up the back end in turns, and it's getting loose. Or maybe that's a good thing...

So anyway, was fun.

Git yer Dukes up!

Took the Duke to the beach because I wanted a change, and am determined to give it a good run.

Wind was up, but it was gusty as hell, and the wind was so shit that everyone buggered off and left the lake all to me alone. Then it picked up and I had 2 good hours of blasting around on the Duke.

So, ride it off the back foot, with power, and it's sweet. Like, really good. I got to thinking and treated it like a Vanguard and it was gravy. Needs more body English to carve well but when you do, it rewards. Jumps nice too and I managed gybes and tacks easily, so it must be the straps ruining my style on the Foil :D

Still want a bigger one though. With channels...Adrian?

Suddenly clicked

Got some long tacks running off upwind, with some very long runs flying the foil, standing tall and steady. Woohoo! Goofy feels horrible, out of control and twitchy, but actually getting longer runs on the foil that side. Had a play with transitions and did some accidental S-turns. Good day!

Not sure I like the SB with the foil . . . the XBs are better.

Dum-de-gah-GAH

Wind picked up as the session went on, but I really should have been on the S3 15 for the kind of riding I was doing. Gah.

The deck pad is falling apart so I pulled it off and put on the new Dakine pad but . . . it isn't the same size. GAH. Naturally I didn't check before I started ripping the old one off and naturally theres messy patches of adhesive and rubber that just won't come off. Fuck.

Am now looking at SUP and longboard pads as they're the only ones long enough to cover all the mess :(

Paid for the LF Fun Foil too--watch this space.

Tease

Cracking when I arrived and jumped out on the 10m but soon the wind dropped and I stood around with my thumb up my ass. Decided to get the 15 and the wind came back, so that was nice. Big gap of nothing in the middle but it ended nicely.

I done tack!

Me! Fuck yeah!

Ok powered today, for 2x 45 minutes, with a drink break between. Started trying to tack on a port reach, after watching a Cabrinha tech tip video. Got closer and closer until after about a half dozen attempts - nailed it! Woohoo! Got them 50/50 for the next half dozen but that did me; now for the other side!

Otherwise, a good day.

Psch

Lully and nasty. Got about 30 seconds of perfect riding, the rest being riding along then trying to do something just as a lull hits...

This time, a giant rubber cock

Good forecast didn't pan out but it was ok. First real ride on the directional in ocean waves... well, if you can't do little strapless airs you could be in trouble, instead of having a hoot. Waves weren't up to much but we're good for hopping and floating over.

Spent the first hour downwinding and walking, which is where I tripped over the latex rod of love. After I'd had enough of the walking, I landed the kite and took the ROAM2 of so naturally, the wind then picked right up and the riding improved...

Dropped off again so I packed up at sunset.

Another pair of sunglasses at the bottom of the lake

Was pretty good from about 3 to 5, but I was feeling a bit over-done on the Dialer and wanted to do some jumping so I switched to the S3 15 and the Flydoor... just as the wind died off. Did some low wind waffling around; rotations and kite loops that didn't do much.

Lost my Sundogs too... floats, my ass. Now, I wonder where I put the new ones I bought recently...

Coulda been worse

Good forecast all day, but have to work in the afternoon. Headed down at 10am for a couple of hours, but the wind was lulling too much to be worth the effort...

I was stood on the beach watching the horizon for a blow line when the guy on the hydrofoil dropped his Chrono wa-aaay the hell "outside"... it wasn't going back up so I went and told Miyachi and we went out on the boat looking for him. Couldn't find him, and it took another boat coming over who had seen him to point us in the right direction. Bloody hell!

Came back after work about 530pm and went out for a run on the Dialer with the S3 15, but it was crappy again. I packed up after a long lull, close to sunset, and just as I'd put the kite in the back in the bag it picked right up. Could have had another 45 minutes... Oh well.

Dynabar intro

Thought I'd done this already. Can't remember the details, but I seem to remember it being acceptable and having a nice time playing with the Dynabar...

Two in a row?

Arienaiiiiii!

Forecast wasn't up to much, but I had the time so why not? The SB had arrived, I was sitting on the Dynabar for a light wind day, and the Mako Duke was sitting there begging for it...

Unfortunately, while the wind was ok, the water was a little full of crap, like chunks of wood and bamboo. I went out on the Dialer, was doing ok and avoiding the flotsam, then went out on the Mako Duke...

Initial thoughts are it's over-finned, as the back end is dug in and doesn't like to be shifted but it's more stable at speed than the Dialer and maybe I just need to move my foot back, like in the video. Tougher to gybe as it's narrower at the front but I only got to try that a couple of times...

Worried about the gunk in the water, I change back to the Dialer as the wind is up and down too... ride out the rest of the afternoon thusly.

Man, I love the Dynabar. The pad still rides up like a pig on the Mystic harness but at least it's not trying to dig my guts out. EVERYTHING is so much easier on the directional!