Saturday, May 31, 2014

Outer Elbow Downwinder

Downwinder. Nauset Beach to Chatham Light. We're out in the middle of nowhere when Jeff's kite springs a leak. Bad luck! He gets a ride back to the starting point from a saintly fisherman in a 4x4. Good luck. Otherwise a great trip, total 8 miles, 3 to 4 hours, lotsa waves- biggest were about head high.

We ended our trip at, "The Cut", one of my ol favorite windsurfing spots.





Photo- The Cut, head high waves on the outside, slicks on the inside, Great Whites in between. 

Kitesurfed, 15-30, NNE,10M Rally/Mako150, with Brad, Walter, Jeff, Peter.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Kiting in the Gene Pool

Barnstable Harbor, Sandy Neck, Chapin. I put a few miles under my board today. Kiting has a way of bringing out my wanderlust. It's not my fault though. This kinda stuff runs deep in my family. I can't be held responsible for this. I blame it on my genes.



Barnstable Harbor, Kitesurfed, NNE, NE, N, 10-20, Rally12M/Mako150, Solo.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Live to Kite Another Day


Conditions are just right for a session in the mouth of the Merrimack River. Yee haw! Then they aren't. The wind shuts off. I have a healthy swim.

Salisbury/Newburyport, Kitesurfed, SSE, 10-20, 12M Rally/Flx138, Solo.


 
My consolation prize is a sunset session at Horseneck.

I lose my prescription sunglasses in the mouth of a predatory wave. It spits me out and my sunglasses are gone. Damn! I go in and get my other glasses. After my session, when I reach up to take off my wetsuit, there's my sunglasses. They were hanging around my neck the whole time! Hah, they live to kite another day! We both do.
Horseneck, Kitesurfed, SSW, 15-25, 12M Rally/Mako150, Solo.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

The Gloves are Off




Warm session! No drysuit, no gloves. Seems strange kiting with naked hands. It's almost too easy to grip the bar. I guess I'll just have to adapt to the hardships of Summer kiting.

I have fun circumnavigating Woodbridge Island at low tide. Almost no water in the channel but the slippery mud helps me get through. The slick in the lee of the island is like glass! Wind is gusty, completely dieing at times, but still a very fun session.

Plum Island- Newburyport Harbor, Kitesurfed, W, WNW, 5-27, 12MRally/Flx138, with 1 other (on a Flysurfer).

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Love and the New Cut

It's so beautiful out here! I start at Hardings, kite upwind, around Monomy Island, and out thru the newest cut in South Beach. I'm playing in the tiny liquid glass waves rolling in over the sandbars. I go in one cut and out the other, then back again. The dunes, made of fine windswept sand, are constantly shape shifting. Their smooth white curves recall a sunbathing woman reposing in the nude. I'm in love.

Nature is coy. She plays tricks on us poor kiters. She teases and taunts. But not today. Today she's stretched out in the dunes, blowing us a kiss. This is nature at her best.

Harding's/Monomoy, Kitesurfed, WSW, 15-37, 8M Rally/Mako150, with Keith, Des, Luke, Eric, Others.

Picture- Eric working on his strapless jumps at Harding's Beach.