Snap, Crackle, Pop

One sound you never want to hear when kiting is a pop. It always means something bad. Either you snapped a line to your kite or you broke a body part. In this case it was my depower rope. I knew right away what it was because the pop was accompanied by the amusing sight of my depower system flapping in the wind up above my head instead of being attached to my bar where it should have been. Kite handling characteristics change when you're flying off the safety line! Not for the better. But I made it back without breaking any body parts and thanked the kite deities that this misadventure had happened at the end of a good day of kiting, not at the beginning. Maybe I'm not on their deserves-a-kick-in-the-butt list after all. Mayflower, Kitesurfed, NW, 10-25, 12M Varial/Flx 136, with Igor, Frank, Sam, Colleen, Andre, Brad, Kevin, Gregor, Robert, Amine, others.

A Vacation from Earthquakes and Tsunamis

Yee-Haw! I had 2 days in a row of joyous punishment for my body. I feel so mellow and happy. Don't talk to me about earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear melt downs, political uprisings, or teenagers that won't put the rubber bands on their braces. Real life will just ruin my good mood. Chapin, Kitesurfed, N, NE, 10-24, 13M Octane/Surf 148 & Litewave 179, with Frank, Jamie, Sam, Andre, Colleen, Ed, Others. Picture- watch out for the kite eating tree.

Back in the Windsurfing Saddle

I only come to the beach for the sunsets It's safe to go windsurfing again! Mitten season is done. Glacier Glove season is here. I can grip a boom with Glacier Gloves. Sorry, Greg M, I know you use Glacier Gloves all Winter long. My hands are wimps. Duxbury- was beautiful, warm, sunny, and as gusty as a bean eating contest. It was so tropical I didn't even need Glacier Gloves. I needed more water though. It was the lowest tide I've ever seen there. The bay was mostly dry. It was only deep enough in narrow channels that I was crossing in about 1 second. So... I was trying to read the gusts and lulls, jumping in and out of the harness and footstraps, waiting for my fin to slam the edges of the sandbars in the muddy water, and thinking how great it was to be back windsurfing. This is a sign of true love. I'll probably kite tomorrow. Duxbury Bay, Windsurfed, WNW, 10-40, 4.2/Acid94, Solo.

Up, Down, and Strapless

Flo lets his trainer kite out for some fresh air It was one of those days. Up and down wind combined with low tide making for lots of rigging and walking, not much kiting. Nobody can accuse me of not trying. I used 3 kites, 4 boards, but was mostly behind the wind curve, as always. Still... it was a beautiful day to be playing on the beach, and I got my first strapless waterstarts during some brief moments of almost enough wind. Note- strapless doesn't refer to jockstraps or bra straps. It refers to footstraps, as far as I know. First Encounter, Kitesurfed, W, NW, 6-26 MPH, with Flo, Kate, Frank, Jim.

Naked Cape Cod

Here comes the Spring. It's been a long, cold, windy Winter. Here comes the Spring, lil darlin, it seems like years since it's been here. Here comes the Spring. Please make it windy. Cape Cod- is naked! Its Winter blanket of snow has been ravished by the approaching Spring. It's great to see bare earth again and have no silly snow/ice banks to climb over to get to the water. W Dennis was packed with kiters and windsurfers anxious to shake the Winter cobwebs out of their brains and ride some wind. West Dennis, Kitesurfed, 12-33, SSE, 9M Octane/Litewave179 & Surf 148, with Igor, Frank, Sam, Colleen, Andrey, Brad, Phillip, Flo, Amine, Peter, Sandie, Others. Picture- Colleen, ski goggles & mask make a fashion statement.

Dancing with Skiis

I traded in my dancing-with-kites for dancing-with-skis this weekend. Not that I'm very graceful at either. It's all about getting in the zone, tuning out the noise, and focusing on the big world that is outside the confining walls of my head. This is what makes my brain happy. The hot tub was pretty good too. Thanks to Al for the house, hospitality, and for not taking us down Aftershock. Sunday River, Skiied, with Barbara, Ben, Al, Brian, Mom on reading chair. Picture- Barbara dancing with the elements.

Rockin Wind

Yeah it was windy! The Chapin parking lot turned into a sand blaster, sand flowing over and around the dunes, rocking my truck. The best method of walking down the path to the beach was backwards, baby steps. Flo put up a 5.5 M kite, with someone hanging onto his harness for extra weight, for about 30 seconds. The meter read 53 MPH. Colleen is a human wind gauge When the wind died down to the 20 - 40 range we launched in the grassy marsh behind the beach. The extra high tide had covered the normally dry grass with knee to waist deep water for a few miles. Flo and I kited all the way over to the access road, behind Mayflower Beach, then eventually out to the ocean side for some waves, great fun! Another big Winter crowd, about 12 kiters. My Bularoo was leaking air and inverted during a jump at the end. It's always something. Chapin, Kitesurfed, NW, 20-42, 7M Bularoo/ Litewave 179, with Flo, Frank, Brad, Jermy, Johnny, Chris, others.

To Pee or not to Pee

I used to avoid drinking water when I had my drysuit on. Now I have a relief zipper. I can hydrate all I want. I'm so happy. I can pee all over the place, like a dog. Don't stand too close. Kiters don't like to tie their own shoelaces Sparkling W Dennis had about 15 slap happy kiters on the water today! It looked like a crowded Summer day, except for all the drysuits. W. Dennis, Kitesurfed, SSW, 10-15, Rally 14M/Litewave 179, then SSW, 14-23, Varial12M/Surf 148, with Igor, Frank, Sam, Andrey, Colleeen, Peter, Kristof, Rod, Johnny, Jeremy, Chris, Others, Air Temp 41 F.

A Few Kinks

I felt like I was all thumbs and toes this morning. I ripped a strap out of my board on my first waterstart. Better then that, I tried 4 boards, 2 kites, 2 beaches, but couldn't find the right gear at the right time. And none of my footstraps adjust big enough for my new size 12, 7MM booties so I could only jam my toes in the straps. On one fall my bootie toes were jammed in the straps so tight that I came out of both booties, they stayed on the board. It was pretty funny actually. I would have had a good laugh but all the fits and starts had put a kink in my brain. I think it's going to stay there until next weekend when I'll have another chance to get on the water and work it out. In the mean time all of my boards are going down to the workshop for footstrap work. Mayflower, Chapin, Kitesurfed, 4 boards, 2 kites, with Jean, Peter, Igor, Kristoff, Johnny, Jeremy, Alex & Franz from NY. Picture- Jean preparing for take off.

Wave Sailor's Wet Dream.

I got a not-so-secret link to this video from the deep south- Matunuck, R.I. It's irrefutable proof that the waves are actually better in R.I. than in Maui. The color of the water is more interesting in New England too, none of that boring turquoise stuff. The middle section of the video features some nice wipe outs, almost looks like my wavesailing. An Ocean State of Mind from Silent Ink. Productions on Vimeo. Thanks to Steve F for sharing. Kiting today- Yeah, I got out kiting today but it was embarassingly light winds. I couldn't jump. I couldn't even stay upwind. Sometimes I get a glimpse of how crazy I am about getting my water time. It's better to not think about it. Mayflower, Kitesurfed, WSW, 8-13 MPH, 17M Zephyr/Litewave179, Solo.

Good Scary Fun

Lake Q comes thru I didn't have high hopes for this weekend. By noon on Sunday, I was feeling grumbly and stupid, but the wind picked up just in time for a local snow kiting session. It turned out to be my best snow kiting yet! That brought me back to balance. Lake Q- Was much better than I expected! The snow was wind-packed powder but still soft enough to carve. The wind was gusty but not crazy gusty. There was plenty of room. Even with the excellent conditions it was a little scary knowing that if I fell I was landing on a thin layer of snow over hard ice, with a powered kite attached to me. So I took it slow and safe, watching Flo fly past me like I was anchored to the earth, and avoided any and all crashes. It was good scary fun, but not quite as good as water kiting or windsurfing. Cold Snap- Today was supposed to be the coldest day so far this year but it was 25 F and sunny in the afternoon, pretty warm for skiing. The normal high temp for this day in Boston is 36 F. The record high temp was 68 F in 1906. Lake Quannapowitt, Snow Kited, NW, NNW, 4-21, 12M Royal/ Skiis, with Flo, Tom, Dan, Others.

Beautiful Puddle

At play in Chapin's beautiful puddle, Flo, Author The Chapin puddle called. 5 kiters answered. How could we not? This innocent little puddle is mercurial, bewitching, irresistible, and will give you an ice cream headache if you look at it wrong. But she's always a lady to me, (the Billy Joel song from a kiters perspective). Chapin, Kitesurfed, W, 10-25, 12M Varial/Surf 148 & Litewave 179, with Igor, Flo, Kristoff, Peter. Thanks for the puddle pic Igor!

Heated Sex

Oops, I meant heated sox. It's a different type of turn on. Although it's still kind of sexy. If you're into that sort of thing. This was a Wintry day at Chapin, fresh snow on the beach, temp in the low to mid 30's, sunny but with wind chill, perfect for experimenting with electrical warmth. All the other guys were wondering why I had wires running into my socks when I was putting on my drysuit but they were all complaining about cold feet later. Unfortunately, I was too. My feet stayed dry enough to avoid electrocution problems, but the heating elements didn't get warm enough. After about 2 hours, I noticed that my toes were cold. After 3 hours, when I quit, they were very cold but still not completely numb. When I took the socks off I could feel a tiny bit of warmth in the toe area of the socks so I knew that they were working. They just didn't have enough juice. I plan to use a car battery next time. This looks like the access road to a ski area Nature's Slider- The stars lined up just right for this one! The sand spit at the entrance to Bass Hole was covered with snow, the tide was high, wind was strong, wind direction just right. The spit became a perfect slider, care of mother nature. Guys were coming at it from the inside and jumping just before impact, sliding across the snow for about 10 feet, landing back in the water, still on the inside, carving a line across the snow with their fin. I couldn't believe it when I saw it! Of course I wanted to give it a try. I hit it twice but didn't have full confidence in the timing of my jump. So I came in slow, hit it low, slid for a few feet and splashed back into the slushy water, kind of wimpy but still a thrill! The ocean provides an ever changing playground for grown ups to act like kids. Chapin, Kitesurfed, NW, 16-29, 10M Bularoo/ Surf 148, with Kristof, Chris, Chris, Jermy, Paul, Ken, Flo, others.

Getting Old, Feeling Young

I turned 51 today. Yay! Nothing makes you feel old and over the hill like a birthday. So I went kiting. I had a nice long session, did some wobbly back rolls, did some big crashes, had a great time. Now I feel young. All I want for my birthday- is back rolls. I've been trying to work up the courage to attempt a back roll for months. Paul got me over my fear with 1 simple action. He set up a video camera on a sand bar and pointed it at me while I was kiting. Video cameras make kiters do crazy things. I turned off my brain and went for a back roll. It worked! It felt strange and disorienting, trying to locate my body in space while spinning around. How are you supposed to know where your kite is?! But it was a definite mood booster to land one, no matter how roughly, and kite away in one piece! On my 3rd attempt I inadvertently looped my kite upon landing. It untwisted my lines, which was nice, but any unplanned kiteloop is scary. So I decided to stop while I was alive. This whole day was a birthday gift. First Encounter, Kitesurfed, NW, 13-26, 12M Varial/Surf 148, with Paul, Brad, others. Top Picture- This is what my back loops felt like. Thanks for sharing the video Paul! The goofy guy in the blue drysuit is me, (I'm using my old suit until I get bigger booties to fit my new suit).

Happy Fool

I thought about turning around on my drive to the beach today. I drove thru a few snow squalls, with snail-like traffic and low visibility, and I began to wonder if Plymouth would be a white out of blowing snow, fog and mist. Was I a fool to even drive there? I was also thinking about what Barbara said as I left the house. She was uncharacteristically worried about me going out on the water. It had something to do with me kiting in a blizzard and a major Winter storm. she said, "If you don't come back, I'll be really pissed!" I knew I didn't want that. So it was especially sweet to get to the launch and find such nice conditions. It looked a little stormy but was as easy as it gets- moderate wind, shallow water, good visibility, wide beach for self launch/land, light snow. I hit the water with abandon, the happy fool that I am. Nelson St/ Kitesurfed, NE, 18-30, 12M Varial/ Surfboard & Surf 148, Solo, Temp 35F.