Camera Crazy or Just Crazy?

Slap me. I've been getting carried away with photography lately. Upgrading my lenses, taking photo classes, calculating mathematical angles to the sun at various times of day with adjustment for seasonal tilt. It's silly. I don't know why I'm doing this. It's distracting me from the really important stuff in life, like kiting. I never thought anything would distract me from kiting. Except perhaps death, or paralysis. Maybe just death. But don't worry. I know it'll pass. I'll wake up one day and be completely cured. I'll come to my senses. What little I have. In the meantime, try to face the camera when you do your inverted triple backroll handlepass kite loop. Just relax and smile. Like This! P Bay, Kitesurfed, SSW, S, 15-35, Rally 14 & North 10 (Thanks Kristof!), Flx138, With Kristof, Kirk, Johnny H, Alex, Mike, Dunoyer, Skyrocket, Others.

May the Best Crash Win

I get wet, have some crashes, have fun. Kristoff and Walter have a bake off for the best crash of the day award. I thought that I was a good crasher but my crashes are child's play compared to these guys. Kristoff's crashes show exemplary technical skill Walter has explosive form Walter wins the prize! He makes crashing look easy. Next time we have a Crash Off we're getting prize money, bleachers, and porta potties. Walter- I hope your neck is O.K. Hatch Beach, Kitesurfed, WNW, 18-32, 8RPM/Flx138, with Walter, Kristoff, Jeff, Peter, Frank, Andrey, Colleen, Chriz, Chris L, Kitermike, Flo, others.

Had This Been a Real Emergency

Ah, at last! A nice windy kiting session with no problems. No lost boards, leaky drysuits, gear break downs, Harbor Master rescues, Coast Guard helicopters, Navy Seal teams. No swimming. But it doesn't seem right. I feel like I'm missing something. So I go for a self inflicted swim, after my session. My plan is to float around in my drysuit, in winter water, to see how bad the hypothermia gets. I notice, after a 1/2 hour of swimming and floating, that it takes me about 1 minute to recall today's date, and my name. It usually takes me a little longer than that so I think I'm doing O.K. My hands, however, think differently. They make me get out of the water. They're getting hypothermic, in spite of 5mm lobster claws. They're all tingly and angry. The rest of me is pretty happy. This experiment is a big confidence booster for me! How long do I think I could have lasted if it had been a real emergency? Based on this experiment? I have no idea. My hands are still a little pissed about the whole thing. I have a nice 2 hour hot shower when I get home, and I'm writing this with a down vest and winter jacket on. I think everyone should test their drysuits like this. I feel great! Chapin, Kitesurfed, N, 12-26, 14M Rally/ Flx 138 & Plywood 134, With Frank, Sam, Chris, Kristof, Barak, Ed, Alex, others. Air temp 39 F. Water temp 39 F.

Don't Read This

Alright, I don't want to write about this kiting stuff anymore. I want to keep my stupidity to myself. Go get someone else to laugh at! P Bay, WSW. The wind quality is terrible. I know, I know. P Bay, SW, good. P Bay, WSW, bad. But here I am. It's just before sunset. I catch an edge popping to toeside, drop my board. I'm in close, in shallow water, but the wind picks now to go crazy. My depower rope pops out of the cleat and gets jammed. I'm pulled into deep water and I notice, as I drag to the rock wall, that my 1 year old drysuit is leaking on the inside of my left knee. Why do people do this crazy sport?! I look back at the beach and see clouds of sand blowing across the water. I hit my quick release and walk back along the wall, dragging my kite in the water. I can just barely see my board blowing toward the middle of the bay in the fading twilight. I estimate it's heading straight for the far opening to the harbor. Tide is ripping out. It's too dark to chase it down. I'm in a bad mood when I get home. Everyone gives me wide clearance. P Bay, Saturday, Sunrise. I find my board about 20' from the opening to Boston Harbor. I'm feeling better. When I get home, I find and fix the leak in my drysuit. Life is good. Now I just need some wind so I can get a real session in! Go ahead and laugh at me if you want. You're going to anyway. Pleasure Bay, Kitesurfed, WSW, 10-42, 10M Rally/Flx 138, Solo.

Out of the Hobbit Hole

Why kite? It's an absurd sport. I've been troubled by this nagging thought lately. Kiting adventures are such a bother. Something is always happening. It would be cozy to settle into my hobbit hole on the weekends and not have to think anything about anything. Like a normal curmudgeon. Just imagine the pleasure of watching I-Love-Lucy reruns from the comfort and safety of an overstuffed couch. Who needs more than that?! I certainly don't. Relaxing and being sensible is what life is all about. Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this? It's a mystery. Kitesurfed, Plymouth/ Nelson St, NE, 11-18, 17M Fat Lady/ Flx 138, Solo. Thanks to Walter & Jeff for sticking around to take photos!

Winter for a Weekend

This is my one weekend this year to embrace the snow and cold. I'm on a mountain instead of a beach. Seems strange. Good snow again this year. Lotsa fun as always! Skiing works well as a social sport. Ski lifts lend themselves to conversation. It's a nice way to get caught up with everyone. Ben is going to get has first car in a few days. He's thrilled! I don't understand how this happened. He was running around in diapers just a few days ago. Sunday River Weekend, Skied, with Ben, Josh, Al, Lee, Mom. Picture- Ben growing up right before my eyes.

On the Rocks, With a Twist

Looking N, towards the point Grey day. I'm kiting out on the point with Alex and Brad, playing on the smooth, overhead ramps. Wind is N, straight sideshore, making for clean set waves with almost no chop. Beautiful waves! It also makes for a nasty landing on the rock wall at Deer Island if something goes wrong on the outside. I glance at it occasionally, far off in the distance, lurking like a bad dream. The waves are big enough to warrant a little caution for me. Light rain is starting to turn into snow. I do a low back roll and my lines remain slightly twisted. I think to myself that's how this session is! Slightly twisted. That thought is a cue for Brad's kite to go down. His DD is broken. He releases everything and swims in to the point. He's safe. I try to rescue his strapless surfboard, and also get to his kite which is drifting away, without much luck, or skill. Then Alex's kite goes down.  A bridle line broke. He doesn't reach the point before being pulled downwind. What the!? For awhile we're all over the place. Brad and I are chasing gear that is scattered down the beach. Alex has wrapped up his lines and is swimming in on his kite. I lose my board near the beach and don't bother dragging for it because I'm rushing to reach Brad's kite before it gets munched in the shorebreak. We look like the 3 stooges. Can it get any worse? Looking SE, Deer Island and the rock wall Leo has a house right on the beach. He sees Alex's kite from his house but he doesn't see Alex. He calls the Coast Guard. "No, no, Alex is on his kite!" we tell him.  He calls off the Coast Guard. What next?! Leo and I kite out to help Alex. Leo tries to bring Alex's kite in but it flips and blows out of his hands, towards the rocks. He brings in Alex's board and I pull Alex away from the wall. He was probably going to miss it anyway but I want to be sure. His kite lands in a tiny cove in the rock wall undamaged. Everyone's fine! A heavy wet snow is coming down as we walk back to our vehicles. The waves out on the point look tiny from this distance. We're philosophical about the day. Brad is pissed that his DD will cost $150 to replace. Alex says that he needed the self rescue practice. "It's a cold day for that", I say! Cold and slightly twisted. Sounds like a drink. One that only a Winter kiter would enjoy. And even then, only in moderation. Yirrell Beach, Kitesurfed, N, 12-18, 17-30, 14M Rally & 10M Rally/ Mako150, With Alex, Brad, Temp 36F, Waves 7'?, mid tide. Click on pics for full size

Late Bird Gets the Worm

This session is a nice surprise. Yee Haw! Squeezed in between Ben's track meet and a drizzly Winter sunset. Brad and I are both thrilled that the wind comes up just in time and Mayflower provides a much nicer playground than expected. Temp is a balmy 36F! The parking lot at Mayflower is chained so we park on the road.  There is a little erosion to the dunes from Winter storm Nemo, not too bad. We start late, so we kite late. I can't see much by the time we get off the water. I've been wondering if I could open up the larks head knots and detach my lines by feel. I've only undone those knots a few thousand times since I started kiting. It's a little slow in the dark but doable. From now on I'm going to close my eyes when I pack up my gear. If I get good at doing it by feel, I can kite all night! Mayflower, Kitesurfed, N, 10-22, 14M Rally/Mako150/Caution 6' Surfboard, With Brad.

Life after Nemo

Winter storm Nemo brings 2' of snow, a driving ban that I break driving home from work Friday night, and a question about whether I can get some kiting in this weekend. Sunday morning- I roll out of bed just before sunrise. It's 10 degrees F. outside. Downy snow glistens in the predawn twilight through the window. Common sense would say go back to bed. Fortunately, I don't have much of that. I have horse sense. Horse sense says go to Chapin and kite with Igor. Igor has horse sense too. The road to Chapin is closed. The road to Mayflower is unplowed. Bayview is open! It has some power lines down across the path and the dunes have erosion but it's accessible, and windy! It's warmed up. Maybe to low to mid 20's? Igor and I lie to each other, saying that we're perfectly warm and comfy in our drysuits. Igor may be telling the truth. He has a secret weapon. Igor's new drysuit has hand warming tubes allowing him to breath warm air into his 2mm Glacier Gloves. He does looks perfectly warm and comfy. Especially his hands. My secret weapon is 6mm neoprene mitts. They're very tight and restrictive. My hands are warm enough but after a couple of hours my forearms are useless. The muscles have completely failed, leaving 2 limp rags where my arms used to be. Igor's secret weapon beats my secret weapon. How low to go?- Kiting in under 27 F. means saltwater will freeze. You won't be able to scrape up any sand to anchor your kite because the beach is concrete. You'll slip on wet ice getting into the slushwater before you can waterstart.  Spray will freeze and coat the floats and ends of your lines. Your depower rope will keep slipping in it's cleat. And your hands will fail from wearing 6mm mitts. It's fun! I recommend it to anyone who is strong of heart and hand. Bayview, Kitesurfed, NNW, 14-25, 14M Rally/ Mako150, with Igor. Ianovated drysuits

Winter Swim and a Boat Ride

Sam is stranded on Monomoy Island with his kite. It's 1 1/2 hours  before sunset and light snow is coming down. Air temp  is about 30F. Water temp around 35. The police officer is very professional.  He doesn't say what most people would say in this situation. You guys are stupid. I know he's thinking it. He's more restrained. He asks, "why do you think it's a good idea to go kitesurfing on a day like this?" He asks it three times, apparently not satisfied with our stupid answers. We had started at First Encounter Beach. The wind died, then shifted. It was supposed to do that. We drove to Hardings. The wind picked up nicely. It was supposed to do that too. We kited out to the Monomoy flats. Wind died again. It wasn't supposed to do that. The tide is coming in fast. Oops. I'm lucky. I have the biggest gear. I walk across the disappearing sand bars and kite back to the mainland. The other 3 guys don't have it so easy. Frank- Walks across the sand bars, downwinds it to Stage Island, swims across the channel using his kite as a raft. I pull him in on the mainland side. He's tired but fine, worried about the other 2. Andrey- Stays with Sam for a while but his hybrid drysuit isn't keeping his legs warm enough. He wraps his lines, rests on 1 wing of his kite and rides the current and wind to Stage island. Then the wind picks up enough for him to kite back. He's fine. Sam- is a great kiter but he has the smallest gear. He starts crossing the sand bars with us but his kite goes in the water and the current slacks the lines. He swims to his kite. He doesn't realize that his foot has snagged some lines. His lines are a hopeless spaghetti mess. He's the furthest away from the mainland and decides that the safest thing to do is go to Monomoy and wait on land. He's plenty warm the whole time. Frank and I, and the police officer, watch with binoculars from the Monomoy Refuge Station on Stage Island as the Harbor Master gets Sam. The officer is being nice as we thank him profusely. He says, "well, we help folks out around here all the time, just not always on such a cold day." Afterwards, the four of us numbskulls talk about what worked, what didn't and what we can do better in future catastrophes. Some colorful words come up. There's no consensus but we mostly agree that we should fine tune our risk assessment of Winter conditions. We definitely agree that we don't need to stop Winter kiting altogether. That would be crazy! Hardings, Kitesurfed, WSW, SW, 12-20, 2-6, 14M Rally/Flx 138, With Frank, Andrey, Sam.  Cape Cod Times Online Article Click on the aerial photo to see it full size

Horsenecking

Brad Horseneck Beach is wild today. Lots of blowing sand. My face gets some much needed exfoliation walking to the water. Waves are a little overhead. We make the mistake of launching at the state beach. Too much whitewater, wind is too onshore. We can get to the outside but it's a lot of work each time. I kite upwind to the town beach, where kiters in the know go in SW. Conditions are much better here. Lesson learned, (relearned actually). Late in the day the wind drops so I go out for a few runs without my board. I want to practice duck diving and bodysurfing with just my kite. Damn, the water is cold this time of year! I had no idea. Every wave I dive under gives my brain pins and needles. I get some good insight into duck diving and bodysurfing though. Namely that I want to avoid them at all costs in the Winter. Horseneck, Kitesurfed, SW, 25-38, 6M RPM/Mako150, with Brad, Walter, Jonathan, Skyrocket, Others.

Gloucester- Fools Gold

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No wind today. I scout out some kiting spots, go for a uni ride around Goose Cove Reservoir, and hike through Gloucester's Dogtown Reservation to see Peter's Pulpit and The Whale Jaw, which turn out to be plain boulders with fancy names. It's exercise. A beautiful day at Goose Cove Reservoir Dog Bar Breakwater- No access? This whole area is marked PRIVATE, HOMEOWNERS AND GUESTS ONLY. I drive in past the first set of signs but feel like I'm trespassing and turn around at the second set of signs. I never get to the breakwater. Niles Beach- This launch looks kitable in SW but the parking is marked RESIDENT STICKER PARKING ONLY. I don't see any nearby spots where it would be possible to park and walk in. Good Harbor- I know this is a good wave spot in S to E winds but the parking lot is closed and gated for the Winter. Notgood Harbor. No wind and no access. I feel like a double loser. Gloucester, you're not a friendly town. I do find a small beach at the Fisherman's Wive's Memorial at the end of Rt 133. The road is a little close to the water but it could work as a launch point at low to mid tide if very careful. The beach at The Fisherman's Memorial, right nearby, might work too. Long beach, near Good Harbor also has public parking on one end, similar conditions as Good Harbor I think. Why bother kiting here? I don't know. I probably won't. I was looking for hidden gems and found plain boulders.

Lumpy Gravy Slicks

First Encounter has good wind, dazzling sunshine, and icebergs. Little slushy icebergs all around the edges. 10 kiters have to trudge through drifts of the stuff to get out to the sand bars. Nobody hesitates. You can't show weakness to your kite buddies. We're cool. We do this all the time. Doesn't everybody? I'm on my plywood skimmy cause it goes through the low tide shallows like nothing. It turns out that it goes over icebergs like nothing too. Hah, this appeals to my novelty seeking gene! I have to sample all the various textures. I kite into channels of slush, across tiny ice flows islands, through lumpy gravy slicks, up onto snowy sand bars. I have some great crashes! Too much snow on my board and my feet slide off. My board submerges under snow and I go over the handlebars. I slide and bounce across snow, through slush, over sand. My best crash is when I'm cruising at speed and I run out of water a split second before I hit a small berg. I can't sink the tail of the board to get the nose up onto the snow chunk because there's no water left. The nose of the board goes straight into the berg like an arrow into a bulls eye and I find myself running across the sand bar as fast as my legs will go, laughing. You either love this sport or you think it's really stupid. Or both. What planet have we landed on? First Encounter, Kitesurfed, 15-25, W, WNW, 10M Rally/ Skimmy, with Frank, Andre, Colleen, Jon, Lorenzo, Lotsa Others.

It's the Most Windiest Time of the Year

I walk out into a snowy morning. I had forgotten how beautiful everything is right after a fresh snowfall! There's about 10" of downy fluff covering the trees, the yard, my truck, the driveway, the driveway... The only thing disturbing the tranquility of the scene is a shovel leaning against the railing. I'd like to get rid of that shovel, just throw it out. It ruins the beauty of the moment. I start shoveling. All this snow. It puts you in the spirit of the season doesn't it? The soft blanket of white draped over the trees. Seeing your breath hang in the cold, crisp air. The squeak and crunch of snow under your feet as you pump up your kite. This is the true meaning of the holidays. Being warm and cozy on a frosty morning, snug in your drysuit. Sharing a session with friends. Sticking out your tongue to try to catch one perfect snowflake as you rotate through a back roll. We New Englanders are hardy people. We have an appreciation of Winter's challenges. A love of that which is cold, hard and miserable. It makes us better people. To go out in the frost. To kite. To love it. This is what we do. It's perfectly normal. A slush puddle with chop in the Corp parking lot Not Normal- O.K. so I'm back to worrying about my head being blown off of my body. 2nd time in 2 weeks with wind to 50 MPH! Brad and I both agree it's windy. We kite in the Chapin marsh for a while, gusty as snot, then ride waves downwind to Corporation. Not Nice and Not Normal- Between Chapin and Corp I get a little cocky and go over the falls on a closeout wave, have a yard sale. I relaunch my kite before it gets trashed, but come in boardless where there's no real beach to land on. There are some shallows, a little sand, and a nice big rock wall. With Brad's VERY MUCH APPRECIATED help I eventually get my board back, land my kite, fix a torn open footstrap, and walk until we find a spot with enough beach to relaunch. While I'm laying out my lines for relaunch on the small beach, I keep losing my bar and lines in the drifts of foam blowing off the water. I have to use my board as a marker to find my bar in all the foam. This is not normal. This is 50 MPH. I relaunch. We make it to Corp. We kite some more. It's a happy ending. Except for the part where I think about what would have happened if I had come in on that rock wall an hour or 2 earlier, at dead high tide. I'm going to bookmark that thought for next time. Today's wasn't the sanest kiting I've ever done but it was pure adventure. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors, marred only by the task of shoveling the walk and driveway in the morning. 2 Turtles- We helped rescue 1 stranded Kemp's Ridley sea turtle at Corp, saw another at Chapin that was too far gone. Downwinder, Chapin to Corporation Beach, Kitesurfed, NW, WNW, 25-50, isolated gusts to 55. 6M RPM/ Mako150, with Brad. Air temp around 32 F.

Size Matters

This is one of the best wave sessions I've had! Yesterday's worry about having my head blown off of my body by an evil gust is gone. The fear monger in my brain is mostly silent. It feels great to charge the waves and get myself joyfully munched like I don't care what. This is so fun! Brad Riding strapless surfboard Jean Airborn Some waves are like ski slopes to shoot down. Sometimes I try to turn on the wave and hit the lip without accelerating into oblivion. A few times I think I'm getting close. To oblivion. Jamie I ride some freight trains. I get stuffed big going out. I get stuffed big going in. This is how I learn. It's a thrill! Jean Gilles Straight side shore wind- Makes it easier to get out, go down the line, and makes the waves cleaner. It creates some gusts and lulls but that's the price you pay. It's still a lot more sane then yesterday's wind. Size Matters- Everyone's commenting on how big the waves are. I always question my own perspective but this time they really are big, I think. Horseneck Beach, Kitesurfed, W, 15-30, 10M Rally/ Mako150, with Jean, Brad, Peter L, Brian, Jon, Gilles, Jamie, others. 12' waves?  Click on pics for full size