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.