I took out the Trash

I took out the trash and recycling, grocery shopped, got gas, deposited checks, kitesurfed on The Cape for 2 hours, took Ben to his math tutor, mowed the lawn, packed, and made it onto a 4:20 bus to New York with Ben. What's that saying?  If you have something you want to get done, give it to a busy person? Or a kitesurfer. Kitesurfed, Waq Bay, SW, 8-22, 17M Zephyr/FLX 138.

Love that Dirty Water

O.K. there was a crowd at Yirrell Beach this time! I guess everyone wants to boost their immune system by drinking the sewer water.  Maybe Deer Island could become a health spa. I know my immune system felt really, really good after this session. Yirrell Beach, Kitesurfed, E, 15-21, 14M Rally/ FLX138, with Kristof, Fred, Frank, Crazy Paul, Jean, Andrew, Shane, Others.  Picture- Kristof kiting, Deer Island in background.   Saturday- did some trash picking at the Pleasure Bay beach cleanup, lunched at Local 149 with Masskiting crew, hung out on Ytzen's unbelievable roof deck in Southie, got skunked at Yirrell with Frank, biked 20 miles with Barbara, nice day!

Dear Island

This was the first weekday afternoon in 2 weeks that I could even think about taking a few seconds off from work to fly a kite, and it was windy in Boston!  I couldn't believe it. I guess no one else could either 'cause I had Yirrell Beach to myself, just me and the Deer Island Waste treatment facility.  Hey, there's nothing wrong with kiting in the shadow of Boston's biggest sewage plant.  The water tastes fine. I drank plenty of it on my botched 720 attempts.  There were no solids floating around that I could detect. Besides, don't they say that a little E. coli exposure makes the immune system stronger? Look at Crazy Paul.  He lives and kites in Winthrop and he's as healthy as any crazy person I know. And I know a lot of crazy people.  Probably anyone reading this blog for instance. (Sorry mom, not referring to you). Yirrell Beach, Kitesurfed, ESE, 11-21, 14M Rally/ FLX 138, Solo. Picture- Deer Island Egg Carton, image from the web.

Joker

Yeah, it was a little hard to get back to real life after my Hatt trip. That nice relaxed, having fun feeling? It didn't last long. I tried to get a taste of it back today. W Dennis was choppy and gusty but I had some, "Yeah Baby", moments. A beautiful day with a good crew of jokers. Jermy in picture with admirer.     Kitesurfed, West Dennis, SW, WSW, 9-29, 10M Rally/Flx 138, with Frank, Andre, Colleen, Gregor, Jermy, Johhny D, Philip, Phil, Skyrocket, Others.

Hatt Notes

It was a great week of playing in the sandbox!! I kited 6 out of 7 days, surfed once, SUP'd twice. Last Day- Frank and I got out surfing in the morning, we all kited in the afternoon at Mile Marker 46. Superb finish to the week. If I come here again- -My back was sore for most of the week from the drive down. Don't be a     hero. Take Advil during the drive. -Try the downwinder from Kitty Hawk kites to The New Inlet. -Or try launching from New Inlet to look for slicks. Watch out for Power lines. -Alligator River Nat Refuge- rent a kayak here to paddle with alligators on a     no wind day. -Bring surfboard and SUP, don't bother bringing boat. -Mile Marker 46 is closest access to Gull Island in SW, only go to island with a     group and a plan. It's waist deep about half way out then gradually gets     overhead for second half. Island is a bird sanctuary, stay off island in     Spring and Summer but sandbars and edges are fine. -Mile Marker 48 is closest access to Planet of the Apes. Can't walk out of the     marsh to the road but can walk along the shore in the event of a     breakdown. Not as risky as Gull Island. -Think about driving half way and kiting in Delaware or Maryland on first or last     day. Maybe camp overnight. Look at EastKB.com kite map for launches.

Lost in Space

I'm at Gull Island, 2 1/2 miles out from Hatteras, (launched from Mile Marker 46). I love it out here. Everywhere I look I see nothing but water, blue sky, beach grass, and every kind of seabird imaginable dive bombing me if I get too close. The paddle out takes 1 hour, paddling slow, with a light tail wind. As I'm paddling back I can see a very subtle darkening start to develop over Hatt. I wonder what it could be. From left to right the distant line of the coast, my destination, starts to blend into the sky. Fog. This is not good. I still have a long way to go. I paddle hard. When I'm at about the half way point the fog has come in so thick that I can only see several feet in any direction. I feel it when I breath. It's eerie, peaceful, beautiful. I pull out the camera for a pic. Twilight Zone "This is cool!", I think. "I'm an ancient mariner." I navigate by wind direction and chop. But I'm still paddling hard.  It's about 1 mile to land. The thinking side of my brain knows that the wind could die or shift and I would have no orientation. It will be dark soon. I don't want to sleep on my board out here overnight, no pillow. I check the water depth every few strokes to make sure it's still getting shallower. I finally see land emerging out of the grey. I make a guess that I need to go left to find my truck but eventually realize that I'm in The Planet of the Apes, oops. I get back to the truck as the light is almost completely gone, 2 hours after leaving Gull Island. The fog is a little thinner and I can see a nearly full moon.  It's a relief to be back! I didn't get my rest day, but I did squeeze some unexpected excitement out of a no-kite day. I had a trip into, The Twilight Zone.

C'mon Baby do the Back Roll

Wednesday- Chimi House. Back Rolls. Everybody's doing em, yeah, yeah. Frank's got em, Stoke's got em, Skipper's got em, Alex tried a few. Back rolls, yeah, yeah. Everybody's doing em. SW, 14-23, Flx 138/14M Rally.

As Good as it Gets

Tuesday-I've decided to stop kitesurfing because it's never going to get better than today. It's all downhill from here.

Downwinder from Chimis to Gull Island- 2 1/2 miles out into the sound. Very secluded and wild spot, beautiful, and So fun until Skippers kite springs a leak. Kites like to wait for the very best time to do that. The brave Skipper is undaunted. After some productive swearing and kicking of sand we leave the island in a hurry.

Skipper's the first back to Hatteras. He stops at Marker 46 turnout, borrows a pump, pumps up his leaking kite and we're on our way. He does it again at Marker 48. Then on to Planet of the Apes. Nice try leaking kite. Skipper wins.

Planet of the Apes- We're all having a blast weaving our way thru the maze of channels and slicks. I zip down one long channel, about 10 ft wide, straight downwind, not knowing if it's a dead end. I get lucky. At the end it turns and rejoins the sound. Walter waits to see if I make it out before he does it. He has good common sense.

The slick in No Ache Bay is perfect, coulda stayed there all day. I can brush my hand along No Ache Island as I fly by in glassy water. I get my best crashes in there! It's a little shallow when I crash but so soft and slimy that it cushions the landing, nice. We pull out at the Salvo Day Use area. Roughly 12 miles, about 4 hours.

Oceanside Downwinder from The Shipwreck Museum to Jean's House- The wind is dropping but it's still fun playing in the waves with my 10 meter kite. Roughly 4 to 5 miles, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Get back to our house in time for hot tub and a 9:00 PM dinner, typical.

14M Rally & 10M Rally/Mako 150, SSW, 14-26, with Stoke, Skipper, Walter.