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.