A Chip off the ol' Blockhead

Josh and I are both excited to get on windsurfing boards again! No kitesurfing for me this time. We go to Kalmus, where kites aren't even allowed. A tiny little voice in my head wonders if I'll regret that. We rig. We hit the water. We slog. Hey, I'd forgotten that this is one of the pleasures of windsurfing. You can do it in non-planing conditions. But then we can't. Not even enough wind for that. The wind goes up and down. Light rain spits off and on. There's enough wind to plane and jump with a kite, but I'm not thinking about that cause this is a windsurfing trip. Then I notice that the lifeguards are gone. Bring out the kites! I put Josh on the 3.6 trainer kite, first time. He loves it! I put him on a 10M kite in the water, no board. He really loves it! Finally, I take a few marginal runs on the 10M kite while Josh somewhat-planes on a windsurfer. If I had planned to kite, I would have pumped my 17 and had plenty of power but this is a windsurfing trip, no kiting. We pack up in a brief downpour. Driving home, Josh and I rattle on about what a good day we had. We squeezed all the adventure we could out of a grey, rainy, light wind day. The best part was seeing Josh's excitement for kiting. It reminds me of me. That's not a good sign for Josh's future. Kalmus, Windsurfed/Kitesurfed, SSW, 5-18, 5.7/Acid94, 10M Rally/6' Surfboard, with Josh, Martin, Peter, others. Picture- Josh reaches warp speed on a Windsurfer, almost.

Call of the Wild

Hardings, to Monomy flats, to New Cut, to Stage Harbor, to Hardings. It's all in a day's kiting. New Cut- I went to the outside of the New Cut to play in some tiny, baby smooth waves on the south point. I said I wouldn't do it but I did. Offshore wind, my 17M kite's depower was maxed out, outgoing tide, kiting solo, sharks. How could I resist? Does it help to say that I was mostly over a sandbar? Hardings, Kitesurfed, SSW, 18-25, 17M Fat Lady/Mako King. Solo at New Cut, lotsa friends everywhere else.

Twilight is for Kiting

Another pretty good kiting session. Lightish winds. When the sun touches the horizon, I pull the camera out to get a few shots of the die hards in the gathering twilight. It's a beautiful, almost Summer evening. Warm breeze. Soft, golden, light fading to blue. 9:00 PM- One brave die hard stays out until the only light left is from the half moon and streetlights. It looks like fun until his kite drops out and he has a long swim. Damn! Must be creepy to self rescue in the dark. I drive my truck around the bay and keep my headlights on him until I see him touch ground. This is what happens when there's no parking lot attendant to kick us out. Nature kicks us out. Pleasure Bay, Kitesurfed, SSW, S, 10-22, 14M Rally/Flx138, with Kristof, Johhny H, Peter, Others. Click on pics for full size. Top pic- Peter Mid pic- Johhny H Bottom pic- ?

Closing Time

Horseneck- Light wind, big waves. I'm having a pretty good sunset session. Until we get kicked out. Brad waves me in to tell me that we have to leave. The parking lot attendant wants to lock the gate. What? This is the best part of the day! These people have no respect for kiting into a glorious sunset. Well I was just coming in anyway. So there! It's hard to turn my back on that hazy, golden, setting sun though. Ahh, until next time. Horseneck, Kitesurfed, SW, 10-20, 14M Rally/Mako150, with Brad, Jean, Dan.

Fishing for Kiting

Plum Island/ Newburyport- This is going to be great! I'm fishing in Al's boat. We catch a bunch of mackerel. Josh reels in 2 keeper striped Bass. Now I'm getting ready to kite. I've wanted to kite off of Al's boat for a long time! Al brings his boat close to a deserted sandbar. My gear is ready to go. I tell Al that I have my cell phone in my harness pouch. If anything goes wrong I'll call him for an early pick up. Otherwise, he'll be back in 2 hours. The wind is cranking! I put my gear bag on my back, grab my board, and jump overboard, swim it in. I wave goodbye. Pretty sweet. I pump my kite and reach for my harness to put it on. My harness! I look up to see Al's boat far off in the channel heading out to the ocean. Too far away to signal him. And my cell phone is with my harness. A seagull squawks nearby. It sounds like he's laughing at me. 2 hours later, my harness is right there in the boat where I left it. Al and Josh can't believe it. I'm no smarter than the bass that are in the cooler on ice. My brain is the size of a mackerel brain. It's amazing I can function at all. But I have to forgive myself. It helps that I had a quick kiting session with Brad and Walter yesterday in Buzzards Bay. It helps that it was a sparkling day on the water today with family. Fresh bass for dinner. And my tiny little mackerel brain forgets things quickly. If I was a fish I'd be caught by now. But I'm not a fish. That helps.

Picture- Brad kites better than a Striped Bass.

Top Picture- Al's leg is a striper.