Bright Lights, Big City

Boston- We aren't going to get many more days like this in 2013, hot, humid, windy! There's a big collection of kites and riders at P Bay. Josh and I are taking turns on the 14M kite, really powered up, as the sun goes down. We aren't going to let a little inconvenience like nightfall ruin our fun. Kiting  in near darkness can be beautiful, a hazy half moon hanging in the sky, City lights casting shimmering trails on the water's black mirror surface. Glowing jellyfish weave dots of greenish light in my boards wake. So nice. We go until some lightening in the distance rudely interrupts the reverie. Josh's first time- at P Bay, kiting in such tight crowds, kiting so powered up on the 14M, kiting in dimness. It takes him awhile to get comfortable with the P Bay dance, but he gets it. Then he doesn't want to stop. Sounds familiar. Pleasure Bay, Kitesurfed, SSW, S, 18-28, 14M Rally/Flx 138, with Josh and lotsa friends. Top Pic- P Bay scene. Bottom Pic- Josh in twilight.

Wellfleet- Unwind Me

It's one of those weeks that winds you up, tighter and tighter, like a tether ball twisting on a pole. What do you do to unwind? I drive to Wellfleet, throw some kiting gear and my lunch in the dinghy and motor out to the tip of Great Island, where there's nothing but sand, seagulls, and seals. No tether ball poles. I explore. I kite. I get lost in the moment. Here's what I find. 1- Breakwater. This spot looks like fun at low tide but is disappearing quickly just 2 hours past low. Wind is light SW. I take a few runs then scramble to derig before it all goes under. 2- Nice slick on W wind, where the plover fence ends, probably has some shallows on any tide if wind is straight W. But wind is light NW. Riding in offshore wind in these conditions isn't smart. I take some runs. 3- I walk upwind nearly 1 mile, do a downwinder on oceanside back to boat, still light NW wind, deep water, pretty choppy. Might have some tidal pools at dead low. Lots of curious seals. 4- A little slick at mid tide, nothing fantastic, very strong N wind now, I need a smaller kite. There's a lot of chop in the harbor, bouncing me around in my tiny boat, as I motor back to the truck. 5- Boat is packed up. I drive to end of Griffin's Island road, park where it says Permit Parking Only. I'm told it's O.K. off season. I walk over high bluffs and dunes, kite with 8M kite. Very gusty from the bluffs upwind in straight N wind, mostly deep water and chop 2 hours before low. Overall impression of Wellfleet- Lots of seals. Kiting is probably most fun on- SW and low to mid tide, W any tide, NW low tide. Need boat. High dunes and bluffs on all of Great Island to #3 on map limits kiting in spots such as The Gut. Very quiet and deserted out on the sandbars. I didn't see any other kiters anywhere. A good adventure.

It was a Dark and Stormy Night

Walters boat in Stage Harbor 2 days kiting on the Monomoy flats, 1 night sleeping on Walter's 42' cottage on the water. Me, Josh, Paige, and Walter. I love it! The adventure, the beauty, the salt crust in my hair. This is not a relaxing-on-a-sailboat kind of 2 days. We dinghy out from the Barn Hill boat launch, 15 minutes to the sailboat, 2 trips to move our gear and 3 people. Then we dinghy out to the flats for kiting. My tiny dinghy becomes our trusted steed. More like a miniature pony. Walter's handsome steed of a sailboat is highly civilized. Very roomy, clean, and comfy, hot showers even. I can't whack my head on anything if I try. It's a good night for sleeping on a sailboat, stormy, windy. My favorite moment- I'm in my sleeping bag listening to the beat of lines against the mast. The boat rocks gently. Faint evening light outlines the open hatches and portholes. A fresh breeze blows in. Water gurgles and whispers around the hull. The only thing missing is a little snoring. Ah, there it is! I sleep like a burnt out light bulb, right through an incredible thunderstorm apparently.  Mayhem and Madness Great time. Thanks for sharing your Madness Walter! Learners Report Josh- gets solid on both carving and pivoting into and out of toeside, can ride toeside both directions but better in his favored direction. He says he feels all twisted up like a pretzel riding toeside. Welcome to the club. Paige- finally gets perfect learning conditions. Yay! She does great. She's flying the kite 1 handed, bodydragging downwind, starting to drag to each side. I've never seen anyone go from totally crashing the kite 1 session to flying it easily 1 handed the next. Her water skiing upbringing is starting to shine through. It was fun to see Brad teaching Kristen out on the flats too. Also fun to see lots of other friends kiting by out there. Click on pics for full size.

The Best of Times, and the not so Best of Times

Sandy Neck- 3 miles from Chapin, nothing but slicks and waves as far as the eye can see, perfect wind for a 10M kite, sun throwing silver diamonds across the glistening water, my board taps out a rhythm as I skip across the washboard ripples. Chriz is out here exploring with me. This is good. This is very good. I'm in my happy place. $50 Parking ticket- There's a very nice officer in the parking lot when I get back. Apparently, if you park at 8:00, before the parking lot attendants arrive, kite out to Sandy Neck, come back at 12:00, you've committed a parking violation. $50 worth of violation. I try to explain about the slicks and waves as far as the eye can see, the silver diamonds and my happy place. Violation. You need to be here between 9:00 and 10:00 to pay the attendants or you're in violation. I'm a scofflaw, a dangerous violater. But the officer is interested in kiting. It looks like so much fun! Yeah it is. Just don't do it in Dennis. You'll be in violation. Chriz's GPS Tracks Chapin, Kitesurfed, NNE, 15-25, 10M Rally/Mako 150, Chapin with 60 - 70 kiters, Sandy Neck with Chriz. Learners Report Josh- didn't get a session this week but he did last week. Chapin, high tide, choppy. He struggled with riding toeside in the bumps but was getting some good chop hops. Paige- finally got her body drag session. She got dragged. She got bounced. I forgot that she is so much smaller and lighter than me, probably should have had her on a smaller kite. She was still smiling though.

All is Fair in Kiting

This Week- Josh and I got 2 weekday sessions after work, Deer Island, Revere, now we're driving all over the Cape with Paige chasing wind. We finally find it, West Dennis, WSW to W, sideshore coming across land, gusty as stink, dead high tide. This is not an easy launch. Josh is in the water trying to launch the kite, looking for a shallow spot to stand. I have to hold the kite in the dunes. It's not pretty. The kite rolls once and I chase it. No harm done. The second time it goes up. I see the same thing happen to 2 other people. Some kiters decide to wait for the tide to go out. The meter reads 13-30. Josh is riding 14M fully depowered, way out deep, when the depower rope pops out of the cleat in a gust, slams him. No fun. He makes it back on his own though. We put up a 9m and it's perfect for awhile, especially out past the breakwater where the wind is stronger and cleaner. Josh and I take turns on it. It's great. Learners Report Josh- I can't believe Josh got his first full rides just last weekend. Really?! This week he learned to carve to toeside, stay upwind toeside, pop little jumps, and manage these stupid conditions. It's not fair. Paige- is a trooper with our craziness today. 3 beaches and we never find the right conditions for her body drag lesson. You can't learn to kite if you never get on the water. Next time. I hope.

Chappaquiddick Escape

Chappaquiddick. Beautiful Chappy. So quiet and peaceful. Where else on the Cape can you find deserted beaches on a hot Summer weekend day? Only in your dreams. I think the second ferry usually keeps the Rif Raf, like us, out. We snuck onto the island for 4 days. Thurs night-Monday night. The kids were with us for 2 1/2 days. What we did- Kitesurfed 2 full days, windsurfed, boated, SUP'd, snorkeled, biked, fished, puzzled. What we didn't do- Unicycled. Not enough time to do everything. Katama Bay- We boated out to Norton Point Beach, launched kites and I pretended I knew how to teach this sport. The big shallow flats at that end of the bay made a good bodydrag/waterstart/crashing ground. Our inflatable was the chase boat. 2 full days spent kiting here, nice. Cape Poge/The Gut- We drove to the end of North Neck Rd, walked the narrow path to the Gut, (the mouth of Cape Poge). We could have paddled across with kiting gear on SUP but wind was light at the time. We SUP'd, snorkeled, fished. Later I came back and windsurfed. The 4x4 driving pass to Cape Poge costs $180. No day passes, (like Norton Beach $30/day), are available for Chappy. It would be worth the $180, if we were here for  a week, so we could drive out easily and kite. Cape Poge looks like it has the best kiting slicks on the island, supposed to have better wind too. Wasque Reservation- Solo session at the mouth of Katama Bay. Nice spot in SE wind! Sandbars, slicks and waves. Mean current though. Learners report Josh- A quick learner, had his first fully powered sessions, got his first long rides, first slide transitions, good upwind bodydrags, easily kited upwind on outgoing and incoming tides. It must be nice to be 22. Ben- The wind lulled every time he looked at a kite. He only had 1 session due to wind dropping on first day. Did many water starts on 2nd day but never really had enough power to get riding. I should have given him a bigger kite. It was an exercise in frustration tolerance, not Ben's favorite kind of exercise. Paige- Trainer kite session during a gusty spell. She remained in 1 piece, a major success. Barbara- First time flying the trainer. She didn't crash it once! Maybe this is where the kids get their kiting genes.

New Cut- High Tide is for Sharks

Beautiful day! I'm at the New Cut. Some Great Whites were spotted near here recently so of course I'm not going to the outside. No way am I going to the outside. Definitely not. Sam goes to the outside. Now I have to go. I have no choice. You have to watch your kite buddies back. Otherwise they'll get good waves and you'll be sad. But it's not good. High tide, deep water, tiny waves, the sandbars that create an illusion of safety aren't shallow enough. We hightail it outta there. It's better to live to kite another day. Shark bait. The wave in the background is where the sandbar is at low tide. Hardings, Kitesurfed, SW, SSW, 12-20, 12M Rally/Flx 138, with Frank, Sam, Andrey, Colleen.

Happy with What You Have to be Happy With

Thursday Night- Josh's 4th kite session. High tide, chop, light wind, lots of swimmers- Revere is not user friendly. Josh tries to ride upwind but the wind just falls out. When are we going to get good beginner conditions?! Revere, 8-15 MPH, SE, 17M kite, Mako King.  Saturday- Not today. Way gusty. The gusts have gusts. Josh does 1 run and gets off the kite. It's even too snotty to get Paige and Darren on the trainer. They man the SUP, Josh windsurfs, I kite, I windsurf. Everyone's happy. I hope. Waq Bay, 10-30MPH, SW, 8M kite/Mako King, 4.2 sail/ Acid 94. Windsurfing- Hey, this is fun! I'd totally forgotten how great it feels to let it rip on a small sail, strong wind. It feels like I'm just flying across the water! It's also fun to kite while Josh windsurfs. I wonder if I can kite right up to Josh and jump onto his windsurfing board, ride along. That would be fun! If we lived through it. Thanks to Darren for manning the camera!

Teach Your Family to Kite Week

Who knew that this would be so enjoyble?! Teaching your sons to kite. And your son's girlfriend. I try to get my brother and my wife on a trainer kite too, but the kite police in Essex Bay make us land the kite. Baby plovers are napping in the neighborhood. Watching everybody get their first rides is a great feeling! About as much fun as riding myself. I love it. Riding with them is going to be really special. Until they get better than me. Then I'll have to go back to windsurfing. 7/6- Ben- Saturday. Ben's first time flying a real kite! Bodydrag lesson, wind dies. 10M, Long Beach, Stratford, Connecticut trip. 7/8- Josh- Monday evening. Josh's second time with a kite, bodydrag practise, first time getting on a board! Wind dies late. 10M, Revere. 7/10- Ben & Josh- Wednesday evening. Ben's first time getting on a board! 14M. Josh gets on a board but wind is too light for the 10M. SSW, 5-15 MPH, Revere. 7/12- Josh & Paige- Friday evening. Paige's first time on a trainer kite. Josh is up and riding with 17M. There's barely enough wind for Josh, even on such a big kite. NE, 5-15 MPH, Revere. 7/13- Saturday. We boat, in Al's boat, into Essex Bay, inside of Cranes Beach. Put up the trainer kite for Al, Barbara, and Paige. We get shut down by a ranger on a 4x4. No kites during plover season. The Plovers own this beach. What a week!

Poor Man's Carribean

Beautiful day! I get high on the turquiose water around Monomoy. The flats, the New Cut, it all looks like a kiter's dreamscape. It's the Carribean of the northern USA. It doesn't compare with Brazil though. Hardings to flats and New Cut, Kitesurfed, SW, 12-21, Kahoona13.5 & Rally10/ Mako 150, with lotsa friends.

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.