the fifth line

Bodega After a Long Hiatus

2009-05-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

Hit up Bodega today after a long hiatus, just 'cause. Actually, I wanted to work on kiteloops. But that didn't happen.

There were about 10 kiters out, I only knew a few of 'em. John, Joe & Zack. The rest were new riders and new riders to Bodega. Thankfully they were all getting flushed into the drain so no biggie. John, Joe and I were playing way upwind and had a blast. The wind was pumping - lit 10m conditions, with gusts making it difficult to hold the kite down. Seemed the wind speed at 50 feet was 28 or so, and at 80 feet was closer to 40. You'd jump and get that insane double-lift. Made me think twice about kite-looping today!

The water was oh-so-clear today - the ground looked like a tropical reef with the hues of green, beige, and blue. What a great visual!

Rode until the water was too shallow, and called it a day. Zoe and Roan hung out in the van and took a nap. Hopefully some more tomorrow.

Wind coming

2009-05-06T11:43:00.001-07:00

After a long absence, the North Pacific High is staging a comeback starting late tonight and into tomorrow. Forecast is ripping for the foreseeable future. Get ready to ride!

Bladder

2009-04-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

Wingtip bladder almost burst - it's leaking and it's an orange airtime bladder. Noticed it yesterday packing up. It cost me riding today, but I got it patched to hold hopefully for a session or two.

D-town

2009-04-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hit up Dillon for a 7m day, 2 sessions, a good 4 hours on the water, some insane air, and a few DTLs.

Some riding in here for sure

2009-04-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while, and looking at the 10-day gap here, I know I got a session or two 'cause the wind was a blowin'. Would be Dillon sessions, which are always a good time.

Taxing Day

2009-04-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

Headed out to Dillon this afternoon to meet Terry and Wade for some riding in post-nuclear winds. The thing that stands out most about today was the fact that it was hard to get into my wetsuit and zip it up - my feet didn't want to slide through the legs, my neck seal didn't want to go over my head, and my zipper didn't want to zip up without snagging my base layer. I kept wondering if this was some kind of foreshadow?

The wind filled in more than expected, and was in the low 30's when I got there. Wade launched me, and I headed out into the water and immediately noticed it was extra-gusty.... or I was extra tired from all the consecutive days of insane winds. The surf was an incredible mashup from several conflicting directions, and was basically unridable. You could find a lip or two to hit every once and a while, but just nothing consistent; no sets at all.

I grabbed two runs down the line, one on a toe side starboard tack and the other on a port tack, both reminders of just how fun it can be. For the rest, there were some big airs to be had by all of us (ha, the only three on the water), and also some great crashes. In the end, it was fun...and tiring.

Sounds like it was a mediocre day, and I guess it was for me. Still better than any alternative! But the winds were really going - turns out it was hitting 40 while we were out there - no wonder we thought it was punchy!

Biggest wind I've ever seen

2009-04-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was insanity.

I saw some footage from yesterday of a few guys riding at 3rd. From now on I'm really calling it 'turd ave' - the water is pure mud. Dillon OTOH is nice & clean. I'll actually take the shark risk over the constant risk of infection and mutant sturgeon having grown foot-long teeth.

Had trouble standing in some of the gusts, but the wind mellowed out a bit as the day wore on. Not a sole out there, which was kinda creepy, not even windsurfers.

I'm shopping for a 5m!!!

Monday

2009-04-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

Terry, John and me. Dillon all to ourselves.

Waves were super-messy today, cross-swell galore which made it really hard to go down the line. Near the end of the day the waves cleaned up and Terry and I had some really nice DTLs on 10-footers. Sweet!

I was cruzin' out past the breakwater to time a transition and meet up with a nice swell when 20 feet away I notice something in the water. I double-take and see it's a huge sea lion - it's head was easily 16" wide. We looked at each other for a minute, then I tacked and took off while it watched me having fun. Over the course of the next few minutes, I saw her again a couple of times - once breaching right in front of me as I was riding in the surf zone, and another head shot checking me out.

Zoe and Roan were out there with me today too, hanging in the van. After my session, we checked out Lawson's landing, the beach and riding flats there. Might have to try that someday, but I'm sure that's shark alley as it looks like a lot of small fishermen head out here.

Session

2009-04-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

Got in an after work session today, after giving the team at work the go-ahead to head home a bit early. I left at about 4pm, and pulled into Dillon to see a couple of kites on the water and Wade just suited up and ready to walk onto the beach to pump up his kite. I keep seeing Tim driving *away* from the coast on these ripping days. I wonder why. Anyways, Adam was suiting up, John & Terry were already out on the water, and there was one other kiter that pretty much stayed in the shark pit the whole time. Fine with me (read it's good to have bait as far away from you as possible).

As I was changing, Terry came off the water and had a snack. I chatted with Kate & Terry while Jojo was chilling in the back of the car. The waves today looked really messy, so I decided 7m and my twin tip were in order. Seems the waves have been pretty poor lately. We'll need to hit up Salmon or head further south to get some nicer breaks soon.

In fact, I think 3 sets came in the whole time I was on the water. I happened to be a tthe right place all three times and got some great, long, down-the-line rides, with a couple smacks each time. But it's a beach break, and closes out across much of the face at once, so rocketing DTL is about as good as it gets sometimes.

After a couple hours on the water, Wade and I were the last in the parking lot. We grabbed a bite to eat at the William Tell in Tomales - a couple of really good burgers and a beer.

Is 35 the new 25?

2009-04-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Were you on the water between 5 and 6 when gusts went to 45???!! Looks like a big day.

Yes.....I.....was.

And yes, it was.

Listening to Prodigy's Spitfire thinking about Ruben Lenten style airs I was changing in my van. Terry was out on the water. Swell was small, wind was big so the twin tip and a 7m was the call. I literally had trouble walking up the beach with my inflated kite, board, and bar. Terry came off the water to launch me, which was nice. We were ridiculously lit and smiles ear to ear.

There were definitely swells and breaks to be had. I was able to rip down the line on several, and even throwing my backside under the breaking lip in as much a barrel as you'll ever get here on the north coast in this much wind. I hit some lips so hard my legs gave out. There were great drop-ins to be had. We had to ride aggressive today just to survive. At the end of the line, I'd throw the kite across the wind window and take a high-speed, arcing toeside turn of 50 or more feet in diameter and set a course back out through the waves. I was sliding my board out sideways on those toeside turns because I was so lit, and still held it together. Felt great.

It started to get super-sloppy, so we started taking tacks a bit closer to shore and boosting off of the port tack ramps. BOOSTING. I think Terry was in the air once for over a minute. Ha! I was so tempted to throw a kite loop into a couple of those boosts but just knew I would land on the beach if I did. So I didn't.

I managed to get a few more port tacks, and actually some nice toe-side down-the-line starboard tacks on swell and breaking wave faces. It got to the point where my legs couldn't withstand the g-forces of the powered toe-side turns and knew I should wind it down. After a few more tacks, I came into shore where Terry and I landed each other.

Topped off the excellent session with a beer at DiNucci's.

F-One and Jimmy Lewis

2009-03-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

After the no-wind weekend, I decided to hit DIllon on Monday afternoon to get some time on the water. It was kinda light, and supposed to get lighter, but the family headed tot he coast anyway. I heard the F-one rep was going to be there today, so I could try some gear too.

After talking to the rep a bit, I was set to try the new surf decks. They look sick. I rigged my 10m, grabbed the board, and headed into the water. Only Joe, another guy, the rep and John were here today.

The F-one surf is like a razor blade on ice and a rocket ship a the same time. Compared to the JL, it's a lot more aggressive, a bit more precise, a bit faster, and actually holds a rail in the water when lit really nicely. I rode the 5'6", 45cm wide board (they make a 43cm too). It was narrow, which is why it's fast, and it was *really* hard to gybe (read tippy/agile, both a good and a bad characteristic) - I actually jumped off mid way and grabbed the board so as to not fall too far from the board. It carved the faces well, and loved fully-powered toeside 180s sending a wall of spray all the way in to the beach.

I'd buy one, but I now want to try some other boards first. When I hopped back on the JL, it rode really nice and was just more cush, held it's own line well, and was easy to gybe because I'm used to it. The JL is a tad heavier which you do feel when on the board and comparing. I still like my JL though - can't really find any faults with it.

Short double-session today before the wind backed off. So we hung out in the van for a while, and exchanged great white stories with Joe. My favorite: A guy was riding across the shark pit, in the waves, thinking he was following his kite shadow. Then it turned 90 degrees, and double-backed underneath him. A 4' x 15' shadow! The guy was freaked to gybe and head back, so he pointed his deck at the west beach strip and rode all the way up to the beach. Waited a couple of minutes, then jumped on the board on the beach, and beach started a full-on race across the bay back to Dillon! Don't fall..., don't fall...., don't fall...... He got back OK, packed up, and we haven't seen him since!

Kite Expo

2009-03-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

Pismo Kite Expo

2009-03-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

After a long time hemming and hawing at conflicting wind forecasts for Central California vs Northern California, we decided to head down to Pismo beach for the kite expo. We left Friday morning, thinking we'd be at least enough ahead of the crowd to garner a campsite.

We reached Pismo at 2:30 in the afternoon, and promptly drove to the campground where we were met with a 'campground full' sign. I decided to ignore the sign and play dumb, asking for a spot for the night. Nope. What about the empty spots we saw on the way in? Taken. Any other campgrounds? Only down in the dunes. In a 2-wheel drive 8000 pound van? No way. Anywhere else to park overnight? Nope. Last ditch - any chance of driving through and trying to find one of our kiting buddies to share a camp with? Sure. Yes!

But we saw no one we knew.

I asked Wade “didn't Sonny say he had camp 80 & 81 and was going to grab more?” I recalled this from the BAK forum I read yesterday. We approached the occupants of the campsite, after having only met Sonny once, two years ago, at Sherman, and asked for Sonny. We talked with Ed, who at least knew him! He was up the beach. So we went looking. We ended up on Ed's cell phone talking to Sonny when Todd, standing right there, said he had room in his campsite and we were welcome to it. Score!

Todd as it turned out, had been up in Bodega last summer and was planning on heading up there again this April. Todd was a cool, super-friendly guy from SoCal. We went up to the camp host and secured our spot.

Our hopes of any wind on Friday were ill-placed, it was warm and windstill. We had a beer, then walked the mile into town along the beach for a bit to eat at Mo's BBQ. It was pretty good. Then some more beer and a campfire with the 3rd Ave crew and finally bed.

Saturday brought renewed hopes of wind in the afternoon, but we were kinda skeptical. We headed up to the expo, and got to fondle all the new gear and drool over some of the new boards. The f-one boards are really nicely built. We met Dimitri from Eclipse, bs'ed with Shy and LMG from Slingshot, chatted with Chris from Waiman, met Evan from OR, and many other great people. I was bummed Felix wasn't going to come and do the wave riding clinic. Oh well.

After lunch, a small breeze came up and we were able to fly the 14m RPM and the 9m Waiman Smoke. No riding though.

For dinner, we took Sonny up on the invite to join the 3rd Ave crew for a BBQ dinner. Sonny's famous BBQ, Hawk's insanely spicy jerk chicken, and a couple of hot dogs cooked on sticks over an open fire along with beer sealed the deal. Sonny's BBQ marinade is soooooooo good! The whole 3rd Ave crew was great to hang out with. Except for Robert who was always asleep (j/k) ;).

OK, so Sunday was supposed to be windy. I walked over to the event site in the morning, and talked with the registration booth to find out when the raffle was going to take place. In 30 minutes? I forgot my wallet! I ran back to the campground, then back again, and bought a ream of tickets. 10 minutes to spare, and then the delays began. Ed was there, so was Wade and Todd, so we passed the time sitting under the Red Bull tent, drinking Red Bull, and talking about kiting areas, and various other things. Then the raffle. I didn't win the board, or either of the kites. I did win something, though! A Victory koredry rashguard! At least I got my money out of the raffle.

As the raffle was happening, we were all watching the incoming wind line - it looked like it was ripping. Sure enough, just as the raffle concluded, the wind filled in to shore. We jetted back to the camp, changed, and were ready to do some demos. On the way back to the demo site, the wind literally died! We got skunked.

There was still wind down at Oceano, so we headed back to the campground again and got our kites. The 12m, my JL surf and I was just able to get planing and make something happen. After 45 minutes, I came in to take a break as the wind was slacking off. After a little bit, the wind started coming in again so I got my twinny and rode for another hour in the really mixed out, mud-brown, choppy surf. Yes it was crappy conditions. But I got to ride.

We took some showers, packed up and headed home. The weekend wasn't a good riding weekend, but was a great time meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends. I don't think you should count on wind when you go to the expo.

Insane in the windbrain

2009-03-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

"It's going nuclear!" Terry said it as we were standing on the beach, getting ready for our second session of the afternoon.

It's 2pm and the wind just jacked up a notch. It's friggin' 35 gusting to 42mph. This is the real wind of NorCal. 7m's all the way around.

We fell somewhere in between these graphs. First session was on the water from 1:15 for a couple of hours while riding the JL surf. Second session was on the water from 3:45 for a couple of hours riding the twin tip fully lit.

Bodega:

Tomales:

I think the season has begun

2009-03-20T09:44:00.001-07:00

The forecast hasn't looked this good for a long time. Yesterday was windy, and look at the yellows and reds for the next week!!!!

Dillon gets the best of me

2009-03-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

The waves were crumbling in as 1-2 footers when I arrived, with whitecaps on the outside. I jetted out to the coast after work, and to my surprise Terry's car was in the parking lot. John was out on the water too, as well as the young blonde kid (don't know your name yet but thanks for the help today). I got changed, and decided to fly the 10m and a surfboard - the other guys out were on bigger kites and twinnies.

Foreshadowing at it's best, my pump was broken. Seems all the sand from Dillon a couple weeks ago ripped up the seals inside. So I rummaged into John's bag and borrowed his pump. At least I could get out on the water! Self-launched no problem. The wind was just enough to keep me powered on my 10, and I rode through the surfline on a starboard tack; the wind had a northerly component in it so you could ride straight out through the surf. On port tack, there were only a few waves to be had. Every 15-20 minutes a set of 6-footers would come through, and I'd rush to snag a couple smacks and carves. Later Terry said I was ripping it up. Cool.

I nailed every gybe I did today - and I did so by not thinking about the gybe nor too much about the swell conditions around me, just turning and gybing when I wanted to. That felt great!

On one cutback to port tack, I found myself, John and the "blonde guy" all on top of one another. In order not to tangle kites, I dropped into the water with my kite at 12, John turned around quickly, and the "blond guy" went downwind. That would have been fine, except I had to dump in the longshore rip. The wind was light, and I could barely keep my kite up as I was drifting downwind too quickly. In fact, in the end my kite got swallowed by the small swell. Shit. I had my surfboard, and was about 200 feet offshore, so thought I'd paddle in with my kite simply sitting in the water. I started paddling and realized I was really in a rip when I observed I was making no progress. I was actually getting pulled out a bit. A small panic (not because of the situation, but because of the situation PLUS the warden danger), then a forced calm to think about what to do.

I watched a fix point on shore to determine exactly where the rip was taking me. Longshore and slightly offshore. OK. Where's my kite? Downwind, pulling me longshore. OK. I wasn't dumped onto my 5th line yet, so tried again to get the kite up in the air. No joy. OK. I noticed a sandbar a bit further downwind and came up with a plan. Stay on the surfboard, keep the kite on 4 lines until the wind gets it into the sandbar, where some whitewater could pull the kite towards shore. If I needed, drop to the 5th line, but don't detach fully. My kite would be in shallow water, and I could reel myself out of the rip. Good plan. Now I could relax.

Sure enough, kite gets caught in the whitewater, I release to the 5th line to preserve the kite, and it pulls me right in, slowly, gently, until I can stand. Chest deep, I still couldn't get into shore. Wait a bit more. Waist deep, I could work my way in. Excellent. Made it with no "tickets". I secured my kite, took a deep breath, and walked over to grab my board. I got back to my kite, put my board down, and sliced my 2nd toe open along it's whole length by dropping the surf fin on it. Didn't hurt, but bled like mad. Boy I'm glad I'm not in the water!!! My session was now definitely over. Packed it up and walked up the beach to meet Terry and John. We chatted for a while then called it a day as the sunset over the ocean. Beautiful.

Am I Just Wave Crazy?

2009-03-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

With the third seat in the van, we strapped the car seat in and were off on our maiden voyage to the coast for the day. Roan loved the ride out to the beach - he could finally see everything around him with a perfect window seat.

We got to Bodega just before 1pm to find several kites up in the air and a few more being pumped up. Oren & Mike just arrived at the same time, and Wade was already there just changing into his wetsuit. We chatted a bit, showed off the van, and started to change into our wetsuits. The tide was still rising, but would drain before the afternoon let out. We had only a short window.

The wind was good, good enough to session on a 10 and twin tip, but there were holes just as usual in the harbor. I had a good time, but was kinda off - and it seemed others were as well - or maybe the wind was in fact just a bit fickle. I dropped my kite twice - usually doesn't happen. Others had similar problems. After a while mowing the lawn and busting some mediocre airs, I came in and switched to the JL surf. Just couldn't get too excited on the twinny today. Rode around on the surfboard, perfecting gybing and trying a tack or two, and then just carved toe-to-heel-to-toe turns back towards shore until the water got too shallow. I felt like calling it a day, so basically did.

As they say, a day on the water is better than a day at work. But it seems to me without waves, I'm now bored on the water. And that scares me just a little.

Missed Out

2009-03-13T19:17:00.001-07:00

Got off work too late today to head out to Dillon for a good session. Wind was there, but the sunlight just wasn't going to be. Isn't dusk feeding time too?

Some of Kiting's Best

2009-03-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Dillon is OFF THE HOOK

2009-03-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

"wow" is all i have to say. I'm beat today, in a good 'tired' kind-of-way. Dillon was OFF THE HOOK *yet again* today. When I got there 2 kites were on the water - Eric and Mark from Bodega Bay. Joe was finished with his session, and his 'grom' was wanting to go out again but didn't. John was just getting ready to go out too, so it was only John, me, and two windsurfers. We owned the place. Contrast that to yesterday with 20-30 kites on the water!

The wind was steadier than the later afternoon on Sunday, a bit lighter too. I rode the 7m and my twin tip today, had a blast. Lost my board once far enough away I couldn't find it for 5 minutes. John spotted it for me slowly washing in. That was freaky (sharky thoughts as I body-dragged) - I almost decided to just drag in to shore and forget the board! The surf was 2-3' on the inside, 5-7' on the outside when sets came through, and I was enjoying riding some of those 6-7 footers. Sweet. Twinny was OK on that surf, a surfboard would've been better for sure but oh well. It was a great day, a starboard tack out through the inside surf put you in a perfect position to come back in on port tack riding the breaking swell. Repeat ad nauseam. At the end of the port tack riding waves, you would come into a nice flat section perfect for boosting - so you'd boost, land (or not), carve a powered transition and do it all over again.

I got out there at 4:45, didn't pay for parking (no attendant and none of the other guys bothered going to the store to pay), was on the water shortly after 5, and got off the water at 6:40ish - so a good hour and a half ride. If you weren't there you missed out. Looks like it may go again on Saturday......

Dillon

2009-03-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Red and purple. The colors of serious wind on ikite. Sunday was to be the day.

Saturday night the whole family went to live2kite's season opener party. Evan did a great job with the event, and it was great to see all the familiar faces. Everyone was stoked at the windy day coming towards us.

I got out of the house a little late on Saturday - well if you consider 1:30pm late. I grabbed a sandwich and drove eagerly towards Dillon. This was the second time at Dillon and the first time we were committed to riding it. Not because of the surf, or the wind, or the currents, or the Tomales bay/Ocean confluence. Because of the great white warden.

When I pulled up, there were at least 20 kiters on the water, and a dozen more kites on the beach. Wade was out on the water already. Those same familiar faces from last night were out, as well as others I hadn't seen for a while. I pumped up close to my van, then carried my gear to the wind-whipped beach.

About 5 minutes before I pulled up, the wind kicked up a notch, so riders were coming off the water in droves to rig smaller. Good timing on my part. People started rigging 5 and 6m kites and were powered.

I rode my 7 and my JL surf, and was well powered to lit the whole session. I stayed in the main surf zone, getting a feel for the location, the rips, and the currents we were contending with. Then I started to mow the lawn surf-style. Starboard tack up through the whitewash and over the swell into the channel, port tack back through the surf zone catching swell, powered toe-side turn on a swell face, rip back out to the channel and repeat. Good times. I switched it up some of the time and rode starboard tack toe-side, which let me whack a few faces on my way out. I did one sweet aerial lip smack, and many just-as-sweet on-the-face lip smacks.

After only an hour on the water, I was beat and decided to head in. I took a 10 minute break, and couldn't stand it so went out for another 15 minutes then called it a day.

A couple of brews in the van with Wade, watching the remaining riders on the water, was a beautiful end to the day.

Stuck

2009-03-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

I'm stuck at work watching the wind rip by. Only 20 minutes away I could be riding this clearing wind. Sunday looks good, hopefully Saturday does something too!

Torrential downpour and a perfect session

2009-02-22T16:36:00.000-08:00

It's windy and it's 8AM on Sunday morning. I'm wide awake. Make breakfast and let my family know I'm off. I step outside and am immediately accosted by a downpour. I slide into the van, and start my journey to the SE winds at Doran. I expect I'll see one or two others crazy like me.

On my way out to the coastline, the downpour becomes torrential. Can't see 100 feet kind of downpour. I finally think to myself "what the hell am I doing?". I'm this far, so might as well go check it out.

By the time I reach the coast, the rain has let up, the sky is brightening, and I feel good. I drive out to the jetty at doran and see 3 windsurfers ripping it up on the swell, getting some good air. I hang out and watch for a bit. I'm thinking of launching here, but if I go play in the surf getting back up here will be tough.

Wade finally woke up and called. While I was on the phone with him I see a kite being pumped up at the main parking lot. I agree it's the better place to launch, though it makes getting out through the surf a little tougher. I head back over to the parking lot that was empty 15 minutes before, and know there's a whole crew getting ready! I see Sandy, which means Donny is nearby, and Karen, and the guy in the blue Vanagon (can't remember your name).

I get changed, and head out to pump up my 10m with my surfboard and twin tip in tow. No rain, this is nice! Did I mention the wind was averaging 19-23 and ridiculously stable for a SE? I rigged in lightening time, Karen launched me, and I was on the water with my twinny.

The water is like a washing machine, very turbulent on the outside from all the different wind swell directions and refraction from the rocks. I keep diving the nose of my twin into the chop and flying head over heels. Not before I get in some serious air off of breaking waves coming in.

I then grab my surfboard and head back out. Now it gets really fun. The surfboard makes easy work of the washing machine waters, and port tack sees me taking arching roundabout toeside turns right into the face of the waves and smacking the lip. Most waves were in the 2-3 foot range, but the sets were coming in 6-7 feet. I got munched by one, and my rib is still sore several days later.

I'm gybing in the surfline, jumping whitewater, and catching waves when I decide to count the kiters. There were 10 other kiters on the water! Only after I got off the water did 3 of our local crew finally show up - John, Jim and Marty. I know they had a good session, because I just had a killer one.

How to make a 10m day into a nuking jumpfest

2009-02-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Fly a 12m and ride your twin tip.

That's what we did today. I took the middle of the day off today and met up with Wade out at Bodega harbor. Today was one of those few days in the winter where the sky was blue, the air and water were cold, and the wind was strong and gaining momentum.

I headed out at 11:20am, and arrived to the wind just slacking off a bit, but a high tide and whitecaps. I was surprised no one was on the water or rigging yet - I guess we are the hardcore riders now. I changed in the comfort of my van, Wade and I decided to rig big. The last few rides we expected the winds to build and they didn't, leaving us scrambling for our larger boards. Today that wasn't going to happen.

I launched Wade first, and then waited to see if Oren would get out in time. I ended up self-launching in strong winds for a 12m. I was immediately lit riding away from the beach, and I knew it was going to be a good day. We warmed up a bit on the inside, mowing the lawn and doing some jumps, then I really started to let loose.

I must have hit the 20 foot high mark, and flown for 100 or more feet - that was the norm today on my 12m and the winds! A couple of times I landed so hard and fast I bounced and touched-down again on my tail riding out in a long arcing wheelie.

We started to head upwind near the "HAPI" sailboat, and the wind was a bit more holey. The ebb tide and wind cooperated somehow to make a nice flatwater run on starboard tack. So I used the smooth surface to do a few speed runs. I also watched Wade jump - floating up and just hanging there in the air for a really long time. It was great! I was carving downwind totally lit, and was hitting some big airs that, after a while, left me wondering if I was pressing my luck.

All the while on the water, the wind kept building. By the time the tide was forcing us off the water, it was lit 10m conditions. A serious epic session.

3 Board Day

2009-01-25T19:14:00.000-08:00

Just recovering from a 2 week bout with a nasty cold, impatiently watching for any chance of wind, I see Sunday might hold some promise. I tell myself the saltwater and fresh air will do me good.

As Sunday emerged from darkness into daylight, the computer forecasts were looking on track. Wade and I decided to make an early day of it and be out there by 10am - by no means a dawn patrol. We were greeted by the increasingly common sight of several kites already in the amazingly blue, clear winter sky. The wind looked like marginal 10m, but it was picking up. I saw Wade had rigged his 10, so went for mine as well.

I started off on my twin tip today, and rode for a while on the clear, cold waters of the bay. Front roll aerial transitions, back rolls, downloop carving transitions, big dangles, and some high speed downwind reaches. Then I decided to try my hand at unhooking! I depowered the kite, rode towards the kite to lighten the pull, unhooked and rode off. Man, more power than I had imagined! I did a few pop tricks, then hooked back in. I played around with unhooking a few more times, then I was ready to swap out for the surfboard. The winds started to lighten up a bit, so timing was good. There was still enough water depth to ride the surfboard.

So I swapped boards and rode a while, playing in and out of the straps, gybing the board, trying to carve the small wind swell, longing for the open ocean surf. Just wasn't enough wind today to play in the Salmon Creek surf. Dillon might have been OK as it's got much smaller surf typically.

The tide kept going out, and I decided to grab my 3rd board of the day - my skim. I put on my booties for clamshell protection (let me tell you I've had some serious cuts on my feet from learning at Bodega without booties) and headed out for a quick session on my skim. It was fun, I was just tired at this point. A few tacks, shove-its, toeside turns and I was spent.

All in all a good day on the water.