Winter doldrums

Bugger.....looks like the Winter doldrums are upon us :-( I just missed a whole week of 20/25kt SE winds here (for various reasons), but it looks like that might have been the last of the kite-able wind until Spring time. Bollocks to that......

Holy windy batman!!

Seems I spoke too soon about the wind. Yesterday afternoon, I thought I was finally going to get out for a decent kite......forecast looked good, BOM observations looked good, so I raced home and headed down the beach. When I got there, it was averaging about 20kts, gusting to 26 or so. Ok, fine. Forecast was for 20/25kts, dropping to 15/20.

Unfortunately, as I was laying out my lines and pumping up my kite, the wind kept getting stronger and stronger. Eventually, it was averaging 25 and gusting to 30+kts! Even on my smallest kite, I'm still too light to hold down that much wind, so all I could do was stand there getting sandblasted, waiting for it to drop off (which it didn't do). I gave it 45 minutes and packed up.

One thing though.....at those wind speeds, the huge drifts of sand being blown across the beach and the sand flats out the back look just like moving water in a long exposure photo. It's very cool to watch actually.

If that's xmas....I've done it.

Well, that's another xmas down. Between too much food, too much drink, too much heat and too much kitesurfing, I'm going to have to go back to work to recover :-)

Xmas day was the windiest I've kited for a long while......27knots and some decent waves at Mon Repos near Bundaberg. Even on my smallest kite (8m) I was overpowered 90% of the time, but it was still good fun! We drove home that night through a massive thunder storm, complete with the most awesome lightning show I've ever seen. Mother nature never ceases to impress the shit out of me :-)

Severe time shortages

Between work, xmas parties and the weather being generally uncooperative, today was the first kite I've had in almost a month! No wonder I was starting to get edgy.

I had to fly to Canberra last week for work. For the 2 weeks before that, the weather had been *really* ordinary....lots of storms etc. So, no kiting for me. Then, on the day I flew out, it was perfect.....clear skies, blowing a good solid 15knots+. Man I hate that! I even tortured myself all week, looking at the wind readings for home.

However, things are finally looking up on the work front. I inherited a pretty big project while I was in Canberra.....one that goes hand in hand with one I'm already working on actually. All going well, I might finally be able to swing a permanent outposted job!

Today's kite wasn't great.....*very* windy and quite gusty too, but it was fantastic to be back on the water again :-)

Will this rain ever go away??

Damn.....someone has really turned on the taps at the moment. Every time I walk outside it's raining lately! I even had to kite in the rain on Friday afternoon......how's that for desperate?!

Michelle and I spent the weekend in Bundy so we could kite at Elliott Heads, but that didn't work out so well. No wind to speak of on Saturday morning, so we went snorkelling instead. We were surprised at how much coral/wildlife there actually was at the spot we went to.....Michelle managed to touch a turtle and we even saw a stonefish! First time either of us had seen one for real.....ugly little suckers, for sure.

Went for a short kite on Sat arvo when the wind finally came up, but Sunday was the better day. We went to Toogoom and Michelle got a few good runs on the shorter board before it *really* picked up......then I went out and was overpowered on the 10! Very gusty and not much fun for Michelle to be learning in, but better than not getting out at all!

Roll on the fine weather!!

Finally got out for a kite!

The rain stopped for long enough for me to finally get back out for a kite.....I was starting to suffer withdrawl there!! Only problem.....very light wind, meaning I had to break out the big monster 16m kite. Man that thing is a chore to pump up. It's like setting up a goddam wedding marquee. But, being the desperate soul that I am, I did it anyway :)

One bonus about riding the big kites is that every thing you do is super floaty. Transitions seem to take forever and it feels like you've got so much time to think about everything while you're just hanging around up there.....very cool :) Unfortunately, being a light bloke means I get overpowered quite easily. It's only gotta pick up 3 knots and I'm looking to come in for a smaller kite! But anyway, it's a day at the beach, which is infinitely better than a day in front of the idiot box :)

Michelle got up on the board again......numerous times, until we finally ran out of water. The shallows were getting just a little bit too shallow! Just need mother nature to cooperate a bit more when she's not working so she can get going properly :)

Depressing weather

Is it just me, or does the rain eventually get everyone down? I know we need the water and all, but I'm over it now ok? The sun can come back any time it likes. I badly need to get out for a kite!