A Two-Peat In March.....YEAH

For all of you that were out today at Belmont, Seal,or Sunset, what we got was a "Taste of Summer."

Day-before-yesterday (Thursday) we had a one hour tease, the wind was not that great, but it was fun. On Friday the wind BROKE OUT of the mold. Maybe it was because the Monk's below were praying for wind as they walked our beach. Maybe it's because we have been such good people and the wind is our reward. Or maybe it's because everything just came together; the stars, the universe and the wind fairies. Whatever it was it was a good day today.

On Friday I could feel the wind building starting at around 12:30 or so, as I was working around the house. That's when the calls started. I also didn't want to be late to the beach, because on Thursday I was late. The Naish group beat me by more than a 1/2 hour.

Unfortunately today there were a bunch of guys that beat me to the water again, but a funny beach comment from Deon Aumaier, while he was rigging was "I hate how long these kites take to pump up." There's a joke here because he flies a huge 30 sq.m. foil that needs no pumping, and that "Special" Litewave 180 is like riding a huge whale. Both are big.

There was one point, late in the afternoon on Thursday when Deon (shown above) was the only one on the water. Naturally I was standing on the Claremont ramp wishing it was me, but more power to the big guy. Make-up and all.

Today there was one point when the wind was really raging in the middle, I saw Deon coming straight down wind heading for me, going East. Barely in control. I think he was on an unscheduled speed run when he flew by me. It was not a pretty picture because Deon was not in control. I think the kite was a too little big for the wind.

Above is Kyle Van. Unfortunately he got off work a little late today (as did Naji) to enjoy the wind on the water. But he did enjoy testing Rijk's North kite. He said that it had a lot of power. At one point Kyle was going to leave because there were still kiter's out at Seal and Sunset. Naturally we know we can't teleport ourselves there and instantly, so flying someone else's kite is a good substitute.

For this picture we were able to snag Rijk's friend Maureen to take the shot. Sorry for making you get off the cell phone call Maureen. I'll make it up later. From left to right is Klaus, Tony, Me and Rijk. Today everyone but Klaus used a full wet suit. He just used leathers, but didn't get out. Rijk got the "JUMP AND SPLASH" Award and Tony got the "I can still jump" trophy." Both had a lot of fun.

The only reason this shot is in the blog is because Klaus was so "PROUD" that his new Harley's odometer had just changed over to 10,000 miles. I don't know how racked up so many miles, he just drives it back and forth to work. Tee, hee.

As the rest of us were de-rigging one last kiter wanted to try his luck. Funny enough there was a "PUFF" of side shore wind that came up around 4:30 of about 20 MPH. By that time most of us were heading for warmer climates. Like a bar with La Ventana pictures.

Later, Jim

P.S. Tomorrow will be a three-peat. See you on the beach.