Three adventures in three days, my body can't take anymore.. happiness

Today is Friday May 30th. This afternoon, after Ruth and I went to Costco for the party fixings for Sunday's SCKA meeting here at the house, I looked down the street and guess what...it was blowing.....again.

Klaus and Juliano had already called the house about the wind, and I was supposed to meet up with Rijk because I may have a part that he could possibly use for his bar. Anyway I knew I was running a little late.

By the time I got to camp I noticed Joe Wilcox was pumping right next to me and I also saw Klaus and Juliano out on the water, along with about 40 other guys and gals. I think a lot of people got Friday afternoon off and checked the wind report.

Klaus and Juliano came in for a few minutes of rest, so Klaus help launch my Rhino 12. I had gone back and forth about what kite to rig, but I wanted to ride my 12 because the bladders had come in from North and I wanted to see what attention it needed.

Joe and I weren't out but a few minutes when Klaus and Juliano were right there with us. I thought I saw a signal from Joe so I threw up my left hand and pointed to the oil platform. The four of us made a straight shot for the platform. Insert some fun, adventure music here. Something driving.

Once we got to the platform I threw up the "turn around" signal and we were headed back to Belmont. I think I saw Joe really up wind and thought "We could make it behind Chaffee Island today."

It took us a couple of tacks and we were now headed for the back of the island. When I looked back I didn't see Juliano so I knew he had to take one more pass to get behind the island safely. He told me later that there was a pleasure boater that screwed up his course.

The wind and water behind the island was fantastic. The wind was not gusty and the water was relatively smooth as we headed for White Island. Joe and Klaus were ahead of me and Juliano was a little behind me. This stretch of the trip was hard on my legs and back because you are in one stance for a long time. I noticed that Joe was going toe-side. Later he said that the change-up gave his legs a rest.

Somewhere around the pier is where we were joined by Lance. Now the five of us went behind the island again. My intention was to go around the island counter-clockwise and then down wind back to Belmont. But once past the back, I saw Klaus heading for one of those container ships. It doesn't show it on the map, but we passed the breakwater and hit the open ocean again. I could not believe that Klaus and Juliano were on 16 meter kites, and in this section the wind was howling. The other big challenge was the ocean swells. To me they were huge, to Klaus "No problem."

After a few minutes of the open ocean I just turned around. I just let Klaus wear himself out going towards the huge ship. The idea of down winding on the East side of Chaffee didn't happen because again we came across this section of great wind and relatively smooth water so we continued behind Chaffee again. Then we all started playing down wind and back and forth. It was kind of a free flowing thing with some going West and Klaus and me going in front of Chaffee. Then slowly we headed back in front of Belmont and on one of the passes I yelled to Klaus, "I'm going in for a beer."

When I hit the beach Rijk helped catch my kite, then one by one the five of us came in. The beer started flowing and the smiles were from ear to ear. There were plenty of hugs and high-fives. It was quite an adventure.

Sorry I was not able to get Lance in this shot, but 4 out of 5 ain't bad. L to R Juliano, Klaus, me and Joe . This was really a blast and hope we can extend it next time...maybe Sunset or BEYOND!!! Joe thought we were out for over 2 hours and Juliano estimated our trip was over 15 miles, maybe closer to 20.

I'm guessing the time frame for the island crossing was between 3:30 and 6. One of the first things that Klaus said when we came in was, "Next time we go to Huntington Beach. All we need is someones car for safety and we go." At that moment all I wanted to do was savor that beer and take a little rest.

At one point someone said "I think the wind is coming back." Klaus and I got our kites in the air and did a few passes. I think I should have known better, but since I was on the 12, Dong and I ended up way down on the peninsula and had a long walk home.

As I finish up this blog I looked down on the lower right of the screen and saw that it's a few minutes past two in the morning and my body is hurting. The three days of "Adventures" have taken their toll, I think I'm going to cruise tomorrow.