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Schools is in Session

Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:45 pm
by OliverG
Well, had some good kiting so far this week. New experiences as well.
Kited an excellent session at Berkeley Tuesday, lots of fun, nice fllod tide swell, big ramps, big boosts. Killer. Kited an intense 1 hour plus at Alameda today fairly lit on a 16. Low tide with super-flat shallow water on the inside and strong steady wind. Made for absolutely awesome flat water takeoffs for big air. Killer quick session and home in time to make the wife happy. Today anyway. :)

But what about Wednesday? I went to Wadell to kite for the first time on Wednesday with Zeev and LMG who ripped and had a blast for two long sessions. It was firing hard, everyone on 6's mostly and 8's. I was on a 6 kite unfamiliar to me and took in an initiation in wild conditions. High, gusty winds, big, frequent sets of big waves. Surf adds another dimension in such big way. I laucnhed a 6, jumped out through the butter and whitewater, hopped over some whitewater (right hand forward's my weak side!) and got blasted by some bigger surf. Crashed kite, punched out of shackle. No leash in the surf, so kite goes to beach. I swim and walk back in. I re-ran my lines and took a breather for a bit and after 1/2 hour went back out. Kept heading out in the flat and whitewater looks for lulls between sets but never really felt like I wanted to go for it because the sets rand pretty far out so even if I made it past the first big ones, I'd be sitting in front of the next sets. My whole philosophy was to kite conservative and play it safe, so I figure I'll just be armed with more info on the next trip. So I just played in the butter for a bit and spent the rest of the day watching the locals kill it. All in all, it looked like a pretty heavy day for a first trip, so it's all good. There's always the next time. Better to be safe.[/url]