Power Kite Forum

Ideal waste of time

shaggs2riches - 28-8-2010 at 02:23 AM

Went out with my buddy last night to try and get in a late evening session on the water. When we arrived at the lake the winds were SE 18km/h. Right away we checked the forecast and it stated that it was gonna pick up to around 30 km/h SW; so, we setup our kites and waited for it to pick up.Mostly listened to tunes and walked around the beach to keep us from getting bored.

Just our luck that we waited till about 10:30 and that's when it begun. My friend got his Naish Cult up in no time. In the moon light I began to turn my Scorpion and bar/lines around to position. Once I was ready to pre-fill I ensured a good weigh down and walked to the water edge to ensure that my buddy was still okay. What an amazing sight to see a kite in full park 'n' ride ripping across the water with only a full moon to light the way.

I stood in awe for 5 minutes only making out his silhouette just 50-80 yards off shore cruising along nicely. I thought to myself that if this would be the session that I finally got to ride on the water, then it would be one to remember for sure. But to my demise as I was walking back to my kite the winds started to howl and gust rapidly. I checked the wind meter and the gusts were peaking at 47km/h then dying to 28km/h. Obviously it wasn't gonna happen tonight so I quickly disconnected my lines and promptly put the kite away.

Once finished my friend too had his kite ready to fold away. With everything all packed away and it being 12:15am we stood in the water knee deep getting one last stare across the moon lit lake. Winds picked up further to over 60km/h gusts before we finally got in my Pathfinder and made our way back to the highway for home.

During the hour long ride there was a bit of silence as we were both disappointed in the way things went. Neither of us expected the winds to pickup so strong and so fast. We both wanted to get in a night session for quite some time, at least one of us got that feeling even if it was for only 15-20 minutes. He told me that when he was out on the water, it was so peaceful. His flying skills were tested a bit having to rely mostly on feel to pilot his way around. The biggest challenge I was told was when he was coming back to shore, he had a hard time judging how far away he was, and almost ran into the beach.

Though we got skunked that time it is one that I will remember for a long time. Our summer is mostly over now and with a heavy work load till Christmas we won't be stepping in the water till next spring. I know that trying to learn on water would be more suited to daylight, but figure that every bit counts and on such a small lake that we have there is a beach fairly close by now matter where you are.

Sorry for making this long I just had to share it with you guys. I took pictures of our secret place of solitude and will post them here once they are uploaded. Thanks for reading and may you have good winds!!!!:wee::wee::yes:

Shaggs

Kamikuza - 28-8-2010 at 04:09 AM

Vagina :D
I know how you feel - I was so-ooo iffy about going out by myself, so many horror stories and whatnot lurking in the back of my mind ... probably best not to make your first out in the middle of the night too :o I got lessons till I knew I could do it all without mangling myself ... well, "again" anyway.
But when the time comes, you'll wonder why you tippy-toed around for so :yes: there's a miracle out there waiting for you ... FFS dude pull an all-nighter and get out on the water - you can sleep when you're dead :evil:

Gotta love the magic of the witching hour ...