Salutations:-)

My name's Cat and today is a day I will not forget!

I've been lurking on this board for a while, reading, researching and learning as much as I can. My hubby bought a used setup for kitesurfing from Ebay a while back. We finally mustered up the courage to try it out, but we didn't know as much as we should have. It was pretty stupid, and I know this now, but our first try was on a light gust day with a 11m inflatable! Too many trees around, bad scene! Nothing bad actually HAPPENED, except for me being dragged a bit and freaking out while losing control as the thing crashed into the water....(we were only testing it out on land at the time).

So I went into super research mode, which I'm pretty good at. My husband always laughs at me, because I go overkill with this. I decided to get myself the Hydra 350 for a trainer. Today, I tried it for the first time....

SUCCESS! I posted my story up on Facebook but figured no one would understand my excitement so today I quit being a lurker on this forum!


SO! The wind was pretty light, and I was pretty damn nervous. My worst fear was getting carried away but I knew with a small kite it would be unlikely, so I pushed that fear aside. I made Bryan, my husband, try first. He couldn't get the thing off the ground! I told him he was doing it wrong so he let me at it. I got the kite up no problem and felt surprisingly in control. I practiced steering it, putting it up in neutral, everything! Over and over again....until I thought the adrenaline was going to kill me so I pulled the break and it eased to the ground.

WHAT A FEELING! I think I'm hooked! I did this routine twice until I had to stop....I was shaking and way WAY too excited!

Bryan however, struggled over and over until finally it went up. But he was so out of control, the thing was swerving all over the place scaring the heck out of me. I was yelling yes, and no, and steer right and steer left, but he was a mess! Then SLAM, into the water it went! Ha Ha! While he was proud of me, I think he was disappointed in himself, but at least he got the thing up:-) I'm not done teasing him about how I'm a natural though:P Ha Ha!

Anyway, just wanted to share my story while saying hello. I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!

:wee:

Cat


P.S. I used to have many dreams of flying when I was a kid, mostly tumbling out of control. As I got older, I improved and had many wonderful flying dreams with complete control. However, out of a few of those dreams I've had ones where I am flying by pulling on invisible lines that soared through the air and steered me. Maybe I've had practice in my sleep?!

Welcome Cat! Congratulations on your first flight of many to come.

im jealous of your hubby, ladies like you are a rareity in my neck of the woods

sweet ... more canadians, eh?

have fun!!!

Welcome to being a participating member of the forum :D.

Welcome! Wish my wife would get into kites like I do ... you wanna swap?
I still have pretty good dreams of flying but I know they'll be realized when I get into a hang glider - eventually ...

Way to go Cat!!! That's awesome. Great job on your research and on your choices. It only gets better from here!

Welcome to PKF Cat (and Bryan)!

welcome glad to see no one was hurt with that 11m. Nice to see that you and your husband are learning together, that way you can share the stoke as you go along.

I LOVE the Flying dreams ! Had them all my life . Watch out for the power lines. :smug:

As I was reading I was thinking , she has visualized the whole experience and he hasn't. Now you have set the bug he'll be thinking about it more and catch up?

You MUST try skydiving . The freefall is totally the flying dream . :singing:

Great work finding out what you were in for before you tried to fly! You're in for one heck of an adventure!
Be safe, and welcome to the growing ranks!

you havent lived until you have experienced your first face plant from a bigger kite on a blowy day from static flying

Hey Cat, sorry to hear your husband had problems getting it up! ( i'm sorry i couldn't resist)

But seriously - i'm glad you liked it so much. I was pretty much the same the first time I flew a power kite (5m ozone flow i think) and I can honestly say that that exitement has never left me - I get it every time i fly.

Houston - quite a lot of lady kiters in UK, my main kite buddy is female and i've introduced quite a few ladies to it over the last couple of years. Seems to appeal to women loads but most of then just never think to try!

Keep telling us how you're going Cat - boards are the way to go

Congrats.
Sounds like you are well on your way to many enjoyable flights to come. Which direction are you headed: buggy, landboard, snowboard, or water?

Todd, thanks! I can't wait to get back out again, but today the winds are crap! That and for the next while we won't have the RV near the beach (until mid Feb when we'll be near the beach again, and then in March when we get to Cocoa Beach, FL!) I can't wait!



Houston, ha ha really? You know, I haven't seen many woman kiters anywhere here either....gotta get more woman into it!



ripsessionkites....yes! I'm surprised to see so many Canadians on here. Awesome! Do you know if anyone from Toronto is on here? That's where we spend 5 months of the year after hiding from the cold in Florida:-) Hope to find some good kite locations! You're so lucky to be out in BC. We'll be taking the RV there this year for our cross Canada and west coast trip! Can't wait!



Maven454, thanks! :-) Hopefully I won't have any serious injury stories to post! LOL!



Kamikuza!, LOL! Hey now! Ha ha! Has your wife ever tried it? When Bryan got his kites, I was like, um, I am never trying that EVER EVER EVER. It was more something for him, but my how the tables have turned! It was mostly due to fear....do you think your wife is afraid maybe? I was just terrified, but when I learned you could do it on land, I felt a little better (even though the injuries are worse apparently!). I grew up on the water, always had boats, was training to be a lifeguard, and was even training for the olympics in speed swimming freestyle many years ago....yet the thought of mixing wind with a large kite and water and rip tides, etc....scared the heck out of me. I was more or less looking things up for Bryan online (so that he wouldn't kill himself!) when I discovered you didn't have to go on water. After a few youtube videos, I had to retrieve my jaw from the floor and BREATHE because I was just so shocked and excited. From then I just read everything I could about it....and now here I am!



Awindofchange, thanks so much, and I hope so! I love your name by the way! Great for that kite store!



Macboy, thank you! Bryan says thanks too;-)


shaggstoriches, thanks! I'm glad too. What a dumb thing to do now that I know more. I even had the harness on, and really had no idea how to stop the stupid thing. Dumb dumb and dumb! I think it's great we're learning together too, though I feel like I'm teaching him or something, which is kinda terrible, ha ha! Every time I get the kite up, he just shakes his head. :tumble:



Bladerunner, that's so cool! When I was a kid I was obsessed with flying. I remember running through the school yards every recess as fast as I could, and then jumping! I'm sure my mother also has pics of me standing up on ledges with an umbrella like Mary Poppins. I must have been pretty persistent because this went on for years....

When I got into grade 5, my gym teacher asked if I wanted to go into Long Jump for track and field. She must have seen me running and jumping. In any case, I won first place for many competitions. I just remember really pissing off quite a few girls who were taller and older than me when I kicked their butts, haha! All that practice really helped I guess:P

Anyhoo, I hope he doesn't catch up, I love having one up over him:D Terrible I know, but I love to tease him with that! We're both pretty competitive! But amazingly we get along very well!

As for skydiving, are you INSANE?! Ha Ha! Eeek! When I was younger, I swore I would do it, but I have terrible anxiety and panic attacks. I had a massive one on a drop zone ride once. I HATE the feeling of falling. LOVE roller coasters but those other rides, never again! Bryan wants to skydive....he may just be alone on that one. Than again that's what I said about the kite:-)

How many times have you skydived? It looks so crazy cool but I don't know....I don't think I could do it!



Erratic winds, love the name! And thank you for the welcome:-)



Nocando, OMG, don't say that! Ha Ha! I have VERY expensive teeth, so that is my one BIG fear with this. That would totally blow! Do you know anyone who has knocked out a tooth or ten doing this?!



Livestofly....LMAO! NICE! Love to start my mornings with a giggle! Oh and I love your user name!
Wow, you flew a 5m the first time? That's awesome. I am already planning my next kite (want to get a bit of air, not a lot though....at least not for a bit!) and the 5m Ozone was one of the ones I was considering!

I will keep you all updated for sure:-) I'll get some videos done possibly, perhaps they will be a bit entertaining, especially the first time I try my board! I got ahead of myself and ordered an MBS Comp 90....!



Ragden, for sure the board. We don't have enough room on the RV (we fulltime so it's our home!) for a buggy, but boy do those look like fun! I'm too scared to do it on the water (see my reply to Kamikuza!) and I don't go out in temperatures less than 68, so that kills the snow idea although that COULD be really fun so maybe one day I'll brave the cold! Got myself an MBS Comp 90 board already. Looks kinda intimidating....may be a while before I put the kite and the board together:-)






Anyhow, thanks for the warm welcome everyone. It's nice to meet you all!

Quote:

Originally posted by StarSpun Ragden, for sure the board. We don't have enough room on the RV (we fulltime so it's our home!) for a buggy, but boy do those look like fun! I'm too scared to do it on the water (see my reply to Kamikuza!) and I don't go out in temperatures less than 68, so that kills the snow idea although that COULD be really fun so maybe one day I'll brave the cold! Got myself an MBS Comp 90 board already. Looks kinda intimidating....may be a while before I put the kite and the board together:-)

Find room for a buggy :D, they're much easier than boards.

If you can mount a bicycle rack on that RV somewhere, then you can haul a buggy! Could prolly get someone to build a hitch/receiver rack for reasonable. Buggys are great fun!

Buggies are really a lot of fun. But they take up quite a bit of room. If you can find a way to mount it to your vehicle, it makes life a lot easier.

Never say never about water. I spent my first 8 months of kiting land-bound. However, once I got into the water, I couldnt believe how much fun it was. This is something to move to LATER though. Total confidence with your kite will make kiting on water soooo much easier. I would think you are already a good swimmer, so thats one thing you dont have to worry about. Its just a matter of learning the safety aspects of riding on the water. Not a huge issue. Just takes some time and practice. Just... dont count it out completely...

Full-Face helmet such as Downhill Mountain Biking style is a great way to keep your teeth in your mouth.
I can't really stress that enough to people who are new. This really applies to land, but the only tooth loss I have seen is on the beach, kiting, where you'll never ever see a full face helmet, so...:dunno:

don't forget hillbilly dirt shorts or else you might get a
subdural hematoma















from landboarding You should have seen it 2 days later. From knee to hip ,all the way around my thigh. purple ,black. jeeeesh ! I'm creepin myself out just rememberin . Back to my beer.

Hi Star sorry about the negative of being blown A over head

It happened to me the other day was testing a flexfoil blade4.9, brought kite from zenith thru power window too slow a gust got me ran 20 mtrs and got dragged 20 meters when it pulled me off my feet, no dramas just lost a bit of bark but all is well.
Am a mountainbiker as well grass burn better than a big off on a bike lol

I bought the wife a Vibe 2.3 for her birthday and we use it on the Flexifoil 2-line bar I got with the Bullet so I can stand behind her and help otherwise she screams and drops the bar when the wind pulls :puzzled:
It would appear I married the biggest sissy on the planet

You don't get injuries on the land - you get them when you hit the land :D

I have only done the skydive thing once. Tandem from 12,500 ft. Almost a minute of freefall . After the 1st 3 seconds of freaking out it was totally the flying dream . It kind of took me by surprise . It was way more like flying than falling. I couldn't really feel the instructor attached to my back but felt comfortable knowing he was there. It was all about the freefall flying for me. You can really travel where you choose up there ! Once the parachute opened the rest was just a ride down.

We have a few girls who kite here in Vancouver. You are not alone! Canadian Girls Kick :moon:

Bladerunner - I'm going to do a tandem jump this summer! Really glad to hear that you are not really aware of being strapped to someone - thats cool - was the only thing I was worried may spoil the experience!

Starspun - I don't know anybody with just one kite so beware the addiction! it was only blowing 8 - 10mph the first time i flew so the ozone was quite well behaved.

If you are looking to upgrade ready to get in some jumps and stuff you need a kite with a higher aspect (longer and narrower) but not really much bigger. A 4m Peter Lynn Twister II or a flexifoil blade would be good jumping kites in average winds.

The girl I kite with is maybe 110lbs - she can get great jumps on a 4m blade (though she's not jumping on the board yet)

When you do put kite and board togethor do it with someone who knows their sh*t - it will save you loads of hassle (i learned on my own so i know!!) now I take people boarding and they learn in a day what took me a couple of months to figure out!!

Also ride your board down slopes a lot with no kite - something to do when there is no wind! that way you learn to edge it and improve your balance.

if you can't find someone to teach you get an instruction DVD (way better than relying on youtube) www.progression.me do the best one i have seen.

Other than that, smile at your kite, be inspired and live to fly :bouncy:

Welcome to the site, great bunch and yes I find more girls getting into flying all the time. My son's girl friends all reluctant at first and now have their own kites...lol
Be smart, wear your safety gear and have fun.

There's quite a few out east......and from what I understand, quite a group in TO. Contact Paul at PBK Kiteboarding. He's quite a great Canadian resource for info on gear, locations and probably some killer barbecue recipes (I'm guessing on that one ; )

Maven454, you may be right! I might have to find room....those vids on youtube look awesome. I soooo want a buggy now:D I guess you can concentrate a bit more on the kite with those, eh!


Bobalooie57, we've got a little hitch/cart for our bicycles....I think we could MAYBE find room for one:D I'd have to see about it!


Ragden, I for sure won't count it out. I think you're right....something to move on later. The surf scares me with a kite but flat water, no so much. I used to water ski, so I guess I can say on flat water is totally a possibility! :-) I'll be on land for a bit though....I still need to get over my fear of being pulled....!


Erratic Winds, good idea, I may have to look into one of those. I already got a helmet, but I'm just beginning. If I start doing jumps and stuff, I may have to take your advice:D


Weldngod, holy crap! OUCH! I had a bruise like that once after falling down the stairs at a club (I wasn't even that intoxicated....the stairs were wet, ugh!), but it was half the size. It took a year to lose it's color. So how did that happen? On a board or buggy or....?


Nocando, haha, if that happened to me, I'd be traumatized:D That was on a 4.9? I'm frightened enough on a 3.5! LOL!


Kamikuza, HAHA! Your wife sounds kinda like me. I really have to push at overcoming fear, and well....I can kinda relate to her screaming and letting go when there is a pull. Happened to me a couple of times today (more below on that!), but once I got used to it, I stopped breaking and started leaning back to fight it. Once I was sure I could STOP it when it got scary, I kept taking it further. I would get your wife out as much as possible....the more she does it, the less she will freak out when the pull happens:-)


Bladerunner, wow., just WOW! If I were you, I probably would have had a panic attack and passed out (or died of a heart attack!), thus not enjoying the rest of it. It sounds fantastic though, in a way, I wish I could do it. You really have control up there? I'm fascinated about how that works!
AND, I agree, Canadian girls DO kick ass!


Lives2fly, I agree, the addiction is already hitting I'm afraid. I'm already reading reviews and planning my next kite. I was looking at the Peter Lynns, the Hornet and the Twister. Can't really decide between those. For a bigger kite later on (and one for my hubby to use on the water) I was thinking the Flysurfer Pulse 10m. I still have to read Ozone and HQ reviews, among others! So you think 4m would be good? I have a 3.5 now, so I was thinking going to a 5, but maybe that would be too much?
Thanks for the links to the videos. Will for sure be getting into some of those, as well as taking lessons. About the board, I'm so frightened of the THOUGHT of taking one of those things down hill....another fear to get over!


Wolfwolfee, that's so awesome....good to hear! Thanks for the welcome, and will for sure be wearing all my safety gear!!


Macboy, for sure, thanks so much for the info. Can't wait to meet others up in TO! :-)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ok so an update! Today Bryan and I went out and found a nice place to fly the kite by the water (we're in Key Largo with the RV right now). The wind was about 6mph gusting to 9mph....according to my new wind sensor thingababob from Amazon.com! I'm so nerdy like that!

Got the kite up right away, and this time, I was REALLY feeling pull. The first time it REALLY pulled me, I screamed and pulled the break....ugh. How embarassing! Seriously though, something to get used to. I tried again and again, managed to do many figure 8s. When it starts swooshing, what a great sound, but the pull nerves me up....I'm so afraid of being tossed in the air and killed!



Anyway, I was trembling, and waaaay excited....handed it over to Bryan. Again, he was a MESS, but this time only in the beginning. Once he got control he copied what he saw me doing, and he did it with CONFIDENCE. Something I didn't do, so of course, he looked way better at it. I was a bit irked, and I saw that the kite DIDN'T pull him up into the air and out of control, so I took that knowledge and had at it again. SWOOOOOOSH, I did it with a bit more authority this time....and also leaned back. That really helped me not to be pulled forward so much....felt way more in control.

I also think I hold my breath the entire time, because after landing I near passed out! Ha Ha!

Bryan managed to take some pics and video of me, I'll get it posted ASAP, so you can see how ridiculous and fearful I look:-P I hope that down the road I can laugh at it too....because my videos then will be of killer jumps! HA HA!
I can only wish!

:wee: