Saturday Night Midnightish: the wind is blowing 20's and the Channel Island Buoys showing stronger. Get some rest it should be "goooood in the hoooood" tomorrow at the point.
Ventura Kiteboarding core crew members are texting/pinging/emailing me about current and potential conditions.
Catherine cooks up a chicken enchilada egg comination that rocks my breakfast world. I leave with the usual
understanding, I'll call after sunset and see you at O'dark-thirty. Not quite kicked out, but Cathy has the intuitive understanding, what Kiting means to me. I love her.
I meet up with Sherm in the car-lot. 9m conditions. Derick in the cove and doing his show. Passerbys hoot with enthusiasm and take pictures. "D-old school" jumps and spins 20 footer smooth acrobatical tricks then
rides a few waves, back in the air again and all alone. This gives me motivation.
Sherm mentions" it's not that windy", I point to Derrick 20ft in the air long hang time and soft landing. I repeat Sherm's words dripping with sarcasm. Sherm goes silent. I take this as, silence is recognition. I watch him trade his 12m for his 9meter kite. We walk up wind to the Ventura Kiteboarding core crew launch zone.
Mark H. is out on his Slingy 9m and twin waving me out to hurry. I get Sherm up on his 9m.(suppressed the urge to ask him if he wants his 12m) The 175Lb. club could ride their 7-8's or 9's depending on skill and
board selection. I chose my PL VII 9m weather kite. Self-launched and well powered.
Heading to the water the power decreases and I watch the 5 or 6 other kites come in and stand around on the beach. Already I'm thinking bigger kite. Within minutes the wind comes back on. I go for it. Outbound tack well powered almost lit. Edging hard and getting incidental air over the 3 ft surf and wind chop. The low winter sun has a wide swath of glare, I'm stoked to have polarized sunglasses on. The wind immediately shifts to side-off with a lot of increasing off shore direction. I now have priority to get in and do it NOW.
Forced to go into the cove the wind is weak and shifty, I start down looping my kite for power. The current and loops are bringing me towards the pier. At times I need to choke the chicken line then ultimately to no avail, I decide to put the kite down in the water.
I have a 4-3mil wet-suit and keep toasty warm as I swim in from 400 yards? Scissor kick and frog kick leaning on the board and towing my kite FLAGGED out. Reach shore and Sunday strollers want to ask questions about kiting. I try to be an ambassador to the sport, fielding the usual coffee house chit-chat questions. "What do you do if that thing goes in the water"? "Can't you just fly away with that"? "What does that cost" "How long have you been WINDsurfing"?............. I kindly excuse myself and wrap up kite and lines.
Walk back to the car-lot to a very seasoned, Ventura Kiteboarding crew. Not one asked what happened? The wind shifted, obvious and no story. I find out, 2 visitors needed harbor patrol rescues.
Ventura Kiteboarding Tip: Never go further out then you can swim in.
Ventura Kiteboarding Tip: Be prepared to dump the kite in the water and self rescue.
Ventura kiteboarding Tip: Never chase a receding wind line.
The rescued visitors did not follow these words of advice.
At Ventura Kiteboarding we teach self launch, self land and self rescue.
The wind chimes are chiming, another day...........maybe.
This has been a November to remember.
Warm winds,
Tom
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