glub glub glub

Man, I got pummeled by the waves today. My entire body is sore. The board really slowed down my bodydragging past the impact zone. I even got bonked on the head with the board - thank goodness I had a helmet on. But it was fun nevertheless. I hope I get better sooner than later.

Today, I got one step past my last session. I managed to make it outside of the impact zone with the board. I borrowed a string from the 5-feet-J-Man (he isn't 5 feet, but rather he gets huge air on his kiteboard. He just gets shit from Wes about not jumping more than 5 feet - hehehe - so I've called him 5-feet-J-Man) to use as a leash which helped. But the leash detached from the board and eventually, Wes had to pick up the board and take it to shore for me (sorry, Wes). Most of the time, the board being attached to me was making everything awkward. Because of all the waves, swells, choppiness, I had a hard time positioning the board in front of me to even put my feet into the straps. Well, maybe it wasn't all the waves and the chop. It was probably my lack of skills. Mhm. In the midst of all this "interference", I managed to put my feet into the footstraps, took a big breath, and dove the kite to the right which pulled me up half way. Then the kite lost power and I dropped back down. J-Man later told me that I needed to angle the board more when I'm trying to get up. Not sure what that means until I actually do it. It's like surfing - people can tell you what to do til they're blue in the face, but until you actually do what they're describing, you don't actually get it. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. I may try to go to Belmont Shores tomorrow where the lack of waves may help me actually stand up on my board and ride it for at least 5 seconds. That will be my goal tomorrow. Try to ride the board for at least 5 seconds...

Board time

Oh man, I am SO SORE. I haven't been this sore for a long, long time. I basically spent the majority of yesterday at Zuma, kiting. I bodydragged in the water a few times (I'm quite comfortable with this now), did the walk of shame a few times, then pulled out the woody board and helmet. Since Vic didn't have his helmet to give me a lesson, he told me "good luck". Mhm. I guess I'll get a lesson next time.

I can already visualize myself on the board with my kite, but the hard part was to get past the impact zone with the board in my hand. The darn thing kept going underwater, and since it was so big, I had trouble controlling it. Or maybe it was me? I tried to use it like a rutter when I was being towed out to see but the surf just kept pounding me, and the board kept going under. With the kite going one way and the board going the other way, I had to let go of one - I chose to keep my kite and ditched the board. I did crash the kite in the water once, BUT I managed to relaunch it in the water (woohoo!) without any problems. After trying to get out with the board 5 times and failing, I gave up and decided to call it a day. Then I found out from everyone else (except V-Dawg who does not want me to use a leash) that I should have had a leash on my board when getting out of the impact zone. What the... @!#$%!@!#$%*#! On top of that, there were a couple of guys on the beach who had spare leashes that I could have borrowed. That would have made my life SO MUCH EASIER! Note to self: when getting out past the impact zone when starting on the board, use a leash!

Next time, I'll have a leash, and I'll go past the impact zone with my board even if it takes me all day. I'm going to get on that board, damnit!

I am shark bait!

Yesterday was my best day bodydragging. WOOHOO WOOHOO WOOHOO! Does that tell you how much fun it was? I arrived at Zuma at 1pm and waited for the wind to start picking up. The wind was stronger than I was used to for my kite - my kite was completely depowered but it still managed to pull me up off the ground while in the neutral zenith position! When the Monkey Air guys came out, however, I felt relieved. Kite Sheriff told me that they would keep an eye on me while I bodydragged if I wanted to try yesterday. Wes, who still had some stitches in his knee couldn't kite, so he helped me out yesterday. He gave me some tips on bodydragging, even dragged me up the beach, and suggested that I should just bodydrag in the water. I was hesitant because of the high winds and talk of shark activity in the spring since there was a great white siting last weekend at Zuma. But I went in anyways and am SO GLAD that I did. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, "I'm shark bait, I'm shark bait! I better go out fast and come back in!" It was my best kiting day ever. I was able to "tack my body like a sailboat". I never really understood this concept before, but I do now (or did yesterday). The wind was strong enough for me to bodydrag out with no problem, even get some air and play around, and tack myself in. Then the wind really kicked up - probably to about 25 miles per hour. So I landed my kite.

Ah... a great day of kiting. I had more fun kiting than surfing today. Everyone says that once I get on a board and start getting better at kiting, I'll probably ditch my surfboard and snowboard and not do anything else but kite - unless there's no winds, I guess. We'll see....

Off to Costa Rica tonight, so I'll be posting after Sunday night.

Peace out!

Sand dragging my heart out!

I arrived at Zuma at 4pm. That gave me about 3.5 hours of sunlight to kite. I wanted to practice flying my kite to the outside on the sand and AVOID dropping my kite in the water at all costs. So no bodydragging in the water for me today. I practiced flying it through the powerzone, maneuvering it with one hand on the bar, letting the kite "let it be" and fly on its own as V-Dawg had mentioned, and pivoting the kite on one side to the other to power up the kite. After today's session, if the wind is the same tomorrow as today and not gusty, I should be able to bodydrag to the outside and come inside with no problem. Maybe I'll even be ready to try it out with a board. I'll only hope that the wind will cooperate.

Helmet Girl!

So, I am now Helmet Girl. I met the Kitemaster T last night for the first time when I picked up my helmet. Black Gath helmet with visor. I felt like Darth Vader when I had the helmet on and the visor down. Hehehe. Master T even sold me his wooden beater kiteboard for CHEAP! I'd never seen a board like that before but he says that it's good enough for a beginner, so it's good enough for me. (I'll post a picture as soon as I get my digital camera fixed) Master T is the most hyper guy that I've ever met. Seems like a nice dude. I wonder if kiting everyday has made him that hyper or if he has always been that way...

So now, I have everything that I need. A kite, board, helmet, harness, lines. I just need the right wind and some mad kite flying skills to get out there and "rip it up". Mhm. Let's see how long THAT takes. I need more beach time with my kite. Kitemaster suggested that I try flying it on the sand on my butt. I heard that it's going to be blowing this weekend, so I guess I can't try this out yet. Last night, it was blowing too hard for me to put up my kite. 20-25 knots. I will just have to wait.

MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Kite falling out of the sky!

So, Zuma is where it happened last night. 5:00 pm hit, I checked the wind report (5-11mph - perfect for learning!), so I snuck out of work earlier than my usual 6:30pm to kite. I arrived at Zuma by 5:50pm and there was enough wind to fly and bodydrag. The Kite Sheriff Tom and Greg was already there, "ripping it up," as they say. So I launched the kite with V-Dawg's help (V-Dawg was my instructor from my lesson a few weeks back). He gave me a couple of tips on bodydragging and flying the Bomba. He says that the Bomba doesn't need to be flown too much. "Just let it be in the air" and take you out to sea. "don't fly the Bomba too much, just let it pull you," he said. Simple enough. I tried it on land for about 5 minutes, felt comfortable, so went into the water to bodydrag. And within 3 minutes, my kite stalled. $"!@#!#$! Shiet man! I saw it coming out of the air, so I "choked the chicken" (this maneuver involves pulling on the center lines to make the wings flap in order to get the kite back into the wind window). I choked the chicken for a bit, got it back in the window and tried to "let the kite be" and pull me out to sea. (I'm trying to fly the kite with only one hand so that my other hand can be free to hold the board.) Then the freakin' thing stalled again! I saw it coming down, but it was hopeless. It hovered only a couple of inches above the water in an upside down U, not a C. I think I may have been able to get it back up if it was in a C shape, but not a U. At this point, I'm thinking, "Help?! Somebody? how do I save it to get it back up?" Choking the chicken wasn't working because it was too far out of the window and the wind was dying. At this point, I'd say the wind had died to about 4-5 mph. And to my delight, the kite fell in the water and got soaked. eh-heh, eh-heh. I wouldn't have minded so much if this had happened toward the end of my session, but not within 3 minutes of hitting the water! I can't launch a soaked, heavy kite. So that made me done for the day. Man o man, I shake my head in disappointment. I suck. Period. Looking back on what happened last night, maybe I should have pulled on the depower strap to depower the kite when I saw the kite coming down. V-Dawg and Michelle says that the kite should always be depowered when you launch. Hm...

I now have my kite in my livingroom on top of a sheet, hoping that it will dry. My apartment is now officially a sand palace. Sand in my livingroom, sand in my bathroom, sand in my bedroom, sand in my bed, sand in my hair, sand in my ears, etc.. I swear I'm going to turn into a sandman soon. Next time, I'll try flying it more than trying to "let it be"... And if I crash the kite next time, I hope I had had at least 10 minutes of flying my kite instead of 3...

Bodydraggin' Bodydraggin' Bodydraggin'...

Sunday, April 3, 2004
Sunday - day 4 on my kite. And I had a GREAT time bodydragging! Michelle called earlier during the day to let me know that she would come down when the wind kicked up. Well, the wind didn't kick up until about 4pm and Michelle never made it. Michelle is the only other woman kiter that I know. Hopefully, I can get as good as her in time. Since I surfed Zuma in the morning, I just stayed up there to avoid the traffic on the PCH again. A few kiters started coming out around 3pm. And I pulled out my kite and waited for the wind to pick up. I met Greg Saks who was an experienced kiter. He gave me some tips on bodydragging. And bodydragging yesterday was the best so far. (Hmmm.. but now that I think of it, I've only bodydragged in the water 3 times, so it doesn't take much to make it the best kiting session.) When the wind picked up a bit, I was even pulled up out of the water (woohoo!) while bodydraggin! So, I guess I'm hooked. Now, I need to practice flying the kite with one hand on the bar instead of two so that I can be ready for the board... That will be my next challenge. It's supposed to blow all week, but it sounds like it will be blowing too hard for me - 20-25 mph. Maybe I'll go out to Zuma and watch the other kiters at some point this week.

Saturday, April 2, 2004

Last weekend, I bodydragged for the first time. Btw, just for the record, I had my first lesson during the weekend of March 10, 2005 with my kite instructor who, for anonymity sake, I will affectionately call V-Dawg (you probably can figure out who this is easily if you've been kiting around Zuma/Leo... but still... :-P). I've only been out on the kite 1 other day after the lesson. I got completely whipped around by the kite, and got pummeled by the waves since I couldn't get out of the impact zone. But the good thing was that I started to get the hang of it toward the end of my session. I went up and down the beach 4 times, then on my last try, I dropped my kite on the beach and couldn't get it back up. Since I was so tired, I decided to call it a day and try again next time.

Today was my 3rd day out on the kite, and it was a complete disaster. Since I was in San O in the morning, I didn't get to Zuma until about 5pm. (Man, traffic on the PCH was really annoying! You would think that the city would open up the road to more than one lane in the middle of the day on a weekend.) I suited up to get ready to bodydrag. The wind was really light so it would be important for me to keep the kite flying constantly in order to prevent it from stalling and falling out of the sky. And low and behold, I was bodydragging in the water for about 3 minutes and BOOM! The kite goes down in the water.... SHIET! I tried to get it back up in the air, but the wind was so light that I ultimately couldn't get it back up. So I rolled up the lines, swam to the kite, and kicked into the beach. Man, having a wet kite really sucks! I don't have a deck or a patio so I didn't know where to dry it. I couldn't launch a soaked kite since it was so heavy. So, I ended up laying a sheet in my livingroom and just laying my 13 m kite on it. It worked, I guess. Sand and salt water everywhere. Oy... I'll dry the rest tomorrow...