Go Fly A Kite!

Time flies....

2006-04-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

Here I am - 3 kites and 2 boards later... It's been one year since I started my kiting addiction. And I'm still at it! :-D My surfing hobby has deteriorated into limbo and the kite addiction has occupied the majority of my free, windy hours during the weekends and some weekday evenings (when I'd been fortunate enough to sneak out of work early).

I've JUST gotten my V2 quiver. Woohoo! I can't wait to try out the new 10 and 13 V2. I tried to get out yesterday - left the office at 5:15 but wasn't able to to Leo til 6:15 pm. GOSH DARN IT!! And of course, as soon as I got there, wind died. So today, I saw the trees moving since the morning. I was bitter... Ugh,.. so I tried not to pay any attention to the trees. Just ignored the wind. dum dee dumm dee dumm.... I should have taken the day off!! Grrr....

San Quintin - kiting heaven...

2005-06-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

I'm finally back home and recovered.. sort of. I left last Friday for a kiteboarding trip to Baja and got back late Tuesday night, then off to San Francisco for a conference. My flight was actually Tuesday afternoon, but I decided to blow off the flight so that I could stay down in Mexico to kite one more day. Hehe.. Yes, such a loyal trusty employee, I am.

I've come back with some minor injuries though that are preventing me to kiting or surfing for a few days - couple of blisters on my hand that ripped from the kitebar - now they're infected, a couple of cuts on the bottom of my foot from stepping on a rock on the beach - I'm limping now, a BIG 10 inch rash across my neck from the wetsuit and the helmet strap (yes, it looks like a big ole hickey across my neck), and tendonitis on both my elbows from kiting 5 days straight.

It was all worth it though. My kiting has improved tremendously. I can now get up and going on my goofy side very comfortably, and come back into the beach somewhat. On my last day, I even started going upwind. Sure, it felt awkward, but I still did it - which is all that mattered. I was so happy that I was laughing all the way into the beach. Of course, no one saw, but hey, next time. I even rode a couple of waves while going downwind. Accidently, of course. :-) But it was fun while I was on the wave.

I kited Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. MAN, it was kiting paradise. We had miles and miles of beach to do downwinders on and get picked up.

I've mentioned before that Mojave was kiting heaven. But I change my mind now. San Quintin is kiting heaven. Mojave is up there though. But since we need a boat to do downwinders at Mojave, I'd have to go with San Quintin.... I'll be dreaming about the place for a while. I can't wait til the next trip back down to SQ - fourth of July weekend. I've already cleared my calendar. Woohoo!

Skunked

2005-05-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

Definition

tr.v. Slang skunked, skunk·ing, skunks
To defeat overwhelmingly, especially by keeping from scoring.

To go to a spot seeking wind and not getting it at all.

That was the weekend. Both days. Kite Sheriff mentioned that "we got skunked" and I didn't know what he meant. Yes, I admit it. I actually thought he literally meant getting sprayed by a skunk. (No, I'm not blonde :-P) Yes yes yes, I'm a complete dork for not knowing what it means. Well, now I know. It looks like we won't be getting any wind for the rest of the week. I'm headed down to Baja for 3 straight days of kiting... woohoo!

Bad habit! Bad Bad BAAAAD habit!

2005-05-19T23:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, it looks like I'm developing this habit of leaving work early at 3:30. Mhm.. Today was no acception. Hey, I'm trying to take advantage of my boss's absence. Once she comes back from her leave, I'll be stuck again doing 9 to 5, and will not be able to sneak out of work early so freely. Right? I'd better do it while I can!

When I arrived at the beach, it was just SMOKIN! More so than yesterday. It was blowing so hard that when I got on the beach, my legs were stinging from the the sand being blown down the beach. It was easily 20-30mph today. Definitely out of my wind range and abilities. So I chose to take my camera out again and just watch others have fun and take pictures. Man, J-man, Crazy-Man, and Kite Sheriff got BIG air on their kites today. That will be me by this time next year, I hope....

Smokin...

2005-05-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

I arrived at the beach at 3:30 (yep, snuck out once again)... And it was ON, baby. I set up and launched my 13. I walked upwind and bodydragged out past the waves with my board, went on my board down wind, then came in to do the walk of shame twice. The wind was perfect at that time. Enough wind to take me out to sea and to come back. After my 2nd time into the beach, the wind REALLY turned up a notch. WOOO-WEEE...! It was blowing 20+. Too windy for my kite and for me - I was getting lifted off the ground on my 13 fully depowered. So I waited patiently for the wind to calm down which it never did. Doo dee doo dee dooo~ I wish I had had a smaller kite so that I could get out. NUTS! I was stuck on the beach with my 13. Kitemaster T and the rest of the gang arrived down from Zeros or Leo somewhere (doing a downwinder). Man, I wish I was good enough to do that... Some day. I hope it comes soon. I often wonder how much I will improve by the end of the summer. I hope I can go upwind and be able to start doing small jumps by then. Am I being too ambitious? :-\

Hey Wind, will you make up your mind? Please?

2005-05-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's 7pm and I'm sittin' at home, while it's blowing steady at Zuma. :-( What's wrong, you ask? What's a wind junkie doing at home, while it's blowing so good at the beach? Yesterday, I went out and it blew for only a short time, so I was expecting the same. I decided to be a good employee today and stay at work until 5, thinking that it wasn't going to be blowing well today. Little did I know that it had been blowing 13-17 mph steady at the beach since this afternoon! WTF man! I got Kite Sheriff's message, which he left a little after 2, at 5:15pm. ARGH!!@#!@# I would have left immediately had I gotten his message earlier. And by 5pm, I figured that the wind was going to stop soon, so I went home. But no, it's STILL blowing. X-O Sigh... So now, I'm kitesurfless... it's been blowing since 2pm and it's still blowing. I bet Kite Sheriff is having loads of fun. What am I doing at home instead of out on the water? I'm lame. I didn't even surf this morning because I was too tired. I need to be back in the water. Maybe I'll just go take a shower and pretend that I'm at the beach or back at the lake with fresh water. Okay, that's enough complaining. :-[

O waves, why do you hate me so?

2005-05-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

I was bad again today and went to the beach as soon as I heard that the wind was blowing. Well, the surf was big, and I tried to bodydrag out past the waves, but the waves didn't let me. In fact, they kicked my ass. Every time I tried to get out, I would make it half way, then another set would start to roll in. I was hoping that the wind would be strong enough to drag me out, but the wind became light as soon as another set started to roll in and I got pummeled. :-[ Each time I tried to get out, the waves came charging in, saying "Oh no you won't!" Aww.. man. I lost the battle with the waves today. Maybe I will have better luck next time...

The Kiteboard God has taken another...

2005-05-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so last night, I dreamed that I was riding upwind, shredding the waves on my kite. I was able to water-start, ride out to sea, jump over waves, ride back upwind, do cutbacks on waves, etc.... This dream now signifies that this kiteboarding addiction of mine is starting to get out of hand. A few months ago, I was dreaming about surfing, riding big waves, and drooling over new surfboards. It's now switched to kiting. Don't get me wrong, I still surf in the mornings and have fun when I'm catching waves, but when the wind kicks up, I will be the first one out of the water to get on my kite. What else am I supposed to do when it gets windy and the waves are blown out? :-P

I hung out with Kite Sheriff at Starbucks for a few hours last night. A cool cool guy. With his help, I hope I'll be jumping and shredding it by this time next year. He says kiteboarding will change my life, as it has changed his. Hmm.. I've heard the same from surfers. :-\ Kite Sheriff has been surfing since he was 15 but he now hardly surfs. He does, however, kites every chance he gets - which is almost everyday. I wonder if this will happen to me as well...

Will it be windy enough to kite later today? I hope so.

All about Kiting...

2005-05-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

There was no wind today, so I couldn't kite. Me, Kite Sheriff, and Gerald just putzed around at the beachz, waiting and talking. Yesterday, though, was another story.

J-Man met me at the Starbucks by Trancas market at around noon. We were both so eager to see the wind kick up. I guess overly eager. J-Man's friend, Casey, who was visiting from Chicago also came down to watch us kite. We waited, waited, and waited. Waited 4 hours, in fact. Yes, we were desperate. Yes, both of us are addicted to the wind. Mhm. Finally, at around 4pm, the wind started to kick up, and we started to set up (YEA!). When the wind kicked up another notch, Kite Sheriff helped me launch my kite, and I bodydragged out past the waves and started working the kite. Up on the board, I went. (woohoo!) But I still couldn't maintain staying on the kite for too long. I just need more practice, I think. The wind would die and I would sink, I would gain too much speed and crash, I couldn't keep working the kite longer than I wanted to (right now, I think the longest ride that I've had has been about 10 dives), etc... I am getting a feel for going over the bumps on the waves - keep the nose up! I even managed to do a little hop. I imagined that I was on my snowboard, getting ready to do a jump, and I made the hop without crashing! Woohoo! I tried going on the other awkward side a few times too. Failed. But I am starting to get the feel for it a bit. Next session, I will try it a few more times... actually, many more times. I NEEED to be able to come back into the beach, man. Oh, another note, I bodydragged upwind with the board in my hand. That was the first time that I did that. At Mojave, I was bodydragging upwind but without the board. This time, it was with the board in my hand. Woohoo! When I got back to the beach, Kite Sheriff congratulated me on bodydraging upwind with the board. I am hoping that by the end of the Mexico trip, I will be able to ride upwind. That would be awesome... or "SICK!" as Kitemaster T would say. Ahh...another good day of kiting.

Now, with each session, I feel myself getting better on the board, learning something new every time. Now, I'm going to kick it up a notch and try to accelerate my riding the board. Mexico will be my breakthrough, I think. I can't wait! It's gonna be ALL ABOUT KITING.

Up, Up and a.... kaBOOOM!

2005-05-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit it. I'm a bad girl. I've been leaving work early to go to Zuma and kite. I left work early again today at 3. SHHHhhhhhh!! The last 2 days that I ditched work to go to Zuma, I didn't feel comfortble going out on the board because it was either blowing too hard or I didn't know people that were riding there. Yesterday, however, was a different story.

When I arrived at Zuma, the wind was very light, maybe 8-10 mph. Not enough for me to get on the board. After my spectacular weekend in Mojave, I was determined to get out at Zuma and get on the board. At around 4:30, Kite Sheriff and J-Man arrived and started to suit up. YAY! I was relieved that someone that I knew came and that they were optimistic that the wind was going to kick up. woohoo! I suited up and started to get ready. And low and behold, the wind did kick up. Kite Sheriff and J-Man launched and rode out. J-Man was getting major air, by the way - the type of air where he was able to dangle his feet, look underneath, sing a song, and say hello to everyone on the beach. It must have been at least 20 feet. I hope I can do that soon. Some day, right? I launched my kite, grabbed my board (the Caution Redline board that I bought off of Ali) and walked up the beach toward the flag. I tried to get up on the board from the beach to ride out through the waves, but that didn't work too well. :-\ So I bodydragged out past the impact zone with my board in my hand. (Whoa! I remembered what Kitemaster T had told me about how to hold the board while bodydragging out, and I did exactly that. No problems getting out this time. Woohoo!) I put the board on my feet, and did a couple of test loops to get a feel for the wind. Then I dove the kite, and up on the board I went! FIRST TIME UP ON MY BOARD AT ZUMA, BABY! After about 10 seconds, I lost momentum, sank down in the water, and lost the board. :-\ I had a hard time getting back to my board though at Zuma. The combination of the wind and current made it drift way out to sea and J-Man had to go get the board for me each time. (I owe him 5 shots for these pick-ups). When I got to the lifeguard tower, I came in, did the walk of shame, and walked back up to the flag to do it again.

My third time out was my most significant board moment. I got up on the board and started going out to sea. I was thinking, "Keep the kite moving, keep the edge, lean back, etc... " - everything that Kitemaster T and V-Dawg has been telling me. And well, I started getting lit up. You know, the type of speed where the board starts to shake? I tried to keep my edge, lean back, and try to work the kite back up higher to slow down but well, it was inevitable. KaBOOM! I came off my board, did a 1080(?)(3 spins while hanging onto the bar) while flying through the air, and tumble crashed. After I came back up above the water (and burped :-P), I heard J-Man yell out "WHOW! That looked nice!." I admit that it was sorta fun while I was in the air, but I lost my board (again) and J-Man had to go get the board for me again. :-\ J-Man saw the whole thing - he saw me get lit up, saw the board shake, and saw the nose go down - which is what made me tumble crash. I will make note, keep nose up next time. Yes, Kitemaster T and V-Dawg has told me this more than once.

At the end of the day, Kite Sheriff said that he was proud of me. :-) Even though I had a major tumble crash, it was a good kite day... I can't wait til tomorrow to do it again. I hope the surf is small.

Kiting Heaven...

2005-05-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

That's what Lake Mojave is. Kiting heaven. Steady wind, not much chop, and NO WAVES. That was key. NO WAVES to pummel a certain beginner kiter who is trying to get up on the board. No sirrrreeebob, no pummeling the beachgirl THIS weekend. And with these great conditions and with the right people (thanks Kitemaster T and V-Dawg) telling me how to do it, up on othe board I went! My trip to Mojave was the best thing for my kiting experience. Hands down. It was a blast hanging out with Kitemaster T and V-Dawg. They are such great guys. With all their tips and instruction, I even managed to go upwind without knowing it. I also managed to do a small jump accidently, of course. Can you believe it? I was speechless. "What the heck did I just do? Emm...Can I do it again?... Please?"

It was a GREAT weekend. Here is how it went down:

Saturday, May 7, 2005
I got up at 3:15 am to get to Kitemaster T's by 4 am. (Oh man, brutal!) He was still asleep when I got there (hehe). Oh yea, on a sidenote, another beginner - Lynn - broke her leg while flying her kite on Friday. It was pretty windy, but she went against V-Dawg's advice and threw up her kite anyways - not a very smart thing to do. She apparently got dragged across Typhoid Creek, and hit a concrete block which broke her leg. It may have been serious, so she had to get helicoptered out of the beach. Scary... Thank goodness she was okay. Okay, back to Mojave (woohoo!). So anyways, we went to V-Dawg's by 5am, and managed to get to the lake by 11am (we stopped by Mad Greek restaurant in Baker for some falafels and sandwiches - mmm... :-P). When we arrived, the wind was light, but still kiteboardable. So we threw up the 13 bomba and I tried to get on the board. Failed. :-( I had a hard time bodydragging back to my board, pushing myself up on the board, and controlling the kite in a way to pull myself up out of the water. Boy, was I a mess. Then the wind died, so we hung out in a small cove across the lake for some time, then decided to wakeboard. Ok, I don't want to brag here, but I've never wakeboarded in my life. I used to snowboard like mad a few years back though so maybe that helped. I got up on the board on my first try! I was thinking, "Huh? Have I done this before?" Hehehe... not too bad for a first time wakeboarder. Mhm. Maybe it was the board? I used a kiteboard instead of a regular wakeboard. Hmm... Maybe I was a wakeboarder in my past life?

When the wind finally kicked back up late afternoon, we put the kites back up. Now remember, I wasn't able to get on my board too well before the wakeboarding session. But this second kiting session was a whole different ballgame. I couldn't get back to my board for the life of me (since my bodydragging sucked), but I was able to get a sense of being on the board after edging on the kiteboard while wakeboarding. I guess I retained the muscle memory. And during this session, I managed to get my lame ass up on the board! As soon as I got up, I was thinking, "what the...!@#!@# So this is how it feels like! Ahh..." I only had short rides before I tumbled and crashed, but the main thing was that I got up! I drank so much water that by the end of the session, my stomach was full. You KNOW you ate it good when you hit the water hard, tumble, then BURP when you finally come back up for air. This became routine. I'd be riding, then tumble crash, big splash, then burp. Not the most graceful thing that I've ever done. Good thing that it wasn't salt water. It was so nice to crash in fresh water (and not taste anything) rather than salt water by the way. Yea, people pee in the lake, but as long as I don't see it, or taste it rather, I'm A-O-K. But the main thing was that I got up on the board and was riding BEFORE I tumble crashed and burped. We stayed out on the lake until the sun went down. Ahh.... what a day...

Sunday, May 8, 2005
"Bring it on" was the theme for today. I was determined to bodydrag back to my board and get my ass up on the board consistently to ride for more than 5 seconds. And this is exactly what I did. Even though I was sore from Saturday's session, I had to keep going at it. I must improve, I must improve. I must get better, I will get better.... I am like robot. Hehehehe... I kept Kitemaster T's voice in my head: "Keep your arm like like a rutter! We're not going to get the board FOR you! Bodydrag bodydrag bodydrag back to your board! Look in the direction that you want to go! Keep working the heck out of the kite! Lean back! Push your heels down to edge!" and on and on and on. Lots of things to remember. I would be in the water and see Master T having so much fun on his kite. That's what I want to do! How come my body doesn't do what it's supposed to so that I can kite like that too?? He makes it look so easy. I bet I looked like a mess. Oh dear... But I guess I have an excuse as a beginner. V-Dawg ripped it up when he got T to take over driving the boat. Man, he can really ride too. Some day... Right? Hopefully, by this time next year, I'll be able to shred it on the kite too. :-P

Saturday, I was on my 13 Bomba. Sunday, I was on a 10.5 Venom. OMG, I loved the quick turning response of the Venom! I wanted to take it home. After flying my 13 Bomba yesterday and the Venom today, what a world of difference! The Venom was like a bullet, allowing me to whip it around so much quicker than the Bomba. After countless episodes of tumbling and burping, I finally started to get comfortable with getting up and riding on my goofy foot side. There were a few times when I got freaked from going too fast. So since I didn't know or didn't remember rather (Kitemaster T or V-Dawg had told me how to slow down, but it went in one ear and out the other since I had never needed to do it) , I tumble crashed to stop. And when I made it to the end of the lake, it was time for me to go the other way. D'OH!!! What is UP with THAT! The instant I tried to switch sides, I couldn't even stay on the board for more than a second. Is this a left brain/right brain thing? I only want to do the same thing that I was doing on my goofy side except the opposite sides! Not asking for much here. Why isn't my body responding to what I'm telling it to do??? By this point, my body was pretty tired. I was at it on my goofy side all day. And I needed the same amount of energy to try out the same on the opposite. I tried it a few times on the awkward side, only to experience another failure, then I decided to quit since my body wasn't listening to me too well. It was tired, needed food, and and some rest. So I called it a day. I think I should have kept at it for another 45 minutes. More time on the water and on the kite = more skills I'd build in flying my kite. Oh well... I will have to wait til Baja to experience another kiting heaven-like conditions again. I can't wait! :-D

All in all, I probably had the equivalent to about 2 weeks of kiting at Zuma. I was in the water non-stop at Mojave. And with the perfect conditions, being in the water flying the kite non-stop, and Kitemaster T and V-Dawg's instructions, my kiting skills dramatically improved. Best trip ever, hands down. MHM. :-) I can't wait to try out the new skills back in LA.

Lake Mojave, here I come!

2005-05-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

So I decided to do it. I had enough of this bodydragging. I'm tired of getting pummeled by Zuma, trying to get outside the break. After the fiasco last weekend (driving all the way down to Belmont shores for the wind and absence of waves, not finding it, then finding out that Zuma was blowin'), I decided to throw down the cash and go up to Lake Mojave to get my ass on the board. V-Dawg says that after the trip, I'll be up and riding at Zuma no problem. No more trying to bodydrag out past the impact zone to put the board on my feet. I'd be up and riding on the board from the beach and hoppin' over the waves. What a nice thought. Hopefully, this will be true. I can't wait....

Well, THAT sucked...

2005-05-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today, I decided to take people's advice, go down to Belmont Shores, and risk getting stung by stingrays (Belmont Shores supposedly has lots of them) to see if I can get on the board down there. I'd been told that there won't be any waves to pummel me into the sand. So after surfing that morning, I packed up my gear and decided to just go for it. I got down there at about 1 pm and waited for the wind. There were probably about 20-25 other kiters waiting, with their kites set up. I waited, and waited, and waited... Soon, 4 pm rolled around but NO WIND! Just my luck!!@#! And Zuma wind line was reporting 15-18mph wind! WTF, man! I drove all the way here, hoping to be in conditions that would let me get on my board. This isn't what I signed up for, man... After talking to a few other kiters about the lack of wind, I decided to pack up and go home. Yes, well, THAT sucked. I drove back to Zuma later that day to see kiters having fun. Aww man.. I want to do that! So I decided to just learn at Zuma where the Monkey Air guys hung out. At least, I would know people there who would keep an eye on me while I struggled in the water. :-\ Who cares about sharks?

glub glub glub

2005-04-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-04-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-04-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-04-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-04-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

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'...

2005-04-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

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...