Monday, December 30, 2013

Nice early evening kitesurfing session at St Kilda with a tour over to Hobsons Bay

Session 274.  A nice sea breeze came in late in the afternoon at St Kilda. Stuart and I headed down and found it surprisingly quiet. The boats in the marina now come right past the sand spit so the "kiddies pool" is quite hard to get to now.

Once on the water we took off for a tour over to Hobsons Bay.  The Spirit of Tasmania was turning to enter its channel when we scooted across. We nearly made it to Webb Dock but the wind was a bit lighter over there so we came straight back, with the Spirit of Tasmania now departed and some distance down the bay.

Riding strapless seems to require more leg effort to control the board, there is no "lazy option".  I did notice I was leaning back more on my natural (left) tack compared to my goofy (right) tack, so I made an effort to relax my legs a bit on the right tack and use my body weight more.

The wind was consistent but not strong. I had plenty of power on my Lithium 12.  Downloop turns were the go on the swells to keep some board speed up.

I tried one duck tack and nearly looped the kite.

We did quite a few runs closer to St Kilda West before coming in.  A nice session - back to where I started from and challenging in its own way.












GPS log 

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Kitesurfing Hampton in light winds on the Sector 60

Session 273.  There was lighter winds at Hampton in the morning when Stuart and I arrived.  I took out my Sector 60 board and the Lithium 9 to test how this combination would go in lighter wind.  It worked very well.  I had enough power to get some good speed up and could easily go upwind.

I had a phsyio treatment on my back yesterday which improved my movement and reduced the pain a lot so I was intent on not going too hard kitesurfing today.

I was able to ride the swells well between the first and second groyne.  Stuart was finding it difficult to keep upwind on his twin tip and headed down towards Middle Brighton following the waves. I came down into the beach for one run then cranked back upwind to Hampton.  Stuart eventually ran out of wind and walked back some of the distance.

The wind was definitely lighter close to shore so I stayed offshore and kept going well.  The Lithium 9 flew well and generated enough power. I even managed a few jumps.   I downlooped the kite heading in on the swells to get enough forward pull.

No duck tacks today though.

There were other kiters on the beach but nobody else got out while we were there.

The Sector 60 turns a marginal day into a fun one.



GPS log

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Afternoon cool change rips through gusting up to 45 knots

The wind forecast on Predictwind looked ominous for Saturday, and they were right.  Hot northerlies in the morning were blown away by a massive cold front that ripped in during the afternoon.

The wind speed changed from around 15 knots to 40 knots, with gusts reaching 45 knots.

This was a good day to not be kitesurfing!




Thursday, December 26, 2013

Kitesurfing Hampton to Green Point with nice bay surf

Session 272. A good sea breeze of around 25 knots sprang up around 4pm.  Here was a great opportunity to work off the excess food intake of Christmas Day. Hampton was the place to be.  Stuart and James got there a bit before me and were already on the water along with about a dozen other kiters and several windsurfers .

I headed out the the marina sea wall and caught some of the waves breaking around it and then headed in on the flat water.  I did a couple of jumps nice jumps then surfed the sell back past the first groyne to the beach section.



There were some good swells coming in there - I caught a couple of nice waves, then headed on along the beach following the reef breaks.  There were good waves at Green Point and only a couple of kiters there.  

I then worked by way back to Hampton, getting some nice waves on the return trip too.

25 knots produces quite a reasonable swell with some good surf. There was even a couple of surfers out off Middle Brighton.

My back (right side, near top of pelvis) is giving me some grief but this session was too good to miss.  I might have to rest up for a couple of days now though.






















GPS log

Monday, December 23, 2013

Mentone to Aspendale return kitesurfing tour

Session 271.  An epic session - 34km of fun. We were considering doing a downwinder from Frankston to Mentone. However, when we arrived at Mentone there was plenty of wind onshore so we decided to do a return tour up Aspendale.

The wind was solid onshore 20+ knots so I took my Lithium 9.  Getting off the beach though the bay surf at Mentone was a bit of a challenge, but once behind the waves the going got easier.  The wind was stronger too - there is a bit of a wind hole at Mentone.

Stuart was ahead in the distance.  I got around the pier about 50m out, we continued on up to Gnotuk Ave Aspendale.  There were about 10+ kiters out there and the waves were good.  We kited and surfed the waves there for a while then headed back.

I had some myotherapy in the morning, including some dry needles in my back and glutes so I was feeling a bit sore and tired after cranking upwind to Aspendale.

Downwind was great.  There was the good occasional wave and downloop turns kept me motoring along.  I did one big boost off a wave heading out and had a big crash, happy to be wearing my shorty, vest and helmet!

There is a big rolling swell on the West side of the pier which is nice to surf, then I cruised back along the surf line to Mentone.

An epic session.  I am a spent force now, and very happy!






















GPS log