Saturday, July 22, 2017

Kitesurfing Rosebud in a strong northerly and winter sun

Session 417. Got down to Rosebud and on the water at 9 a.m. straight into solid north wind on my 8m kite.  Stu, Tarren and James were already out.  The water was cool but gloves, booties and my steamer kept me warm.  Great surf!  The wind started around 24 knots and built up to 30, gusting to 35.



I did a few tacks up towards the pier then I did a fantastic long run following the waves breaking on the outer sand bank down to Rye.  All those waves to myself!

I tacked back on the return journey coming into the shallow calmer water closer to shore. You can see from my track log I had no problems getting back up wind.  It would have been a great day for a downwinder to Sorrento or Portsea.

Fun in the winter sun.

My (broken) little finger was fine in the plastic splint under the neoprene glove.

The coffee and pastries afterwards at Baker Boys cafe was excellent too.























GPS log


Sunday, July 16, 2017

Kitesurfing at Brighton, winter is here

Session 416. There wasn't much wind in the morning but during the afternoon a strong gusty northerly came in.  Stu headed to Seaford but the wind wasn't getting in there. I drove to Brighton and set up.  The wind was around 20 knots so I pumped up my 10 and tied off on the lower rear knots.



So nice to be on the water again; there have been few good wind days this winter.  I missed the last one due to a fracture in me left little finger (fell over in a paddock!).  It was no problem today wearing the small finger splint under neoprene gloves.  

I did some long runs and a couple of speed runs back in clocking a max speed of 46 km/h.  It wasn't crowded.  There was some bay swell to surf too.

The wind strengthened for the second half hour with some gusts up to 35 knots - about the safe limit for the Union 10m fully depowered.

It wasn't too cold with booties, gloves and a helmet on but it was a chilly day.  We headed to Brighton for a nice coffee afterwards.










GPS log