Saturday, January 26, 2013

Kitesurfing across the bay from Rosebud to Port Melbourne

Session 219. Today was the big day.  After all the preparation and training, we kitesurfed Across the Bay to Conquer Cancer!

Cesar, Rick and I provided a briefing at Rosebud at 11 am covering the rules and details of the event which went well, then rigged our kites.

I got on the water at midday - there was more wind than last time - and did a few warm up runs out and back while the others got ready.  Cesar and I stopped and waited until everyone was on the water, which took a while.

Peter Campbell launching at Rosebud 
Then we headed off.  The wind was a tad light at first so we got well ahead and were requested by Rick to wait over the radio.  I was finding the radio difficult to use in its waterproof case but it was good to have.

The wind picked up and we were motoring.  We head around Hovells Pile then tracked directly towards Melbourne's skyscrapers visible over the horizon.  Then we tacked back towards the shore for some better scenery.

Peter Campbell behind support boat

I had a few lapse of concentration and came of the Sector 60 a few times.  Its certainly difficult to handle comms, route finding, buddy tracking and kitesurfing at the same time.

We tacked back in towards Frankston which was a welcome site, then headed directly towards Ricketts Point.  This was a fast run with some nice swell to surf down.  We waited for 5 minutes with our kites parked to regroup then kept going.

After another stack I my radio sling gave way.  I could see it bobbing upwind in the water but couldn't get to it. After a brief look around I kept going.  If you find a marine VHF radio washed up on the beach it could well be mine!

After Ricketts we were on the home run, but fatigue was building in.  I did some gybes, backed off speed and straightened my legs.  I took a while to work my way back to the front with Cesar. Everyone was handling the wind and swell great - it really was a sight to see.

The Coast Guard escort boat was nice to see too!

Across the Bay kitsurfers passing St Kilda

We came in close at Brighton and waited a short while before tackling the final run.  It was amazing how fast we passed Elwood and St Kilda on a straight tack towards Port Melbourne, then into the beach at last!

Across the Bay kitesurfers bayside

There were a lot of happy faces and tired bodies on the beach.  24 kiters started and 21 finished, which was a great effort.

Peter Campbell and Tim Nanninga at finish. Photo: Athol Hill

The event wouldn't have happened without our Cross Director Rick the support crew and boats, so big thanks to all of them.

The BBQ and drinks at the Port Melbourne Yacht Club was a great way to end the day.

Across the Bay Kitesurfers at Port Melbourne - Photo: Athol Hill

Donations are still open for Across the Bay to Conquer Cancer. Please consider contributing to this worthy cause.












GPS Log






2 comments:

Stuart Tarzan Man said...

Hey pete, 60 mile is around 100kms ! That is more than double crossing the bay and back - insane.

Peter Campbell said...

Yes, I logged 98km, but I think I did about 10km cruising at Rye while waiting for everyone to launch. Others have logged around 85km.