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1/31/2009 -- Kite Beach, Maui
You had to work for it
Yesterday was quite fun at Kite Beach, if you worked
for it. I headed out on my 9-meter and large board around
1:30 and found myself working to stay up wind. Pump, pump,
pump, pant, pant, arg, arg. After 15 to 10 minutes or so,
most of the kiters on the water threw in the towel and
headed back to land. It was wild to see a pack of kiters
converge on the small beach at the same time. Within
minutes of the mass leaving the water, the wind picked up.
Suckers! I couldn't believe my luck. As I kited away from
shore, I had lots of room, plenty of wind and these cute
rollers to launch off. Over the course of the next couple
of hours, the lull in wind followed by its return happened
a few more times.
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Around the 2-hour mark, I called it quits myself. Good
times!
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1/30/2009 Maui, Hawaii
Damn Good Day
It might not look like it from the graph, but yesterday
was spectacular. It is kind of like sitting down to a
wonderful meal, taking a sip of the red wine in front of
you, realizing not only is the food tasty, but the wine is
simply delicious. Everything is perfect. The wind
yesterday was a delicious meal accompanied by some
seriously good wine. Some might say the meal didn't come
with dessert as the water was fairly flat with just a few
small rollers, but it was perfect for me. I don't need the
extra calories.
I rather enjoy the small rollers. Some were chest high,
if you got lucky. I would edge back on my board, hit the
roller, bring my kite to 12 o'clock and as I headed toward
the water, I tipped my board downwind and rode off. Damn
it was fun.
The second best part of the ride, it wasn't crowded on
the water. It was so much fun yesterday we were late for
date night.
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How late? So late I missed the Kamahaina special 4 p.m.
deadline and had to drink a Happy Hour Margarita instead.
Dang! Just kidding. Also so late I didn't even apply
make-up, I just raced out the door.
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1/29/2009 Sugar Beach, Kihei, Maui
Lucky Wind Day
We stuck our nose out our unit and low and behold, it was
windy. It was side shore and ride able.
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You didn't have to tell us twice. We were off. We each rode
for 2 plus hours. I even had the pleasure of seeing a whale
with her calf in my adventures. As I headed out to sea I
noticed spray from a blowhole twenty feet or so in front of
me and to my right. I blinked twice and saw a giant whale
side, then a flipper and lastly noticed a smaller hump next
to her. Too wild. I didn't want to bother them so I headed
upwind. When I looked later, I could make out two hump silhouettes
heading into deeper water.
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The day seem made for jumping. I am not a big fan of jumping
high with my kite, not yet anyway, but I would like to learn
how to do small jumps. Just a few inches. Nothing too crazy,
just enough to get a little boost, travel downwind for a bit
and glide away.
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With the 9-meter kite and the wind blowing 20 mph+ all I
needed to do was bring the kite to 12 o'clock, pull the bar
towards me a bit and viola, I was getting about 6 to 12
inches of air and landing smoothly most of the time.
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Unlike my honey, I am not a big fan of going full throttle.
He will just push it and keep on going. In lighter wind days
you have to be more aggressive to get air. Bring it up fast
and pull in hard on the bar. Aggressive I am not.
One thing about riding at Sugar Beach, the sugary sand.
That light fluffy stuff will coat you, your kite bag, get
into you ears etc. But it does feel good on your feet.
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My honey showing his stuff.
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I don't think my pictures captured John's jumping to their
fullest. Below is a link to a video showing some of his
jumps.
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VIDEOS
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blog/2009/jan/john_kite_sugar.mpg
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John kiteboarding in Kihei off of Sugar Beach.
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