Waiting for the Wind

Got to kite Caves Beach (nr Jervis Bay) at last ...

Three kiters, three wives, five toddlers, a baby and an unborn under canvas in three days of relentless rain & mud

But we did get three southerly sessions in:

A 12 metre southerly session out at Collinwood Beach (Vincentia), in the flat water downwind of the rocky reef, lots of air. Still in love with my brand new 131 Nobile T5 and the 12m Switchy. Though it ended messily trying to kite into the shore through the deadwindzone, dropping the kite, losing the board and swimming to shore. A nice little warm-up for the real show that afternoon at Caves Beach:

[Pic: Hatherall comes good, Coley cruising by]

An epic session at Caves ... Protocole wanted to kite Caves for years so nice to knock that one over. Onshore 25+ knots, stunning spot, place to ourselves. Had a ball in the messy waves, loads of air ramping off the incoming waves, loads of fun playing with "surfing" the waves on my twinny, real confidence building sess. Things clicked even for Cuspy, on his 10m he's a different man to the 13m tank he normally flies. Got some pics too. Kited til dusk. Actually til delirious. Alive alive fun fun this is what its all about.

We woke up to wet tents and unhappy muddy campers, wind lighter and slightly offshore at Huskisson so made another dash for Caves to get the best of it facing the open ocean. Slight west so wind shadow at Caves west-end, so took the 1km bush walk to Bherwerre Beach. Again, what an amazing spot. I am continually staggered by how spoilt we are with such amazing pristine and empty beaches to play with so close to Sydney. Hard work this one - compared to the ego-sess the night before (as one gets  from perfect wind). Struggled to get out on 12m kites, but once thru the break all good. Again, nice wave skill developing. Got on the SRT (directional) but still can't jibe it properly. Cuspy struggled with the Tank, but I loved it. Got to showoff to some friendly grannies as well - "wish I was 40 years younger" - makes you realise you gotta do it while you can!

End of the wind so glad we capitalised when we could - that's the thing with this sport - when its windy you just gotta go.

Fine fishy cuisine ... 5 wet nights took its toll on the fam so we moved into a bt of luxury at Bannisters and some fine cuisine courtesy of Rick Stein. The hotel is on a great spot on the headland, I spent the afternoon watching the white caps build til I couldn't bear it any longer and got a little underpowered session in on Narrawallee Beach, with local kiter Glenn. Little waves. Few tricks.  Things have really clicked recently, new gear makes a HUGE difference, you can't beat having confidence in your kit, and regular sessions means you don't forget everything in between! Loving this year off work!!