Saturday, March 24, 2007

Kitesurfing : Day 1

After the arrival of the kites in the middle of the week I was looking forward to getting out with them this weekend. However, I was delayed in getting home from work yesterday, and was asked to help out at a CU event in Limavady Grammar School for the afternoon/evening.

Today we all got up, had breakfast, and packed for the beach. I wasn't sure how it would go, because the forecast was for almost zero wind, and outside our house that was exactly what was happening.

However, when we approached Benone we could see windmills turning and trees swaying. On the beach we met with another problem - high tide and lots of shells. We found a suitable spot, parked up, and began to unpack. However it actually turned out to be a bit too windy for a pair of learners, even on an 8m kite.

It took a good while getting set up, and by the time we were ready to launch the wind had really picked up, and although my faithful assistant had been helpful and patient, she found the force of the wind pulling the kite a little too strong for comfort. If she isn't comfortable, then I can't be, so we called it a day and packed it up. Didn't even get the kite into the air.

We got the old faithful 4m buster out, but unfortunately it was too gusty even for it, so we had to pack up and go home. Unfortunate, but there will be other days....
There was no action, therefore no photos, but I have to include this one taken by Kate. I had removed my camera and phone from my pockets because of the harness, and left them in the car. Kate obviously found the camera and decided to take a few snaps, and managed to take this shot which is not very level, but amazingly has me framed nicely in the wing mirror!

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