just for the fun of it
| One of our higher on-camera jumps; Laguna Madre; George Pope's camera! |
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2010:
Summer 2010 - Drive to Belmont Beach - Kiteboarding 2 wk, depending on the wind forecast.
Fall - Drive down to Mexico for kiteboarding when wind is forecast
Early October - Fly to Newton, Kansas for our 50-year high school class reunion
Heading to Brazil early October! Won't you join us? This will be our third kiteboarding trip to Brazil and the second one under the auspices of Kite Adventures. We have signed up for their MaiTai Brazil Downwinder with Tom Court and Susi Mai. When they announce it to the public, the tour is expected to fill up fast, so grab your passport and get a visa and get ready for some of the best kiteboarding on the globe. Contact us and we may be able to coordinate our travels. Kite Adventures offers 10-day tours through the end of 2010 in case you can't make this one.
Disappointing due to low winds and some injuries, but still a good kiteboarding trip. The winds were lower than usual for the whole trip, so our stays at both destinations were shortened, resulting in 101 days (3.6 months) away from home including driving days and two visits to my daughter and her family in Norfolk.
On SPI we took a spin lesson so felt more comfortable trying spins. The winds never favored the Brownsville Ship Channel, though.
In the injury department, our hand got cut as it found an oister bed at Kite Point, our foot got a deep cut when we stepped on a KHK anchor and a finger was injured by someone's kite line. However it was not all bad news as at OBX our surfboard skills improved with our Naish Custom Fish 5’2” x 17.5” surfboard without foot straps due to the cut foot which precluded using footstraps, jumps, spins etc. for a month.
We did not get on the ocean much, but when we did it was with our surfboard and no footstraps!
New personal records included top speed records of 34.0 mph on our twintip with footstraps and 27.5 mph without footstraps on our surfboard, both records at the Planet of the Apes slick. We did our first downwinder to New Inlet (our GPS waypoint haNew
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We became famous (not really) by talking, twice, about kiteboarding on the Beach 104 Radio Station. Of course, during the trip we met a lot of great people from all over the world, including old and new friends.
| Beautiful St Lucia in the southeastern Caribbean |
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A last minute tropical kiteboarding trip (Feb 4-18, 2010): The Winds were NOT awesome as usually expected in February (only kited 13 sessions; 8 out of the 15 days; 53%) but it was beautiful place and the temperatures hovered near the 80's day and night!
Accommodations were graciously and reasonably provided by Sammy and Esther Brice at their Hewanorra Gardens with kitchens and available bicycles to ride a mile to either of the two main kiteboarding locations.
Neighbors, from Ireland and Canada, and we rented a car two different days and saw some sights. We've got pictures and video, but no time to tweak and upload them - maybe some time! More info on our blog for the respective dates.
The first half of August,2009 I spent kiteboarding at Belmont Beach in the LA area (my GPS waypoint LBELMO
).
See my blog for August, 2009 for details.
October 4th, 2009 was my first time kiteboarding in Arizona - Lake Pleasant about an hour NW of my house in Phoenix. Did it again the 28th. As you might guess, kiteboarding in the Arizona lakes is not a lot of fun with the gusty winds and poor launches. See my October, 2009 blog if you want to torture yourself with more details.
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1:48 (after a 15 second commercial) Weather Channel's Jim Jim Cantore's Kiteboarding Taking Off Accross the Country aired on NBC's WPTV, Channel 5 in West Palm Beach, FL and we were selected for the intro! |
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48 seconds The Cauipe Lagoon, near Combuco was one of the busiest and best kiteboarding spots in Brazil - like participating in unscripted ballet |
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2:16 min In Jericoacoara, locals and visitors, alike gravitate to the beach and sand dunes. Get a glimpse of this evening life! |
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2:41 min We start by crossing on the Mandou Ferry. You won't believe how small it is or how it is powered. Also watch the fishermen roll their boats on logs |
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1:03 min Jump Start? At least that's what we were trying... |
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1:23 min Our skills have improved since October, 2006, but it is fun to look back on the old challenges in a kiteboarding wonderland that included the Guriu River |
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45 seconds Landing On the Beach and Jumping Out of the Foot Straps - Well Sort-of |
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1:23 min The Atlantic Ocean is still a challenge for us. Here’s how we looked in the Brazilian surf in 2006 |
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4:01 min Introducing the crew on our trip, including Alberto, our Brazilian guide, setting out the lines, pumping up, launching and landing |
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