How hard can it be to fly a kite?

10 knots of wind picked up this afternoon as promised by Windfinfer which was perfect for my friend who has just taken up kiting and I have been helping (or more like hindering I am sure) him this afternoon. Who needs lessons? Well aparently US! All was going well, we managed to set up the kite, Carl almost got the kite flying but we tried to launch too far downwind and and as the leading edge dragged on the rocky ground it ran over a piece of wood with a lovely nail sticking out of it! Now his kite needs a repair, luckily that seems cheap enough as I found patches online for $2.50, but the session was brough to a swift end. Fingers crossed he'll be up and flying again tomorrow if we can find the patches here.  Tom wish you were here to help.

$2.50 a patch, I wonder how many we'll need?

Amwaj Islands Speed Course

It was not until this summer that I tried out one of Tom's GPS units during one of the Maui VMAX events . As I only had my wave set up (Tabou Da Curve 73 Twin Fin & 5.3 HSM Fire) that's what I used. I was pleased with my initial results and managed 29.5 (100m) on a speed trip to Molokai with Tom. Speed sailing on wave kit is an interesting and a not very fast concept but it was so much fun. Not satisfied with seeing how fast the wave board would go I thought that it was about time I revisited slalom gear for the first time in 14 years (I gave up racing when I was 18).

I was pleased with my 33.2 knots using a borrowed Hi-Tech 8'10" and 2010 HSM GPS 6m but I want to go faster. I realized that I had a speed course right on my door step (even sailable at night if that’s when the wind comes).

On a big high tide the wall that surrounds our island is only 12 inches high and the water inside perfectly flat. I realized that the areas we have been using for wakeboarding are in fact possible speed venues.



So we have the course, now all I need is some gear and some wind. As the wind rarely gets over 25 knots I will need to get some biggish gear which I should be able to hold on to when it gets windy as the water will still be perfectly flat.

Updates to follow...

Back on Land

Bahrain is about as far away from Maui as you can get (some 11,111 miles if you go by my AAdvantage account and 13 time zones ahead) and after a long OGG-DFW-FRA-BAH flight that started on Wednesday afternoon and ended on Friday night we arrived safely home. Neither of us wanted to leave and the calls for volunteers to give up their seats while sat on the runway in Maui were tempting but we were already settling into our First Class seats and having to be back in work without any leeway meant that was impossible. Thanks to Anne and Tom for all their help in getting ready and to the airport on time. Now is it time to unpack and check the forecast for Amwaj Islands on Windfinder.com.

Looks like we may get some wind tomorrow if not today so I had better unpack.

Sailing in the Gulf can be good with conditions changing according to direction and strength. The forecast easterly winds over the next few days means that I can rig outside my house and walk to the beach. More typically I have to drive to the other side of our man-made island to launch which is about 1 mile. The main thing to consider right now is the temperatures; it’s currently over 100 degrees and its only 5:30am! It will rise to 115 degrees today.

More to follow...

The (Ending) Summer

As we pack half of our stuff in boxes to leave in Maui and half of our stuff into bags to take the 11,000 or so miles back to Bahrain I thought it was about time to write my first post to this new blog which will be dedicated to wind and waves. Unfortunately the summer is drawing to a close and that means only one thing for Liz and myself - Work and not enough water. But for now I want to list as many of the best things as I can remember from our summer on the island;

1) Picking Liz up from the airport
2) K-day (a big shout out to Po and Kika)
3) Surfing on Liz's 8'0"
4) 2 Maui Vmax speed events, 33.2 knots using slalom gear for the first time since 1995
5) Molokai speed day (except the ferry ride home) with Tom
6) GoPro wide angle headcam
7) Our wonderful Sprecks house
8) Nadia
9) Getting hyped for the hurricane - that never came
10) SUP and south side surf

Now for some pics;

 

A couple of quick videos I made with Tom's Gro Pro Wide Angle and head mount.






Looking forward to using it in some bigger surf.


CF