I found a kite on the beach...

I took the bar, pulled it towards me...
got dragged 75m downwind and filled my speedo with sand...
I loved it but was a bit sore...

Dropped the kite for three months...
I read on a forum i'd better take some lessons...
"Nah" I thought.

I bought an ebay kite. Pulled the bar again...
This feeling of crossing beaches, roads, fences,... is just soooo great!
And the learning curve is soooo steep!
Last session, I learnt to shut my mouth to avoid breathing sand, bitumen and paint...

But how you guys manage to kite everyday?
Each session costs me $1000 for a new kite and three months to heal...

My life revolved around surfing for over 40 years.

I took up windsurfing about 15 years ago to get out of the crowds of surfing.

A few years back I recall watching kitesurfers for hours and hours. A hard core kitesurfer at Nobby's Beach a told me about a Peter Lynn 3.6 waterfoil with a new bar and lines for $250 dollars. I bought it and flew this kite on the beach for many months to get the feel of what is going on. I also have a 6M Wallendair Foil, but don't use it much. Now I have a couple of Peter Lynn Bombas, I love riding a surfboard with straps, sometime without, also have a Stonker directional, that's alot of fun, and an old F1 Twin Tip which took me some time to learn to ride as I never had the edging experience. I also have a 12 M North Rhino 2 with the 5th line, but I have only used it about half a dozen times. I am so stoked to be up on a board, what an unbelievable sport. I love going out in the surf on a drectional board in light winds.

I gotta say windsurfing has taken a back seat as I really don't feel motivated to do it lately. I tried it a couple of times a few months ago, but it just doesn't have the exitement of kiteboarding, and takes more strength than kiting (unless you ride unhooked which I haven't tried yet) I can be on the water more often than I ever was windsurfing...

This kiter went past on a waterfoil kite in 1999 with underwater world written on it. As a surfer I was keen and had seen footage of kitesurfing on pay tv. I bought the same type of kite second hand from the same person, they gave me a lesson and once your hooked or unhooked your hooked.