i can beat that.... just before new years, wake to a beautiful clear sky, lauries covered the chart with green arrows, its gonna be on, get down there early with the crew, there's only a few of us even when its 'busy' and we're pretty tight, so its jovial as we all rig up in the ten knots we have, taking our time, waiting for it to start kicking in... it gets to twelve/fifteen, not really picking up just long gusts making us feel edgy, i am rigged up, so i get changed into quick dry shorts and a tee shirt for the session about to start.... when i all of a sudden gotta go for a crap.... i know, i know... i'm not in asia, eating from cholera carts, how exactly do i 'all of a sudden' have to crap, there's usually plenty of warnings.... but anyway, i decide to duck into the dunes amongst the bittou(?) bush and create quite an impressive pile of man mud, even if i do say so myself.. all said and done, back down to the gear, now i have to go out... i'm pretty sure you can understand why... so i'm the first to launch, get down the waters edge and take off, barely enough to begin planning, does not matter, i got things need cleaning anyway.... throwing the kite through the window like a madman just trying to keep moving.... then bang, wind stops dead, kite falls from sky and i'm left standing in shin deep water, all the boys cheering, and already beginning to pack up.... it's over man, not gonna happen to day... so i join the boys back on the beach, get changed and put everything away.... we are all walking back to our cars together when i get this sensation in my pants like i got a handfull of blue metal in my bum crack, i go for the big 'man' scratch as you do, and shock horror, how could i forget.. i got pooey pants.... in front of the boys, and i did not even get to kite..... shame shame shame...

harrytesties said...

i can beat that.... just before new years, wake to a beautiful clear sky, lauries covered the chart with green arrows, its gonna be on, get down there early with the crew, there's only a few of us even when its 'busy' and we're pretty tight, so its jovial as we all rig up in the ten knots we have, taking our time, waiting for it to start kicking in... it gets to twelve/fifteen, not really picking up just long gusts making us feel edgy, i am rigged up, so i get changed into quick dry shorts and a tee shirt for the session about to start.... when i all of a sudden gotta go for a crap.... i know, i know... i'm not in asia, eating from cholera carts, how exactly do i 'all of a sudden' have to crap, there's usually plenty of warnings.... but anyway, i decide to duck into the dunes amongst the bittou(?) bush and create quite an impressive pile of man mud, even if i do say so myself.. all said and done, back down to the gear, now i have to go out... i'm pretty sure you can understand why... so i'm the first to launch, get down the waters edge and take off, barely enough to begin planning, does not matter, i got things need cleaning anyway.... throwing the kite through the window like a madman just trying to keep moving.... then bang, wind stops dead, kite falls from sky and i'm left standing in shin deep water, all the boys cheering, and already beginning to pack up.... it's over man, not gonna happen to day... so i join the boys back on the beach, get changed and put everything away.... we are all walking back to our cars together when i get this sensation in my pants like i got a handfull of blue metal in my bum crack, i go for the big 'man' scratch as you do, and shock horror, how could i forget.. i got pooey pants.... in front of the boys, and i did not even get to kite..... shame shame shame...

Ha Ha...... Enjoyed reading your post mate - very funny

Can so relate to it.

I had one of those days yesterday. I've been waiting for some decent wind to try out my new Bandit 7.5 mtr kite and yesterday was forecast to be mid 20's. I started on my 9 and when the wind picked up I pulled out the 7.5 and pumped it up, what a feeling brand new kite and 20+ knots of wind steadily increasing..... yeeehaa!!
I went out and back a couple of times and was having a ball, couldn't believe the grunt of the 7.5 (the smallest kite I have owned) and the height I was getting on jumps and the wind was still increasing.
I was quite a long way offshore when a did a little transition jump and heard a cracking noise, all of a sudden I found myself a few metres off the water, unhooked, and looking at my harness hook hanging off my chicken loop, yep it had snapped off of the spreader bar. I crashed the landing but my kite was still in the air and I thought I may be able to drag in unhooked but eventually crashed the kite and couldn't relaunch. I was still a long way offshore so I rolled up my lines and attempted a self rescue, but I forgot that I had a sharp piece of steel on my spreader bar where the hook had snapped of and I hadn't gone more than a couple of meters when I the pop of the leading edge getting punctured. So I spent the next couple of hours swimming in and then untangling my lines and discovered about a six inch tear in the LE.

Wow.... I don't feel so unlucky afterall!

I had my saftey cleat jam OPEN and fall off, my spreader bar disconnect, my chicken loops slip out and my kite fly 200m away from me at narra... I was so very angry

Kitepower Australia said...

Mr Bonk that is just plain tragic, 3 pump ups, bladder issues on all of them then go out on the only kite left that was way too big, must heve been a super frustrating day for sure?

Not half as frustrating as losing my car key on the beach.

Went out for a session (ironically, at the same spot as the other mishap), which was absolutely awesome. Came back in, totally stoked, as did all the other guys. Stood around chatting while everyone packed up and left. Went to put my gear in the car.....no key in my kite bag. Must have fallen out of the side pocket when I tossed the kite out to pump up

After about an hour of fruitless searching (with the help of a couple of kind bystanders) I conceded defeat and borrowed a mobile phone from one of them and called the RACQ. "Sure, we'll be there in about an hour." Now, at this spot, you can't see the cars from the road, so I made sure I explained carefully that they'd have to drive onto the grassed area to be able to see me (the area is known for car break-ins, so no way was I going to just leave my gear and car there unattended to wait by the road). 50mins went by (getting dark and cold now) so I decided to walk to where I could see the road. As I got there, I could see an RACQ vehicle just pulling away and driving off. #*()$&@(#^(%(# .

So I walked back, got my gear and lugged my wet gear/self across the road to the hotel, explained my predicament and asked to use the phone. RACQ told me their driver was unable to find me (@#(*&%(%^*@# idiots!!!!), had responded to another job at the other end of town, and would not be able to get back for another hour

I sat by the roadside for another 45mins (totally dark by this time and very chilly) before he turned up. All he could do was unlock the car for me though. He couldn't arrange for it to be towed because I was parked in sand and the truck would have gotten bogged. So, there I was, with a car full of expensive kite gear, cold, wet, in the dark, with no way to start it, in a spot known for break-ins. What to do? Phone a maxi-cab!

When the cabbie got there, he suggested I don't leave my car, or the gear, at the spot, so I transferred the entire contents of my car into the cab (5 kites, 2 boards, 2 harnesses, a big plastic bin full of wet gear, all of my cds etc. The cabbie even gave me a hand, off the meter and all . He even helped me unload it when we got to my house.

Fortunately I had a spare key for the car, so I got changed, jumped on the GF's triathlon bike and rode back down to the car, which was thankfully still there and hadn't been broken into! Chucked the pushy in the back and drove home, vowing to stash a spare key inside the car somewhere just in case I was ever stupid enough to lose my key on the beach again.

From memory, I got off the water at about 17:00, but ended up finally getting home at about 20:30

Dawn Patrol said...

How sad, a 12m kite a 14m kite and a 16m kite.
What about the 9,7 or even the 5? Im so glad i live in wa. Pumping my 7 takes long enough

That is incredibly unlucky though. For everyone.
And also funny

Back in the good old days (2004) I had 8, 10, 12, 14, 16. The 10 and 12 got the most work though.

Have just had an e x c e l l e n t day

and now waiting for the little Jesus to punish me...

GreenPat said...

O said...

Losing your car key on the beach is the WORST. Although I dont think you make that mistake twice.

I've made that mistake twice, and am very grateful to my housemate who has both times driven a spare to me. I've also lost his key at the same time as leaving his headlights on, so when he got back to his car a couple of days later he had to call in assistance twice, first to get his spare key and then to get a jump start. I owe him big.

You could always make it up to him by finding him a better housemate