I happened to sail precisely when the wind was strongest, between 11 am and 1:30 pm, using a tiny, 4.2 meter squared sail. (It was a little windier at Carmine Island than the Coast Guard Station where the wind is measured, but the trend was the same.)
Around noon a flame-orange Volvo station wagon with darkly tinted windows pulled up to the launch site.
It was "Gloucesterfarian" Paul Dovel, the perpetually-stoked windsurfer turned kiter. I helped him set-up his 9 meter squared kite. We barely avoided disaster launching it because 2 of the kite's 4 lines were reversed, sending it into uncontrollable spirals across the water. Paul was yelling, "Please grab it! Oh God, PLEASE PLEASE grab it!" as it lurched towards a rock bulkhead. But I wouldn't go near it until it settled down enough to assuage my legitimate fear of being entangled and strangulated / dismembered by the flailing bridle lines. Yikes! Eventually I did get the kite, Paul fixed the lines, and we rode for a short while before the wind dropped and I went back to work.
3 comments:
Sweet ride! Did you end up riding the little board in those gusty 4.2 conditions? Seems like you might need some float...
Yep, I rode the little yellow board. It's actually not too bad to shlog as long as there is enough wind to keep some forward motion. I uphauled on it one time, but I don't know if I could repeat the feat. Especially not if anyone was watching.
Nice rims.
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