Perfect Day!

The last couple weekends I've been going out to the beach with the hopes of finally riding, but was constantly faced with poor conditions. Very little wind, offshore winds, and the other variable, gusty conditions were making me quite frustrated.

After checking the forecast Friday night, James, Paul, and I had decided to get up and leave for St Joe by 6am Saturday morning. When that time came, we rubbed the sleep from our eyes chugged some coffee and checked the updated weather forecast. Waukegan looked like it would be the better place to go (and it's much closer). We took our time and got to the beach by about 10am. Upon our arrival, the wind was blowing 10-15mph. Paul was already out on his 21m and said that the wind wasn't too bad further out. I quickly scarfed down my McDonalds breakfast and rigged up my kite. I got a launch from James and made my way to the water with the hopes of finally being able to get up and stay up and riding for more than 3 seconds.

I got in the water, put my board on, dove the kite and then was picked up out of the water as I prepared to fall back down as I usually have. Only this time I didn't fall back down! I kept right on riding as the kite continued to build power. I was finally kite surfing!!!

Then I was struck by an amazing revelation. It wasn't just that I completely sucked (although that may be a contributing factor), but I realized that what I had needed the most was more wind. Looking back it becomes clear that my previous attempts at riding were ruined primarily because there was not enough power from the kite to keep me going. This day that was clearly not the case. The side-shore wind had filled in to the point that kite was delivering an abundance of power.

I kept riding throughout the day continually improving on each ride. A few times I was even riding upwind! It was such a great feeling to just park the kite in the sky and just feel yourself gliding across the water... beyond explanation. As I got more comfortable, I decided that I needed to push myself a little more. I was riding along with some pretty good speed towards shore and as I approached, I whipped the kite back in the opposite direction and launched myself into the air for my first jump! Although I was only 5 or 6 feet in the air, it was such an incredible feeling as I hung in the air above the water. The landing was a little jarring, but I'm working on that...

Overall, it was hands down my best day kiteboarding to date and my sore muscles can attest to that. Even so, I can't wait to get out and do it again!