Light wind small surf blast

Went down to meet Ali and Anoush at our Monkey Air / EN Kiteboarding office (Cholada Thai Food) at Topanga two hours early yesterday as I had heaps of stuff to study and kill time. To my surprise Topanga was showing 11 mph and gusting to 13 on the pager. The new 11 meter sonic was in the back of my car to test but the low wind reading nudged some electrical activity into the gray matter in the 19 V with 5'10" no strap old school fish direction. Only three surfers out and the chest high sets looked good. No white caps made anything but a 11 m GB sonic test flight seem impractical. With the Sonic in its bag and on my back, something strange happened. A bit of venom vacillation freed the 19 V from the mildew madness confines of the Isuzu’s bedroom/gear rack and jumping of the sand and into the air in a flash. Just couldn't be bothered with pumping an lei, even if it was the new latest and greatest. There was just enough wind to get an hour and a half sharing glassy waves with the three surfers under the familiar and well used 19v.

Something we noticed about eight years ago when we rode long board surfboards with no straps and kites, was how receptive the general surfing public was to the kite sport. Add straps and the grumble faces would start. Levels of separation, I suppose… Yesterday's session had the three surfers hooting and smiling at the use of a standard fish surfboard with a ram air kitesurf kite. When asked by one of the young surf gals in the water about the equipment, she had deduced that the tool for the job was certainly the kite. Nonstop waves with no sitting and waiting does put us in an enviable position. Just kite loop the 19 V on the 25 meter lines and make that section past LG headquarters you can't make surfing.

Having grown up surfing, most of us accept the use of a kite with a surfboard, as a natural evolutionary progression. An aggressive, wave starved, crowded surf spot local might not see it this way. If this sport was around when I was a 10 year old surf grom, my buds and I would have built kites out of old tarps if we had to. There is a weird dynamic here, where some seem to resist even things that are obviously fun as heck, just to preserve a misguided original perception… i.e. snowboarding as viewed by skiers back in the day. Several times these surfers royally snaked me on waves but I kept my gob shut and just smiled, hooted and spun around to get the next set on the outside. Kill’em with kindness they say.

Days like this generally attract beginner surfers who don't have the wave right of way concepts down. I was keeping a very safe distance from the surfers. We will often times go out and paddle surf with the crowd a bit and then go and get the kite. This is a sure fire way to get a bit more acceptance for the strapless surf sesh. Keeping a safe distance from the surfers while still lettin’ them know that the reason you are out there is to ride more waves, is an art in and of itself.

The good old fish surfboard has had a full summer of kite days and is starting to delam a bit.. Going to keep using it till the entire deck delams, then probably strip it off and re-glass the blank. A good styro constructed one like the 5'6" Randy French surftech/tufflite with straps or partial straps would be way cool but more green that could go towards yet another Mex wave and wind trip. Might just get Adrian at Underground to build a super duro, dream fish for us over here. Strapless is sick till it gets really choppy. This is when the 6'2" UG Miranda come out or the 5'8". The 19 V parked and just surfing the wave with a flat surfboard, is a nirvana that is bringing a new thrill to a bunch of the old time local kite crowd that had grown accustomed to tiny twin tips and mini mutants which are far more like wakeboarding than actually surfing. Light wind potential is through the roof for even a 195 pound lard arse like me with the 19 V and flat rockered fish… Life is good.

Got back to the car, killed a few million Topanga bacteria on my person with some fresh water and disinfectant, then walked across the street to meet my buds and try not to tell them what a great sesh they just missed... Failed at that miserably.....Ain't I a stinker...