Waves, wind, wife and baby on way

It's been a while gang. A lot of waves and wind, soaring thermals, a few crashes and major life changes since my last post. Sarah and I eloped in Kaui and our baby boy is do in a few weeks. No to paragliding, no to motorcycles and yes to a baby finally will keep us together and me as dad and happy. It has been a lot of fun and a real challenge but tenacity finally paid off and did win her hand.
The eight hours a day of sports dropped off precipitously with responsibilities and been working the Happyinsurf.com business along with MonkeyAir and the other jobs. No grumps in the surf lineup or on the slopes is our goal. We developed a happyinsnow aluminum adhesive emblem to back up the joyous happyinsurf one to stick on the paint of your ride. Cool jewelry, baby onesies and adult clothes add to the lineup with more coming out soon. Amazing how much time is spent developing and working on this stuff. Seeing patients as well as teaching the advanced kite wavesailing lessons with Tom teaching our new students and Vic also doing many the last year and a half rounded out the calendar.
Had some amazing days of kitesurfing over the last year in our local Malibu Hood as well as a few great hours in Kaui. That place has phenom wave and wind combos with a nice laid back crew. Strapless square bottom turns under the new Griffin Argonaut ten meter, nailed down what my old AU kiteshop owner bud Lachlan has been telling me all their summer... This kit is a great all arounder. It pivots well without stall unlike many of the D kites, while still offering up great power per size and depower. One kite quiver with a rented fish surfboard over there. Just wish we had the time and a strapped directional for the epic day of surf and wind Sarah and I saw at Tunnels.
We did heaps of great skin diving with the sea turtles coming right up to Sarah's belly to say hi to our little boy. Truly amazing stuff. My old bud Dr Stan Schiller our team riding Peter Lynn charger pilot set us up with a fantastic island gal to wed us in a traditional spiritual Kaui wedding at Ship Wreck Beach. The Hindu temple with it's unbelievably gorgeous waterfalls and pools backed by the green peaks of the highlands was one of our favorite spots. A great wave sailing spot at the base of the canyon it is situated on where the river mouth enters the ocean, gave me a fantastic session while Sarah did a bit of shopping one day. There are a few canyons that appear to have sick paragliding potential. The views would be unbelievable. Everyone over there is just so cool and laid back. Not the high energy fight for every wave energy so prevalent on the other islands when paddling or kiting in the surf. So far, it is certainly the island we would most like to live on.
The world of kitesurfing kites and boards is progressing at a frantic pace. The Kima is still a great kite but Dimitri has taken the design up a bit with different ranges under the Epic logo and a bud under one a couple of days ago gave me a vis on the turning and power potential of that number. The Peter Lynn Charger is absolutely light years higher performance than the previous PL synergy in power per size and turning. It is much stiffer with all the extra cells and higher internal pressure. The kites are on 23 m lines with a set of extensions. Stan is light but basically lives under the little more C shaped charger the majority of the time. Been testing a prototype PeterLynn inflato from Pepijn as he does like to have a kite that covers every possible need. The one I have is not in the final stage but still great performing and the nine pulls well, turns and relaunches well.
My final flight paragliding this year was a spontaneous and rushed flight while looking for another spot to ask S to marry me. Had planed on just dropping off another wing to a bud on the hill and got talked into tossing up a wing. Sometimes you need to listen to that voice in your head. Not being focused and throwing up my wing... not that it took that much talking, got me turning too tight and too low leading to a very bad spin and poor outcome. i am usually the safety guru on the hill and well, really messed up this time as been used to being able to load the heck out of that wing and pull G 's to thermal up once at acceptable safe altitude in so many prior flights. A tight turn, shift in wind and edge of a popping thermal added up to a nice plummet under a spun wing. Thank goodness for overwater maneuvers course to save my cheese. Got to take every second of launching and landing very seriously and not let overconfidence or distraction sneak in. Big oooops on that one and well, so much of me paragliding again, Maybe someday if I have a big life insurance to cover my wife and new baby. Going to really miss the sport It really is quite safe when performed properly. The feeling of lift while thermalling to high altitude in absolute silence above the jaw dropping vistas of the bright mustard and spring time grasses rushing by below alongside the sparkling Pacific will always be locked in my memory. This is a sport for everyone at pretty much any age. Not the cardio of our mountain biking, road biking, running swimming, etc but one that really rewards the senses.
Plan to start posting consistently again and sorry for the time off gang. Sure look forward to introducing you to Sarah and our boy Aiden soon. Look forward to posting some pictures and hearing from all our buds out there living the great outdoor lifestyles.