Salad Bowl fun fest

Sarah and I did some short late evening trips up the coast for hikes with Aiden in Malibu with the great Cholada Thai food and Baja Cantina food bonus thrown in of course. I was able to score 20 minutes of a dying thermal session with John Bayless and Dave Bonefont one evening and a few runs on a dying Topanga thermal after a couple of those hikes. Heard the wonder stories of great winds Monday at Leo and S gave me the green light to race up to BU at 230 on Tuesday. Hard to keep the foot from stomping the pedal and picking up an speeding ticket from the six hundred sheriffs on the way north, distracted by white caps and having seen the solid mid twenty averages at the Leo sensor on line. I had about an hour to put into the water before the return and the perfect spot was necessary to be efficient.

Leo was lit up and Gregor and some other wnidsurf buds were well powered in the slot. On reaching County, there sat Johnny B and Ronny Boyd waiting for the wind to fill in on the inside and the new guard in the tower to give the ok. I went down and talked with him. He was a highly consciencious new guard and worried about the people on the beach just south of his tower and the other people a good 400 meters down the beac and not sure if that was adequate for a kite launch. Of course it was and he thought it would be ok if I talked to one couple to move north during my launch however if more guys showed it was a not go and of course up walked another kiter who said "so can we launch here or what" and more tourists showed at the beach. The guard said he did not want a bunch of people going out and by the time the fellow ran to his car and came down in his suit it was a no launch for him. Unfortunate but the guard was doing the best job he could with the kiter experience he had accumulated to date. Needing to educate new guards is imperative for the longevity of our launches. WIth the minutes ticking away, my old standby Deer Creek or Salad Bowl would have to suffice. Threw a U turn in the old ford truck and headed north.
Fred was out at Salad Bowl on a larger foil and was having some difficulty on the inside but looked powered well on the outside. The wave at the north point of County had my name on it and wanted to just hang there if it would just fill in. Two other kiters on RRD kites and strapless but small surfboards were launching as well. The wind was dramatically backing off on the inside and the notorious County Line hot air bubble was poised to ruin it. I monkey rock climbed down the pseudo death fall trail and threw up the ten meter Griffin Argonaut with the old fat fish surfboard and immediately realized an advantage over my smaller board comrads in the water. They shloged down on the outside to North beach wind reapearance past the County hot air bubble that had reformed since the earlier good winds at Salad Bowl. It is an evening timing game we have played since the old windsurf wave sailing days. Once the heat at the beach backs off some, usually it will come back on up there though a gamble. Fortunately there was just enough wind for me to play at the point at County till the wind returned in force and a solid hour of fun little waves on the strapless fish ensued. The pinch of three quarters of a mile back up wind to launch was a gorgeous reminder of how beautiful this part of Malibu is with the dramatic clay colored eroded cliffs and still few yellow outposts of mustard fighting the summer temps. When you are no kiting every day and just getting a rare session, each session is just amazing. I landed my kite and watch two more guys kite out of SB to increasing later afternoon winds. Odd how the total kite stoke that once took six hours of wavesailing to achieve only took an hour this time with the few months off with our new baby. We have such a great sport in kitesurfing and this sole session up at my old County Point stomping grounds was just what was needed. John and a bunch of others were standing on the beach south of the County tower as I drove back home to the family and they were obviously setting up for a down wind adventure. I was so excited about the session just lived and jazzed on the possibility of finding time for a downwinder myself one day soon. The excitement of rediscovering the sport is way cool but not to say that three hundred days of kiting a year thing was not living large... You just appreciate it more when you miss it so much. Supposed to visit Sarah's family in Maine again this August and thinking of taking a kite along though not supposed to be a huge kite area. There is some decent surf though and the views are amazing. An email to a kitesurf blog spot there pointed out a few possibilities.. So now the quesion, to take a new proto PL inflato or the new charger 15 as no pump needed and will just borrow an old surfboard from Sarah's nephew? Not a bad problem to have. IF I can finds some spots to kite in Deer Island and Higgins Beach in Maine, that would be unreal. Gotta just love the views from the water of a new spot. That PL twin skin packs down really small. Probably fit it in the diaper bag. Yes, ms airline bagage official, this is just a large infant tent with a complex bar and line set to hold it up. Have a nice day and just ignore that wetsuit and harness.