Greeny working or Hilly kiting, not sure what is rarer these days.
As long as there is some decent wind I will be there at 9 anyway guys.
I see you all at the mosman end as I coming with hilly, be running a bit late. Glad I put on a bit of weight over winter so at least I stay on the water and my fat guts should act like a great sail...
I'm with Radman on our way but picking up a board on the way so may be late to haven't got anyone's phone no but mine is 0419937293. Will head for narrows but if there enough cars and we're running late may go to mosman as well
Conditions were really good blowing probably 25knts with higher gusts and virtually straight behind. We had 10 on our first run from first timers, people who had done a couple and a few more experienced guys. Ian bought down a van full of new toys that Tim couldn't resist trying.
First run had some good runners linking up and I am sure everyone got some, couldn't really see as I was bringing up the rear to make sure no one got left behind. I heard Ian timed the run and came in about 1:05 with a few before that.
With the wind still howling 5 of us set out for a second run. Maybe we got spoilt on the first one, but it didn't seem as good with the conclusion being the tide had started to drop effecting the runners a little. Having said that I would definitely have been keen for a third. On the second run of 9.33km we averaged 10.3km/hr.
down winder started at 3;50am left gero with a 30kn tailwind average speed to perth some where around 120km hr pulled into ocean reef at 7;15am hooked up with tightlines , copped a severe beating at leaman and around lancelin in the early hours with winds gusting to est 45kns with sheet rain verging on hail drifting the hilux sideways, steamed on down to freo and picked up new /secound hand starboard point 14'8' nocked 0n a door and was greted by luc longly, hes a big bloke .steamed over to narrows and met up with the crew and the fun began ,organising boards lifts ect.had some bad smells coming out of the hilux with both tightlines and my self having consumed to mutch alcohol the night before,9am by this stage ,i was trying to get my head around the new faces and names and thinking 5 hrs earlier i was 420 kms from where i was now safely in bed with the missus trying to stop my ears ringing and head spinning from a evening spent listening to thirsty merc at lat 28 in gero. with every one making it to launch site a few lads tried out some different boards in the glassy waters in the lee of the hill at mosmans tightlines went looking for a toilet, as i had interupted his morning sceduel as he wasnt expecting me at the early hour, starboard 14;8 was a joy to paddle very stable ,super light and rudder system works atreat picked up runners nicely, for a 2008 board i was most suprised had no tenency to broach when burying the nosein to the back of waves. had a lot of fun today managed 2 runs witha great bunch of blokes just nailed a few coopers pale alse and afeed of chinese, will sleep well tonight cheers all see you in gero, frothing like a mad rad man
I was wondering how long it would be before someone grabbed that Starboard Point.
I ummed and arred over it for a bit, bloody good price
It was a great paddle, heaps of fun, thanks for those that organised it and great effort Cameron using restraint and being sweep, that must have been hard in those conditions.
My aim is to try and get more paddle fit, especially as I am meeting Annabel Anderson in Melbourne in exactly two months and we are going to be on the road together for a month doing clinics and demos.
So I'm hoping to do as many paddles as possible, anyone interested in a few early morning (6.00am) paddles this week, either ocean or river?
I have 3 x 14's (Glide and Open Ocean) and 4 x 12'6"s (Surf Race in all sizes) in my van so 6 boards are available to be used (save having to take your board to work).
DJ you were right about using the Open Ocean it was a great board, if I get in some good training over the next two months, I'll be looking forward to joining yourself, PT Cruiser and others for one of your mega downwinders.
Cheers,
Ian
Awesome fun, it was my first downwinder, heaps harder than I thought it would be but i got a few runners and had a blast and can see why its addictive. I had a bad case of the wobbles about 1/2 way and had heaps of falls and again around Pelican point but managed to crawl to the get out point.
Good to meet every one and big thanks to AKhawk for letting me borrow his board and Surf4fun for keeping an eye on us back markers.
Looking fwd to hitting the coast when my skills/fitness improve. As someone said great way to spend a wet windy stormy Sunday.
Good fun yesterday and good to meet some new punters. I would like to thank Ian for letting me have a go on the new Glide. Hard to get a real feel in the river chop and will be very interesting in the Ocean. Does feel more forgiving and less inclined for the nose to catch and broach
My first downwinder for ages. Plenty of runners...good fun. I found on my 14 ft Naish glyde that to get onto runners I needed my weight forward but then when on , I had to move back or risk nose diving into the wave in front. Went flying foward head first a few times. Picked up a few pointers from watching and talking to Tim. Once on a runner put a foot back ..surfing stance like. A lot more technique in this than i first appreciated. A great session.
back out there today me and tightlines went for a four hr paddle after a morning kite,back down to mosmans went boat spotting down to claremont along the cliffs and back.had alittle rest and decided to go for another paddle so busted down to east fremantle against the wind hoping for a bit of downwind action back,had a few showers of rain found shelter underneath the jetty. turned around at the water police and returned to mosmans .wind started dropping, tide had turned and left us paddlind back into a 2knt current , kerry packers boat cruised passed all 120ft of it and 10 million dollars worth with a couple of dolfins surfing the wake, absolute gold im starting to realy like perth, swan river rocks.swapped boards with tight lines only to discover that the 2008 starboard 14'8' is truely better thann a carbon glide,tracks better against a side wind,paddles easier and stays on runners longer,[sorry dj]experimented with drafting had the nose sitting over the back of kents board in the glassy waters and could feel the preasure come off the paddle indstantly[look out hilly im stickin on you tail next dwinder] finished the day off at mullaloo beach hotel few quietys sampled 4 different pints ,more gold,goin again tomorow before i pick up the f-16 and psh hull ripper,goin to take the camera hopefully post afew piccs dj style, stay tuned , radman
Radman enjoying a hard earned beer after 2 hours of kiting and 4 hours of SUPing at "The Mullas" (Mullaloo Beach Hotel) I think he is starting to like Perth.
just crawled out of the shed, good to be home, even better to have a few/6 coopers pale alse wivl me new f-16, picked up at saddliers transport in kewdale at 11 am tday and went staite down to mossizeis again [3rd day in arow] and paddled up to claremont,1 word SIC, sup er stable great glide ,good weight great grip,nice hardwere,nice finish,nicenoise out of the full carbon shell,second word frothing,3rd word thanks kent,hilly ,ian, shane , cameron, tim, and the rest of the ladstwas the best 3 days ive ever had in perth,your swan river rocks,had alook at google earth works ou ive paddled 40 klicks in three days yewwwww.only downside the hullripper 9'1'pro was no show,never mind some thing to look foward to later in the week,see yous soon might pop down for the bridge to bridge in oct, any one got any info on dates ect,yors sinceeeerly RADMAN. Now time to snuggle up to the loving strife will she forgive me stay tuned