Following yesterday's unexpected and unbelievably good sesh at Manly, there is another brewing today with blue sky, sun and a very kite-able Northerly breeze of at least 10 knots, combined with outgoing tide!

Check it out now!

:cry: I tried but I did not succeed. I drove here I drove there and also over there, however I had a little trouble finding a good spot - south of the bridge that is. How was it up at Manly in the end. And did anybody else get out??

I had a bloody good time. I'm sure the crew at Orewa did too, when it went more easterly. A couple of other billies showed up as I was leaving and there was the obligatory lone pole flapper.

Yesterday, Manly was all time though :: solid 20 knots, lit on the 17 fuel and a very lifty wind she was too. Also, a nice little swell rolling in, sunshine after the storm - wining and dining afterwards - ah, the life of a sailor me hearties.

Had a session out at Eastern Beach at about 1pm, 10 - 15 knots from the north... gradually turned more Easterly, getting better and better but i had to work :? :oops: 8) :twisted:

Totally different today though, blowin it's butt off from the WSW... anyone have any luck at Shakespear Bay or was it too westerly. I checked out my local high tide westerly spot but it looked too gusty and windy with a squall bearing down. Checked out Manukau Harbour afterwards too see what the poo ponds were doing, it was blowing like mad.

Did anyone have any joy out on the west coast??

I managed to scramble away from work an hour and a half early and catch the back end of high tide at Conifer Grove. Was 17-22kts I reckon and when I started off I was pretty fully powered on my 12metre. It started to get too shallow so I decided to be content with 3/4's of an hour blasting around the place still on the clock on double dollar!! 8)
Tentively starting to move into jumps - has anyone perfected jumping with a powerloop?? Any idea on where I should focus?? :roll:

It was too westerly for Shakers but we had a good late afternoon sesh @ Muriwai in 20 knots. I kited up to the rivermouth and checked out the crew assembled there, then back down south for some boosting over the outgoing tide which looked exactly like chocolate milk. Out the back there was so much foam and aerated water - at one point I had an acid flashback and thought I was snowboarding. The air temperature did nothing to snap me out of that delusion.

Scotty: focus on where you're going and what your hands are doing.

Shaan - the 8m fuel is cool - used it many times already - unexpected levitation on first jumps.... Ian

good on ya mate. i told you it'd whip you higher than a bull with his balls tied in a knot.

i now admit to being a bit outsmarted on that sale - the very next two days i couldn't kite because some long-range weather forecast checking git had my nuclear kite didn't he?

and all i had was a pocket full of loot, most of which got snaffled by the dentist of all things! i started counting her ridiculous bill out in $50 dollar notes and she must have felt guilty at the sudden sight of real money and let me off about $4500 - rounded it of to an even $80K.

then i stumbled on some kiting mates at taka's one red dog and a few beers (literally) took care of the rest. now i don't have a small kite at all - just the memory of the crack whore that took a shine to me at the pub. she was a seriously unstable fruitloop, who one minute was preaching peace and aloha, the next striking fear into the hearts of the friday night set with threats of chain-whippings by her six alleged martial artist brothers - her final act putting my hand in places i thought were illegal (they actually were in this country the day before). anyway to cut a sordid story short, when she finally skulked out to cause chaos elsewhere, the entire bar erupted in applause - like the all blacks had just scored a try by someone other than a fijian and actually converted it - do you know what i mean?

anyway, the main thrust of all this is quite true. i challenge anyone who was there to call me a bullshite artiste!

p.s. hey brad - maybe that crack whore stole your car because you wouldn't sleep with her.

.

Yeah by that stage the wind had died down to a more sane level... Where is the rivermouth at Muriwai, is the rivermouth a flat water spot? How big was the surf?

I can confirm Shaans take on events concerning the psycho chick at the 'Dog'. She was one control bar short of a full setup.

As for my gear, all appears lost. I foolishly had no theft insurance for either car or contents - a $15K error (not a patch on your dental bill though). Cars have been disappearing from Devonport recently and are not being recovered - cut up for parts likely. You wont be seeing me on the water for a bit and expect a piece of crap car turning up in the carpark with me in it when I do return.

Brad

You are joking - no insurance? Ye Gods! 15K down...OUCH! When I had my kite kit stolen it cost me ten large as well, and a couple of sessions. What a painful experience that was and still is. Sorry to hear doom and destruction still strikes people at random.

P.S. I may have exaggerated my dental bill somewhat. That's what it feels like though.

Blown Away: when you drive down the hill to Muriwai, take the first right that goes past the golf course and to the start of the forestry. Here there is a 4x4 access road to the beach which comes out by a creek / river and is often a good spot for riding.

I don't have a 4x4 (and my mates who do have either got steady boyfriends or have rolled their trucks) so I usually park down at the south end by the surf club and then kite up the beach to see the others - often giving myself a day long project getting back.

Yep the Dog woman sure was a scary one... at least though she made no attempt to hide the fact.
Brad bummer about the car and gear etc. I can help you out with a bar and line set if you want, also probably have a spare wetty lying around... oh wait I think I "lent" it to shaan a couple of years ago.give me a call 025504508
Great to have some consecutive days on the water... Takapuna saterday 7m, Mangawhai/blackswamp rd sunday 11/13m and meola low tide butter on monday 17m. today looks like shoal bay or meola probably 17m

Good luck on your 17m! I'll probably see you flying past my apartment soon - it's blowing 20 assholes here all of a sudden...

Brad: I can lend you a ford panel van with a styl'n new paint job for the one off cash payment of just $7000! She comes complete with dual board racks (you still have boards don't you?), gavin's old CD player (nothing wrong with it that an occasional smack doesn't fix), a few stains here and there in the back and some fine memories. You never know, you might even get lucky in this ride!

Ok my early morning office based prediction of 17m was abit off but Meola outer reef was butter and fully powered on the 13m late this arfo. thankfully I didn't see those 20 assholes that you mentioned... probably because I never flew passed your window.
tomorrow I recon will be Orewa 11m

Hope you guys get some mint wind 2 morrow. That NE that is forecast is interesting.... it's suddenly appeared out of nowhere. By the looks of the weather map it may even be hardcore NE up north and westerly south of the bridge...

Ah well gotta shake the flu first... :twisted:

Gavin, cheers for the offer of a bar and lines, I may give you a call about that in a week or so (if you can handle having Naish and wipika kites on the end of it). Kavae also offered the same. Kiters are a good bunch of mates. Have borrowed some wheels to go down the line tomorrow for a booze up previously planned - will probably get smashed. Then priority will be buying a wagon, maybe a Hiace van / passion wagon. Nice offer on the soul surfing machine Shaan, but I don't think my mojo is up to driving that beast.

Enjoy the wind and will see you water-side sooner rather than later.

Had another little session down at the grove late this afternoon. I really stretched the tide as much as I dared tonight and came out at 5pm. The locals must have thought I was nuts tear arseing around with a stupid look on my face. They were waiting for me to hit one of the oyster beds I'm sure. :wink:

Oyster Beds ? Soundz painful..... How was it out there Scott??

:o
I must be crazy to have gone out on the coldest day around. The locals certainly thought so. High tide at Conifer grove again this afternoon and had a good hour and a half before I trudged back numb toes and the worst type of shrinkage. Still a good session in underpowered conditions. Even managed to crash my kite in deep water and after floundering around for a while managed to get it up again. :oops: Have always dreaded this possibility and it actually wasn't to bad, just frigging cold!!!

About those Oyster beds, yes they're there. If you're in the area at low tide it's worth seeing where they are. About 150 to 200m out from the shore line, and I reckon it'll be fine if you're within 3 hours either side of high tide. :wink:

How windy was it out there today. Wasn't it southerly today??? Does Conifer Grover work in a Southerly? What's it like compared to Shakespear Bay? Hey Scott do you wanna know about a pretty mint high tide spot in a 25 knot Southerly?? .... and I don't mean Shakesspear Bay either.... It's closer to where I live, very close to where Joel lives.... infact Joel loves this spot.....

Yeah the wind was about 12 - 15knots, so wasn't great on my 12 metre. It was more of a southerly than I've experienced before and was slightly cross shore (ended up doing a bit of walking to get back out again). I'm quite surprised - three sessions in a week wow.
As for a comparison to Shakespears bay - well I've only been there once with Tim, and Conifer Griove is really a flat water spot - you do get some bumps though and they are really caused by the tide coming and going.
Where's this 'mint spot in the 25 knot southerly?'. And where is Joel these days, I haven't seen him for ages? :?:

Hey Scott Me and Joel went out to Pine Harbour yesterday, as there was next to no wind and I was coughing like crazy I didn't go in the water, but Joel managed to do a few downwinders in the 5-10 knot NNW wind. As we went to go home the wind swung NW/WNW and was now 15+, nice and smooth... best direction at Pine Harbour.

Incase your wondering, Pine Harbour isn't this "epic 25 knot southerly" spot that I've described... infact in a southerly Pine Harbour isn't very good at all, it's ok in light to moderate W to SW winds but mint in anything from the NW (nice and open).

Anyway the Glendowie sandspit (Also called "West Tamaki Rd", the Ditch and the Duckpond) is this mint flatwater spot. Even in 30 knots the water is super flat... best direction is south, SSE or SSW, it's too gusty from more westerly bearings. Tim liked this spot, everyone I know raves about this place, especially Joel, If it's 25 knots at Shakespear Bay, chances are it'll be over 30 knots here. You can jump the sandspit too. however it's not really for beginners, you have to be powered here, downwinders are not recommended and it's best on the incoming tide. The SW Sea Breeze screams through here in the late spring/summer afternoons......

There is another place on the other side of the Estuary which is less of a hassle to setup and launch but isn't as good from the SW. However this spot is great in northerlies at high tide and most of the time isn't crowded so if you're having problems during the summer with 8 knot northerly Sea Breezes and beaches lined with Melanoma junkies i can at least cure the crowd problem. In the afternoon the same spot get's the late afternoon SW sea breeze so you don't need to change beaches.

I'm interested to see what Conifer Grove is like during the summer because you guys probably get a better Sea Breeze out that way as your closer to the Manukau Harbour.