2016-06-15 Kiting at Keho.

Another great day at Keho

Today I slept in until 8:00.  Barb made Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes for breakfast.  They were excellent.

I headed out to the lake around 11:00am.  It was very windy and cool.  There were a few people out, most of them on 6m or smaller kites.  I could have probably been out on my 4.2 windsurf board, but with the cold temperatures, and not having a dry suit, I decided to wait for the wind to drop in the afternoon as predicted.

My 9m Kite

Tim from Kalispell showed up and rigged his 9/0 sail.  He is a much smaller guy than me, so I decided to try it with my 9.  Kirk arrived just as I was heading out.  He rigged his 9m as well and followed me out.

I was starting to get the hang of water starting riding the board.  I had a few nice runs in both directions, but was having some trouble staying powered.  (I am sure it is just technique.)
After one run, I crashed and came out of my board.  I body dragged back to within 10 feet of it, but then I somehow got turned around and lost control of the kite.  By the time I got my feet under me and straitened around, I couldn't find the board anywhere.  I spent quite a bit of time looking for it and at one point body dragged out to a piece of seawead (which looked like my board).  I finally gave up and body dragged to shore where I began my 45 minute walk of shame back to the launch point. The walk did give me lots of practice flying the kite, and because my neck was getting sore, I started practicing trying to fly the kite by feel instead of looking at it all the time.  By the time I was back at shore, I was feeling pretty confident with the kite.

Kirk on his 9m kite and "Fence Board"

The wind started to die just after I came ashore, so everyone else came in as well.  I got out of my wetsuit, and then the wind changed direction (more from the west) and started to pick up again.  Kirk convinced me to go for one more session.  I suited up and headed out with him.  The wind was light and gusty.  I stayed in control of the kite (didn't get it wet), but couldn't generate enough power to keep me up on the board.  I body dragged back to the beach and landed my kite.  After getting out of my suit, I got out my camera and took some more photos of Kirk.

Kirk getting some air!

It was a great day.  We got back to the house early (around 7:00), and Barb made us a great supper.

Thank you so much to Barb and Kirk for hosting me this week.  It is so much appreciated.

Thanks Kirk for all your hospitality!

Tomorrow morning I will head to Hood River - probably arriving in the evening.

Here is a link to all of my Keho Photos.