An epic upwinder/downwinder.

[plummet]

On Sunday I embarked on an epic upwinder/downwinder.

It was about 15km cross upwind as the crow flies. Taking 200 tacks probably 30-40kmin actual distance to get upwind

I kited from East end surf club up past the port through the Sugar loaf Island and up to Oakura and back. Wind was Westerly around 15-20 knots
https://www.google.com/maps/@-39.068740 ... a=!3m1!1e3
https://www.windy.com/-Show---add-more- ... 173.999,13

For a while I have wondered how possible it would be to kite this distance upwind, It's a long way!. Anyway, I decide to go for it and tick it off my bucket list.

On the way up I caught some sweet waves and Bogworks.
Kiting past the port requires looking for and dodging boats coming in and out of the harbor.
Then the kite between the islands is an exercise in avoiding the island wind shadow. The 2 north most Islands are about 80m high. So they have a decent wind shadow.
Also, there is no safe landing spot between the islands if it all goes pear-shaped. You will be washed onto barnacle encrusted rock wall or the port.

Heading upwind through the Islands the sea starts to boil up in front of me with a million small fish jumping out of the water and seabirds diving in to catch them.
I'm always a bit worried about the boiling fish water... What big fish are herding those small fish underneath? I take evasive action and miss the fish.

Heading toward Oakura from the Island was a blast. It was a sweet upwind angle and I had good speed.
The second I got to Oakura a massive cloud banked started to block the sun out. Which would kill the seabreeze once the cloud got to land.
So I had to haul arse back and outrun the cloud so it didn't end up with no wind.

On the way back I had to avoid another boiling water fish fest and stupidly decided to kite in between the rocks on the southern furthermost out island.
I realized my mistake when I got in-between the rocks. The water was just aerated washing machine slop and it immediately punted me off the board.
I had to body drag REAL close to the barnacle-encrusted rocks to get my board back. That was a close one!!..

Blazing back through the islands was sweet other than I had to avoid a fishing trawler chucking out all its leftovers. Again what big fish are lurking around?,,,,

3.5 hours later I make it back to the launch site. What an epic session. Something that would just be impossible to achieve on a regular board.

[tomtom]

I ENVY - EPIC!!!

Im always telling everybody that kiting for is more about aesthetic experience than about riding - or more about synergy of these. I never enjoy riding if scenery are not beautiful. No matter what riding condition. I can only imagine how beautiful your ride was

[Flyboy]

Nice! Foiling makes it easier to enjoy the scenery as you don't have to pay as much attention to the water surface.

[plummet]

Yes indeed. There's so much more than just mowing back and forth within a couple of hundred meters of the launch site. Sadly that's what 90% of kiters do.

I enjoy a good adventure.

Regarding needing to pay less attention to the surface. I find i have to pay more attention. If I dont then I can vent a wing and crash.

[TomW]

Plummet,

Naki is on the bucket list before I die or get too old. I'm expecting you on
the beach with me to give the courage to go out.

[plummet]

Plummet,

Naki is on the bucket list before I die or get too old. I'm expecting you on
the beach with me to give the courage to go out.

Yep man, ill be there.
Nov/Dec is the best time of year to get the best wave/wind combo.
I would say that 80% of the time you don't need courage to go out. It's just a sweet location with an awesome wave wind machine.
The other 20%..... well things can get hectic.
It would a roll of the dice as to whether you got hectic conditions depending on how long you planned on staying.