Milly Today

Eric P · Post by **Eric P** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:13 am

Come up and get some for me. It's blowin 25 right now

Troy Harris · Post by **Troy Harris** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:29 pm

Karl and I were out in front of Barnacle's today , It was great . The snow is still very nice.

Eric P · Post by **Eric P** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:36 pm

I called Terry Dunklee today and told him it was blowing, and It looked great on the small lake I live on just north of Malmo, so we decided to try it here. The only problem is I broke my foot about 6 weeks ago, and am still unable to stuff it into a snowboard boot. Last weekend I saw a sled at the local store on sale for cheap, and thought it might be possible to actually ride it with a kite, so I bought it for the crossing and tried it a little but never got fully powered. The sled has two distinct and sharp ski rails on either side, and good handles for keeping yourself anchored. I'll get some pictures of the rig up here sometime.

Terry shows up at the house and it seams to be blowing a good 15 to 20 from the south so he decides on the 10 TD and I get out the 7 bularoo for my first real attempts with the sled. The surface of my lake is really good, about three inches of good crumbly snow on totally adhered base. Since I haven’t been out in over six weeks, I was quick to set up and have Terry launch me. The power felt great on the 7 and I just knew this was actually going to work. I sat down on the sled, looking like a total loser, and instantly shot away down the lake. A little tug on the lines and I was rocketing up wind, at speed, having a great time. The control was amazing. I was totally able to steer into and away from the wind, by simply twisting myself against the line tension. The sled was actually trying to go up wind more, so to keep speed I was forced to constantly adjust myself down wind more.

The day was great, with the sun peaking through, and great winds. I was totally out of control on that sled, and I think I’ll even try it again, even when my foot heals. It was one of those times when you are just grateful to be out there, flying a kite, and having fun. Sometimes I get so into trying the latest trick that I forget about just having fun. Today was one of those days. I was shouting for joy (and a little fear) as my sled got more and more powered up in a gust. It was great. Kiting is great. Enjoy it.

Reel Nomad · Post by **Reel Nomad** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:52 pm

Glad to hear you were able to get some action out of that sled, and just have fun!!! Hope your foot heals soon.

Tighe · Post by **Tighe** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:26 am

Sounds like a gas.

My students yesterday were big knee boarders and were wondering if you could knee board with a kite. Seemed like it might work, specially after hearing that your sled works. What's the bottom of your sled look like?

Eric P · Post by **Eric P** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:14 pm

It's got two runners like a bobsled, only they are about 3 inches wide. They angle a little out from the center and have shrap rails on the inside edge. I was thinking about a strap around the waist but didn't want to deal with the crashing aspect.

I think knee boarding would work but the chop would be brutal. The sled was a total gas, I can't wait to get out on it again.

Tom L · Post by **Tom L** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:40 pm

Great story Eric. Sometimes it is the simple things that make life great. My son started out kiting with a plastic toboggan. It only went one way....down wind, but it still was great fun.

champlin · Post by **champlin** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:36 am

I still have my knee board from when I owned my boat, I should bring it up to Reddy and Malmo this year and give it a try, by theory it should work, just keep the kite low I guess and lean and edge like crazy!, it should work, would be a very fast ride though I guess?

Tom L · Post by **Tom L** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:55 am

Now that I think about it, I've seen a knee kiteboard advertised in one of the kiteboard mags

wings · Post by **wings** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:36 am

After I broke my leg in the middle of a kite trip, I experimented with all sorts of variable "riding": kneeing on a boogie board, siting in a sea kayak and unhooked laying on a surfboard. The kayak was definitely the best. I know that you could use a knee board a lot easier than a boogie board...

Hunter Welles · Post by **Hunter Welles** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:52 am

Sometimes I get so into trying the latest trick that I forget about just having fun. Today was one of those days. I was shouting for joy (and a little fear) as my sled got more and more powered up in a gust. It was great. Kiting is great. Enjoy it.

Yes, such good advice. I feel the same way a lot of times.

As far as the knee board goes, from my personal experience with knee boards, for the most part other than going down wind, I dont think a standard knee board would work. For the most part, knee boards have large very rounded rail that would not get any bite into the water, and if you have ever ridden one, you realize that it has very loose edges that have trouble biting into the water. Some of the more advanced ones have smaller harder edges, so it may be more possible with one of these,

The second reason I dont think it would work is because there is no fin. It is one thing to ride a knee board being pulled behind a boat because you are always being pulled forward, but once you are leaning upwind against the kite trying to go forward, this would also make it very difficult to track agains the kite especially with the very rounded edges.

Finally, every kneeboard that I have seen has a considereable amount of rocker on it, much more than a wakeboard, which would make it extremely difficult to go upwind.

Now im not saying its impossible, or shoot anybody down. If anybody brought a kneeboard to reddy I would for sure go out and try it, and I think that a kneeboard if made correctly could work kiting, but in the end I think that we would have a lot more fun on our boards. Could be a fun experiment though for sure.

This summer I want to play around with some different things kiting, a kneeboard is definately a possibility. I was also thinking of water skiis, slalom ski, trick skiis, and what I really really want to see is somebody(not me) try an airchair kiting. We already know kiteboards, wakeboards(can work), surfboards and wakesufers work, im ready to play around and try some new things.

Tighe · Post by **Tighe** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:02 pm

Let's put a big fat ski on the bottom of a Lazy Boy! Add a couple of cup holders for your micro brew of choice and ride off into the distance.

chanrider · Post by **chanrider** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:08 pm

Let's put a big fat ski on the bottom of a Lazy Boy! Add a couple of cup holders for your micro brew of choice and ride off into the distance.

I'm totally into that!

By the way, I just got off the phone with the various prez campaign people and here's what they are offering to the kite lobby (just so you know):

Obama: Free kites for everyone.
Clinton: She's available at 3am to go kiting
McCain: Has the experience needed to keep us safe from kite terrorists.

Sounds like we're covered either way!

kiteboymn · Post by **kiteboymn** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:15 pm

Trick skis are the hot ticket. I tried that last summer and had a blast. The key is to have a good set of wakeboard bindings for good ankle support. All you hard core skiers would get a huge kick. Todd

steveb · Post by **steveb** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:02 pm

We should have a competition at the Gathering next summer for who can find and ride the funkiest vehicle...might be kind of fun.

Reel Nomad · Post by **Reel Nomad** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:24 pm

I can't wait to see you all with your lazy boys and trick skis. In the mean time, here is a kite sled vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McWX1klDzXY