After that, I got to hang out at the Surface to Air shop and talk to the North rep a bit. Scored a cheap wet suit, some North stickers and tips on beaches to go to on the next day. They started to call me "Minnetonka", so I left before it got ugly.
On the next day, I cheked out Alameda beach. Got there at 12:30 and had everything set up for a self lauch and spent an hour with the kite in the water and me looking like a fool cause there was not enough wind. Finally, the wind kicks in. I make some attempts to get on the board and I start to get a feel for it. Meanwhile, other riders are joining in and we have about 6 kites in the sky. 3 hours of fishing for my board, drifting downwind and walking upwind later, I was still trying to get some rides in. Suddenly, while getting up, I felt a snap and my kite went out of control. I let go of the bar and hang on to the leash. I pulled my kite close, climbed on it and paddled to the shore. Turns out that I snapped my center leader line. Damn! It was getting late anyway, so I packed up my wet gear and headed to the hotel. The plane was leaving early the next day, so I had to haul all my wet stuff back to MN, weighing 3 times as much because of the water.
If anyone goes to San Fran, check out the 3rd ave beach and don't let anyone call you "Minnetonka".
Denis