What a difference a steady wind makes.

[Tighe]

Got to Garrison pretty early. Looked pretty light but wasn't sure if there was a thermal on or not.

We moved down to the free campspot along the road, and within a short bit the wind came up a bit. 11s and 14s were the call as it was barely blowing 10mph on the surface. I was amazed how great it was. It was fan smooth. There must have been a good thermal going on cause if you sent it, you'ld float forever.

Stroh and Scott were boosting big. Michelle, Mark, and Rob were ripping it up. Shane was getting his first boosts. Dean was floating some nice ones.

The wind was steadier than Padre. Nothing like Mille lacs for fan steady wind.

Terry stopped by....sounded in good spirits and in hopes of being back on the water with a few months.

Good day.

[WildBill]

Well now I know where the hell everyone was. I had to stay back to help a friend scrape and paint. So I headed to Waconia about 3pm. It was up and down and all around. One minute I was over powered on my 11M Waroo and the next underpowered and getting cold in the water. The good thing is that nobody was there except a handful of windsurfers and me the lone kiter so I could get almost any parking and beach spot I wanted. It took a bit to get out far enough to catch the wind. The wind shifted a tad south and gave me a boost getting back. The wind pretty much died by 7:30pm and came back after dark with the storm. Glad to hear you all got some good wind. I guess Washington was a tad better but pretty much the same turnout. Ride On!

[Dean Rizer]

Even in Padre I've never experienced any thing like this. It was truly a magic carpet ride. On the surface it didn't look rideable but it was; no gusts, no shifts, no jolts, just smooth, easy, gentle, sustained float. It was fun playing with Mark, Pedro, and others and then the sun came out and we watched Tighe, Jon and Scott ride the carpet to the next level.
Jon mentioned butter smooth "flatter than Padre" waters behind the reeds at the mouth of the Rum river. I've never been there. I can only imagine what that would be like. Can these conditions ever be predicted?
It was great seeing Terry again, out of his wheelchair, free of crutches and walking! The results of his determination and hard work is very evident.
Mark thanks for capturing my harness I guess it jumped out of my car deciding to play on without me, I can't blame it.

[Stroh]

about predicting the thermal on milly... it is easy to predict the fact the the thermal will play a role, it's just a question of how much of a role it will play. sometimes the wind gets shut off other times it is the most amazing uplift you will ever feel.

what to look for,
cold water, warm sunny air and a forecast for 30mph. if its not blowing it the most ideal downwind spot check one that is more sideshore. alot of times it's 30mph at malmo and 5mph a reddy

cold cloudy days have no thermal effect and you get bigger waves.

... we will see what happens today

Jon

[steveb]

Eric/Anna, Alec/Elena,Jim,Alex,Rob,Jeff ( new kiter)Denis ( watching still nursing the arm)Nancy and I were all at Reddy, not magic carpet , in fact down right bumpy water.But it was fun and great to see everyone.

[Eric P]

Very little thermal effect at Reedy yesterday. Not Quite as steady, but it was definately blowing up to thirty. I had some of the biggest boosts of my life yesterday on Denis's 11 meter Rev, and Anna was maxed out on her 9 meter Waroo, maybe even overmaxed. She did great, had some awesome tacks, and handled the crazy power well.

Steve Blain was out for about three hours yesterday, but he was complaining about having to hit the sharp waves going out. Nancy had a great session, once the sun showed up. Alex was lucky early to get his kite out of a tree, then rode for hours in a shorty. He gets the hardcore award for the day. Rick was riding for a long time, and Adam and Alaina (?) were haveing a great time on there 12 meter liquid force. Then Jim Norman showed up for a down wind, then right back up wind session.

At the end we were all just sitting on the beach getting sun burned, no energy left for another session, yet unable to pack up the kites just yet. And it was still blowing, perfect side on conditions, with no fuel left in the tank. I know I am going to feel it tomorrow. Hopefully today turns on and Anna can get out for another ride, I think I'm spent.

[Rick R]

It was a blowing, I do love Milly. I tucked behind my kite to sit down and have a quick snack, I blinked and all of a sudden it was a half hour later! some people would say I fell asleep, I am sticking to the slow blink story I got worn out big time.
Rick

[Tighe]

Wild.

Mille lacs always offer up such diverse conditions. 30mph in one spot and thermals in another not more than 10 miles away. Crazy. Would have loved to hit some of those Port ramps going out. Rare in Minnesota to get wind running anything but perpendicular to the waves. It worked out great in Garrison because I had a lesson and the boat launch wasn't far away to drop the ski in and the student could ride the troughs and not battle oncoming ramps.

The ramps help boost you into the higher winds yesterday. Don't think we had 30mph up high but it was at least 10-15 more up top.

cool that two groups formed and shared the same body of water and didn't even know it, and had completely different conditions.

hope today provided.

[Eric P]

We got to the Reddy after the line of storms passed (around 1:00) and found the wind just picking up, and Stroh just setting up. Directly on shore, good thermo action. We quickly pumped up the 9 meter for Anna, and she started ripping. She had a perfectly powered hour long session. Denis and Bryce are cutting up the video now. All I can say is I'm really proud of her and how far she has come. Especially since this was only her second session of the year, and her first was yesterday, when we just couldn't seem to pick the right kite for her.

I got a great session on Jon's 14 meter nemi. It was a total powerhouse today, with great glide in the jumps. I was actually overpowered somewhat on that thing today. After about an hour and a half, the wind started to drop, but it was hard to tell because there was so little wind on the surfact of the lake. It's so deceiving, you start to think you can always be powered when you are used to riding on Milly. Stroh went out for another session, and suckered Bryce into it as well, right as it shut down completely.

We then came home, started the fire, roasted some dogs and mellows, and slowly watched the lake glass out. The fishing boats were out in force and so we decided to give it a try and caught a few. Now were hanging in the living room planning tomorrow. Pelican lake might be the call.

Milly sure has delivered lhe last two days. My Dad thinks I say this all the time, but this weekend may be the best ever, really.

[Denis]

Here's a quick cut at the action yesterday. In the video are the notorious Stroh, Bryce, Eric and Anna with music from the Gorillaz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESJBPP6Tly4

[Denis]

I've uploaded the pictures from Saturday here:

http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb26 ... mview=link

Some highlights:

[drknap]

Denis, thanks for sharing.
When are you back in action? Sorry to hear about your injury total bummer!

[Denis]

Hey Kurt.

The doc said it will be another month before I'm back in full swing. I already have my full range of motion. Just need to work on strength now.

I am actually very happy to just hang around, take pictures and criticize everyone on their technique as if I know what I'm talking about. haha.