5/5 and 5/6 Jalama 11m and 9m 128 board.

[ChrisPSherwin]

On the 5th I was out for a little over an hour before it just seemed too gnarly for my 9m. Good fun, but then the wind got "spooky" and the locals here say.

Today I showed up early, and all who did were rewarded handsomely. Much less gusty conditions. I started on my 11m with the cruiser pro, and quickly switched to the 128 board as things ramped up. After about and hour and a half I came in and put the 11 away, having a feeling that the gale warning might actually pan out. Yup. Ate some food quick, launched the 9 and just had a great friggin time. It was really cool, how a guy about 22 years old, appeared out of nowhere to launch me, and then went back to the picnic table. Great people here. Earlier I had crashed hard, lost the Cruiser Pro and just said "screw it" and then grabbed my 128. But sure enough, about 30 minutes later the board magically reappeared at the launch. Still don't know who picked it up. About 7 kites in the air at max volume, and for about 25 minutes the waves were coming in at about 7-10 feet. Every now and again I would load up and huck over the wave and then glide down the glass on the back. Oh yeah, except for one time when I needed about 8 feet, and I only got 6. I SLAMMED full speed into the lip, bounced into the air and got hucked forward. As I was wondering which way was up, I could sense my kite dropping, I got lucky, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the kite repower, and go from one end of the window towards the other. No idea where my board is at this point, and half a second later I am in ORBIT about 15-20 feet up. Dragged, to shore, laughing at how crazy it was and then I found the board.

Loaned my wave tray to a guy who was about 60 and bummed that his kite/board combo was too big. He was psyched to be able to use something with straps that he wouldn't just lift up from. Hopefully I caught up on my board kharma with the loan. Caught a couple big waves and got blasted out of the whitewater once. Finally, I was just tired and came in. Launching and landing was pretty hairy as usual. More on tap for the next four days, but intersting to note that there is almost no wind for 200 miles south of Jalama. A very crazy place.