6/14 Lincoln Beach solo ride 13.5m

[Jessica Gainer]

At around 6:00 pm Bluffdale started showing enough wind for a big kite session so Chris, Tyler, and I headed out to see if we could catch a fun evening session. We got there around 7:00 to a glassy lake. Fortunately there was a wind line that kept us hoping so we stuck around to see while Chris and Tyler did a repair on a kite. As the line got closer, I pumped a 13.5 Kahoona and put my wetsuit on. I went out on our 136 Kaos along with a guy who is new to kiting on the water. He quickly ended up way downwind (I think that's just part of new kiter initiation-having to hike back to the beach, poor guy) and I got out all by myself. The wind was strong enough for me to plane and stay about even or slightly upwind on my tacks. One gust came through and I was able to jump a couple feet, but that was it. It was really fun to have the area all to myself for about a 1/2 hour and then the wind started dying. My last couple tacks I was really working the kite to keep me on plane and came in right as Tyler came out on his 13. He took one tack, where he couldn't even break even, and he walked right back in. It's peaceful being out there all alone and definitely warmer when the wind's barely blowing, I'm happy I got to ride and am looking forward to more wind next time.