11/11 DCIB 7.5 Retro magic 138L Butter board

[Shawn Henderson]

Arrived around 11:30 to a mirror finish on the lake. Slowly rigged and watched as a weak flow started rippling the water and thought hmm. Slog or trainer kite… So I decided to do both. The plan was to slog out, take a look toward the dam and see if the water was boiling upwind. If not, slog back and try out a trainer kite. Skunk proof! 12:15 or so I up-hauled and instantly it started puffing. It was fun to get on a plane before the chop built up. It was a crackling run across a smooth lake. I suppose that is what Grantsville is like? But without so much wind of course. Anyways DC style gusty, but not as bad as some days. My 7.5 worked pretty good right in the sweet spot between too much on the gusts and just enough for the lulls.

For almost an hour it seemed like it was my private lake. Then I heard a growling whistle sound upwind and thought to myself WTF? I looked around just in time to spot a crazy airplane lining up to buzz me. It dove and banked toward me and shot by maybe 100 feet overhead. I almost dirtied my wetsuit. Once I shook off the shock I realized It was a P51 Mustang! One of the coolest things I have ever seen. Maybe I will skip snow kiting and just get one of those. Anyone got a spare? After the surprise attack Jim joined me and I think I saw a pair of Ozones out today. Orange and Red.

I wish the wind lasted just a bit longer. I had to Slog back to shore around 2:15 de-rig and then gave the Kite a try. 3M trainer and lots more power on a loop than I thought it would have and in light wind. Oh my, this is going to be something.

Not a bad day considering mid November. I keep thinking its over for me, but the warm air just keeps coming back.

[JimSouthwick]

Charleston 11/11/09

Sundance 11/11/09

[Todd Jacques]

nice job shawn, nice to see you got my old retro sailing dc. the kites you saw were Best kites, tommy and me.got in 2 hours of 15m sweets, actually enough power to jump today, not enough yesterday to jump. not a bad fall for me after sitting out the spring. 9 out of 11 days of kiting since November 1, all at DCBB!!!!
Gotta love Dc!!

[Shawn Henderson]

Todd, Love the retro I have maybe 2 times per week on it since early April. Sailed it hard all year. Its showing some wear and will be missed when it finally gives out. hopefully I can find something similar when the time comes. And I agree DC is sweet. That’s an impressive string of sailing days. The Fall thermal has been pretty dependable.