00188 Backgammon again

I'm still anticipating that I'll be honouring my pledge to JY - that I'll be making him a backgammon board. I've arrived at the possibility of making it from ply. Not only that, but I'd really like to look into laser cutting the pieces, so that I've just go to glue them together.
The only things that might muck it up are the choice of board colours (as well as how to make the "spikes") and the hinges. I might opt for leather for hinges, but then I'll be tempted to make the board look like a leather bound book. Like I say, tempting.
As fo the "spikes", I'm really tempted to do something with epoxy - maybe carve out the "spikes", then paint the carved out section and then cover the whole board with epoxy, giving it a 3D feel. On the other hand I did say I'd try to keep it simple. To go down the simple route, I reckon the best way would be to make a stamp of one "spike" and just roll paint onto it. Decisions, decisions.

00187 GPS

I got this nifty Garmin Geko 201 waterproof GPS for Christmas and I've just discovered how to do an altitude profile with it - just waiting for a windy day to get some air. Why do I get the feeling that I'll find out that I'll be getting about 5 foot?

00186 Resolutions

So I'll be making some new resolutions beore the new year, the main one of which is to make alot more stuff. We'll be fully settled in the new house soon and we'll finally be able to get down to making stuff again. I'm constantly browsing the Make blog and the inspiration I'm getting to make things is really building up - it always happens like this.

Here's a list of the proposed projects:

New kiteboard - this time a GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) construction. I've found someone who can advise me on a possible wood core construction and I've soursed a good supplier of all the GRP products I'm going to need.

PC case mod - we have a space under the living room shelves which is too low for a full tower case and I'd like to run a more powerul PC than will fit in a Midi case. So I'm looking at a wooden box with a glass front.

More rake art and KAP - I've been kitesurfing alot lately and the KAPing has suffered as a result.

So the lack of postings aren't due to slackness, it's just that I've got bored just jotting down the shooting and kitesuring stuff and I'm realising that I'd much rather use the blog to detail stuf I make. Although, having said that, I've been hungrily eyeing Instructibles as a way to post up projects.

00185 Eggy

Eggy

I meant to do this for so long, but as per usual I either never had the time, or I ws with small kids, who ran all over it. The plan was to do several of these dotted around a small area, but that takes time - which is difficult to come by.
Still, now I managed to take a picture of one, I'll probably be motivated to do it again.

00184 National Geographic comes calling

Got a mail from National Geographic about the Rake Art, which was nice. this was the correspondence:

NG: "My name is Jenna Pirog and I work for a Photo Editor here
at National Geographic magazine. We found some of your rake pictures on Flickr and find them very intriguing.
Would you mind writing me back at ****** to discuss what size these files are, what kind of camera you use, etc.? We have a page called Visions of Earth that we think some of your photos may work for if they are the right size for production. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, ** Photographic Coordinator National Geographic magazine"

I said: "Ooooooh, what a lovely idea, let's do it." (or words to that effect)

NG:"Hi Lenny,
This is a really wonderful idea and you have very striking photographs and make beautiful designs with the rake, but unfortunately the files just aren't large enough for our publication purposes. We require a digital file that is at least 20MB for our Visions of Earth section.
Good luck to you!
Sincerely, **"

Well, it was nice while it lasted, but really, how am I going to hoist a 12MP camera up there? No wait, I can do it, but how can I afford it? No wait, where can I get a 12 MP camera? What? Online?

Oh, ok.

00183 Tree thingy at Petit Port

Tree thingy

I can handle snatching an hour every now and again to do this sort of thing, but this is the only chance I've had in recent months to get the rake out. It's indicative of the situation that it's been taken from a staircases running up the cliff face and not from a kite.

Still, as long as I've got more ideas than time, it'll always be quality time when I get to the beach. The only thing is that I sort of promised that I wouldn't take the rake & kites to the beach together, because it rules me out of being sociable when I get there.

00182 Roquaine pooh stick

Roquaine pooh stick

It's been a while since I posted, but to be honest, things have been ticking along and I haven't had much of a chance to do anything vaguely imaginative. Bit of shooting (won a tankard - it's a keeper), bit of kitesurfing (jumping higher, getting better), but not much in the way of KAP, which is a shame. What I really need is to get the Maxi Dopero sorted out so that I can be confident that it'll work without ditching the camera.

Just this partially successful stick & leaf number to show for all the outings we've been on. Somehow I can't help but feel that winter will be more productive. Wierd.

00181 Gusty KAP

Boats

Gusty winds meant I couldn't risk getting out over the water to get teh kids jumping off the pier. Would have been good with the new camera. Soon as I've stabilised the Maxi Dopero, I'll be more confident and heading out over the water a bit more.

00180 Back on

Kites in Poole

After moving into the house, I'm back online and I'll be out posting up again.

Had a couple of sessions on the 11 meter - it's so well behaved - one at Poole harbour on the way back from holiday and one at Ladies. I'll have the jump timing nailed soon. Wish I'd bought a 13, but with the Flexi 15 I though I'd get away with it. Truth be told, I'm going nowhere near a 'C' kite as long as I can avoid it.

00179 Rips

Rips

Ripped me bloney kite. Fixed it with spinaker tape, wonderful stuff.

00178 Weeks go by

Fort Richmond

With all the house stuff going on, I haven't really had time to update.
No rake art time, and only managing to snatch a couple of KAP sessions. The Maxi Dopero is misbehaving a little (maybe because the winds have been very flukey lately), which means that I can only lift the rig in strong winds. Got a reasonable one of Fort Richmond, mind - but only because it was nearby.
Kitesurfing was great about two weeks ago. Two brilliant days on the trot with the Instinct. Sadly the last session saw me put some rips in the canvas and I'm still wondering whether to send it away for repairs, or just tape it up.

00177 Rakeart goes BoingBoing

Cara in the middle

Well the rake art shots made it onto BoingBoing. Now, the wierd thing is that I don't know how popular BoingBoing is, but I get the impression that it's quite prolific. I've subscribed to it for a year or so and it was Dave (aka Mobilexile) who Flickrmailed me and pointed it out.
Either way, it's on another blog and it's right here.
Whatever it means, I certainly got a sudden surge of interest in the set.

00176 Rocks n' waves n' forts n' kitesurfin'

Rocks n' waves

So I got out to kitesurf in the morning and KAP when the kids went to bed.
The kitesurfing was mostly good. Man, I could do with a bigger kite. On the up side I could finally ride Vazon in a Swerly. Up and over the waves. Bit shakey, but with a bit more power it'd be spot on.
The KAP went really well. Went back to Fort Hommet to do it with a higher grade camera. Got this great shot of the waves n' Rocks, plus a couple of good ones of the fort. Now all I need is some new subject matter.

00175 Instinct flying

Went out yesterday in wind that Mike could only just get going in on his 14m Halo. I got out the 11m and managed to get going with a big board and alot of kite movement. And apart from a relaunch problem, which I put down to loads of seaweed on the lines and very low winds, it was a great success. Sunday promises more wind. I really want to see what it does in a hooley.

00174 Wake up

Mike's Jetski

After a full day doing the PTA thing and waiting for wind that never comes, Mike very kindly took us out wakeboarding again. Both of us got a go and the conditions were perfect. I even managed to Ollie after jumping to line up for the jump in the opposite direction and vice versa a few times - can't be botheres to make it any clearer than that.

00173 Ozone Instinct

Ozone Instinct

My new kite arrived on Thursday and its inaugural month will no doubt be heralded by a total lack of wind.
Still, it is beautifully made and the attention to detail and build quality is superb, which is a miracle because it's usually all hype.
Although it is a bow kite, it doesn't have a bridle per se. Intead it has a fifth line that splits near the kite, with lines running out to the leading edge, center strut and the two wing tips. Allegedly it will never inver, a problem that bow kite suffer from at times.
I just cant wait for a challenging and gusty day. Bring it on.

00172 A magazine comes calling

I got a Flickrmail from Andrea Ferrer about printing some rake art in a new magazine called "Pretty Fcuking Good Magazine", which I guess can't be bad. We'll see how it pans out. What I really need is to do some more stuff. I've got a couple of ideas, but it's a worrying thing that if you plan too much with these things, they never turn out as nice as the thing you planned. It seems that it's usually best to just go out there and do it spontaneously.

00171 Richmond slipway again

Richmond slipway

Just wanted to test out the new camera against the old by comparing like subjects. Well, it's miles better. It would have been nice at some other time of day (in the evening maybe), but it still works quite well. The other image (taken in November last year) is here.

00170 Rake art in third blog shocka

The rake art set has appeared in another blog, this time its Lost art. Cool

00169 The Channel Island Championship

Taking the whole thing down

Having qualified to shoot in this individual event, we spent the weekend shooting. 300, 500 and 600 yards on Saturday in Guernsey and then off on the evening ferry to spend the night in the Jersey clubhouse, after which we shot at 900 and 1000 yards.
Did reasonably well, especially considering I'd never even seen a 900/1000 yard range - man, those targets are hard to see that far out, it's no wonder so many people fired on the wrong targets.
The team event (which I wasn't in, thankfully) was Jerseys win. Now, I have dropped ten points out of 50 on a very, very bad day. They dropped ten points out of 1200. Not bad. Bet they were smug about that.

00168 Rakes

Mmmmmmmmmmm rakes.
Perhaps I need to get out more.

00167 Whispy

Whispy

Got out on Friday to do some rake stuff. QUite like this one, but I'm sure that the larger the image, the more whispy and uninteresting it will become. Also the larger the piece, the more time it takes and that is something I never have enough of to complete these things.
Caroline saw the kite on the beach and came over with the kids, so she and Jack are in the middle of this one.
I got a response from Geoff Manaugh, who runs BldgBlog, a lovely blog dealing in architecture in all it's forms and interpretaions. He's posted up a very flattering entry about the rake art and was good enough to ask permission to publish the images.
He in turn, apparently found the images through another blog by the name of Spy's Spice. Here's the article.

In other news, the shooting started really badly with a 31-1, but after a few words of friendly advice about butt placement (fnarrr), I turned up a 35-4 and a respecatble 33-4. Hope it picks up for the Jersey match next week. Signs are good.

00166 New kite and scope

My gear

So I'm now nearing the end of my quest for shooting equipment and all I'm missing is the rifle - but I'm really not into getting one of those right now (I wouldn't want to keep it in the house anyway). Dave Jory sold me an old bashed up scope for spotting and it does the job very nicely. I shot last Saturday and came up with a 46-2 and a 47-4. I've got one more week before we go to Jersey, so I think improvement would be a good thing.
On the other hand I'm selling my Strike 2s and hopefully getting an 11 meter Ozone Instinct. It's anew bow kite and so far it's been raved about. Now I just have to hope that Ebay comes up trumps on the selling front.

00165 Two things (one of them a thingy)

Wheeee and the compass thingy

Covering two (or perhaps even three) of the obsessions I currently entertain:

1. Rakeart - Grande Roques. I was walking down the beach with a rake, headding for the nice flat featureless sand further down the beach and decided to stop on the way to try out a couple of things. Naturally I didn't get any further and ended up drawing the compass thingy (I've got to find a more suitable name for these ... thingys. See, that also brought the KAP into it. The Maxi Dopero was flying like a dream, so it seemed rude not to capture a few shots from the air. The fact that I roped Meriel and Cara into the shot was just a bonus.
Really pleased with this one, but I think things are going to get better. It's all down to confidence with the rake, and that's going to come from practice.

2. Shooting - Fort le Marchant. Up and down today. 32, 35, 32. So 99 out of a possible 105. I just couldn't seem to get them in, although they were all really, really close. I'll take some advice and improve.

00164 Almost forgot the meteor thingy

Meteor thingy

How could I forget to post this up. It was from 3rd May, second outing with the Maxi Dopero. Almost crashed the rig with the kite pulling to the right. It's sorted now, mind.
Quite like this one, I'll be investigating this avenue some more.

00163 Low scores and reasonable air with a doodle

Three balls and tentacles

In a week of weddings and hangovers, I managed to get a whole load of experience in the fullbore department. A score of 40-2 out of a possible 50 at 300 yards showed me that I needed to sort something out. My coach, Sylvia, suggested that I hunker down a bit further - it was really windy and we were trying allsorts to lessen the impact of the wind. The elevation on the 300 yd score was really good, so I knew it had to be something to do with the wind buffeting the rifle. I tightened the sling and wore a jumper, which made it almost painfully tight and almost difficult to hold the rifle. But it did the job and I hit a 47-3 and a 47-5 at 500 and 600 yards respectively. So it looks like that worked, then. Pity I had to find out the hard way. To make things easier, I was put in the reserve squad (there were two of us), so my score had no impact on the team. Still, I was very pleased with the elevation on all the ranges and it bodes very well for the future.

Kitesurfing session at Ladies bay, with griff going upwind over to the Northern end of the bay by going around the big rock island in front of the sand bar and downwind into the Northern bay. As the tide came up he was watching it until it just came over the sand bar and then shot across it declaring "The bar is open!". And so it was. Good session, good conditions (if a bit choppy) and a few decent airs, especially when I used Dan's advice - popping off the chop or the swell. It really works, but I've got to get out more to practice it as often as possible in the hope of really cracking it.

I also got to do a quick ten minute doodle on the sand at Grand Roques, but forgot the kite line. Doh!

00162 Backgammon board

Backgammon board in sketchup

I've recently found Google's free 3D design tool sketchup and it's renewed my enthusiasm for making a backgammon board.
I've been looking at several ways to make the backgammon design on the board itself and although I might make several, I'll probably do the first one as a decoupage project, if only because I want to try it out.

00161 Photo dessert

The lack of images of hobbies and the like indicates that I've been doing nothing imaginative recently.

I'm waiting for a burst of motivation to finish the Dopero by making a nice new bag for it - a bit like a "topping out" thing.

Went out kitesurfing last Thursday in very gusty high winds - won't be doing that again. My 11 meter lofted me and dragged me towards the rocks. Had my hand on the release all the time, no problem. So after a brief attempt to get going I packed it in and borrowed Mike's 9 meter. Now I know I have to get some new kites. It was really nippy and easy to jump with, not to mention the gust handling ability - just superb.

In the shooting, it looks like I might be selected for the team to shoot against the NRA (the British national rifle assoc.). I'm feeling a bit guilty about this, as there are people whose experience tops mine. So the agreement is that if the weather is good, then I might go along. Well see. Fortunately the even t allows me to be coached. Hopefully Pete Jory will help with the windage.

In other news, my Mum has suggested that I give her the details of my rakeart set to give to the people at the Coach House Gallery in order to see if they want to host an exhibition. Where the money will come from to get the prints done I don't know, but I definitely need to go out and do some new stuff. Oh well, at least it's free.

00160 Tomato boxes

Tomato boxes

I do love old wooden boxes. Who wouldn't?

00159 Grande Roque battery

Grande Roque battery

Well my excuse is that the computer's been broken, what's yours?

I've been out KAPing at Grande Roques and had a blistering session on Mike's Cabrinah Switchblade (12m) - man I've got to get hold of one of those.

The shooting's going well - I even won a spoon. How crazy is that. Not very. But in the meantime I managed to get on theteam to go to Jersey. There's only 8 of us going, so not bad really - and, yes, there were more than 8 people competing. And, no, there weren't 9. Or 10. Look just leave it.

00158 Katchup

Portelet slipway

So it's come down to this, a look back at the week. I thought I'd be able to avoid this, but hey.

This image and a couple of others were taken from an impromptu session with the Maxi Dopero (first KAP sesh) when we went to Portelet with Caroline, Steve and the kids. Iwas just showing them how it worked and it seemed a little pointless to miss an opportunity to KAP on a blue-sky day.

The kitesurfing was not so hot. Underpowered at the South and then the North ends of Vazon (I think it was Tuesday and then Sunday). The first outing at the South end of Vazon was quite a revelation. As usual I was suffering from the lack of low-end grunt from my 15 (because of the 5th line, as far as I know), and Mike lent me his 12 meter Cabrinah Switchblade. What a thing that was!. Powered up fully in 9 knots of admittedly constant wind. I'll be trying it out when he moves down a size to check out the high wind ability. If that's good, then I'll sell the Flexis (with a tear in my eye) and buy just the one 12m Bow. Man, that was a real moment.

Shooting was good. Coached again (by Peter Jory). Got a 73-10 followed by a 73-11 at 500 and 600 respectively. Would've won the B class trophy for the day had it not been for the lack of membership to the club (and perhaps the coaching). Shucks.

0157 Fullbore!

500 Yards - First 12 shots

The first time since the summer of '89 and it was good.
A 48-4 at 300 followed by this 49-6 made me a very happy man after I'd figured out what the scores meant.
It did help that it was a sunny afternoon, although in my defense it was a new rifle and I hadn't done it for a bit.
The other club members were helpful to a fault as I've come to expect - what a nice bunch.

00156 Slipways and slip ways

Lihou slipway

We had guests this last week, which was very good, but meant no blooging. So in summary, kitesurfing twice, second time gave me just enough to cruise on the 15. Shooting - smallbore season is over and I've yet to go out fullbore.
Finally, just went out for a proper low wind session on the Dopero which worked very well, although I still think there may be room for a minor bridal adjustment. Interesting things will come soon, I hope.

Oh yeah and I got to shoot the Lihou Slipway, although the light just faded as I lofted the camera - Still, not too too bad.

00155 Medal

Medal

Got this for best score in the 'B' team for the inter-insular between Jersey and Guernsey. Which we lost. Bummer.
Anyway it was over 15 yards and I managed a 98, 96, 99, 96 - obviously could've been more.
The final scores are here
Good day.

00153 Tractor factor

Tractor factor

So, three things here:

Shootin', 97, 97, 98, 98 - just before the Jersey trip - can I keep it up? Probablynot (I think that works really well as one word).

Maxi Dopero, finished. Needs a tweak. Don't we all. Pictures to follow seeing as I can't be arsed to post up two images here (imagine my surprise when I saw the two images I posted up here).

KAP - it's a tractor init. D50 doing well. Damn gusty, mind.

00152 Air n' high scores

Another kitesurf/shooting double yesterday.

Kitesurfing at Pembroke - superb. After so many gusty sessions in a SWerly, finally a nice constant NEerly. Got some good jumps in and a rotation - albeit unintentional. Also better speed control in overpowered situations and som nice little jumps off the waves. Just great.

Shooting - four cards at 15 yards gave me a 96, 96, 97, 99. What an improvement, especially with the Jersey inter-insular coming up. My only problem is consistency and I don't know if this upward trend is going to plateau or go down. Thursday's the last shoot before the competition, so we'll get an idea then. I have been told to expect a drop of about 8-10 points because of the different lighting conditions and the added stress. We'll see.

00151 Open vertical keel finished

Open vertical keel finished

At last. It was a real hoo-ha, just because of the amount of detail and the accuracy needed to make all the edges meet. Glad that's over.
Just the reinforcements and elastic, spar cutting and bridal making to go followed by the ubiquitous bag, of course.

00150 Pooh sticks at Richmond

Richmond pooh stick

Went to Richmond to fly the D50 from the Genki (in the absence of the soon-to-be-finished Maxi-Dopero). Not enough wind to get more than two meters off the ground as this tantalisingly sharp image shows.
So instead I whipped up a Pooh Stick with fifteen minutes to go until I had to leave. It's another rule I'll add to the growing list - time limited Pooh Stick making.

00149 D50 flies at Roquaine

Roquaine Slipway

And so it was, that the D50 went up smoothly and came down the same way. Beautiful day, reasonable subject, great results. Pin sharp and all the better for being heavier than the Optio, as it corrected itself faster after swinging off to the side.
Can't wait to try more.

00148 Maxi Dopero spar holder

Maxi Dopero spar holder

Finished this small detail of the lower sail and tonight I've finally done the OVKs - man that was painful work - my back was killing me. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

00147 Lower sail with spar

Lower sail with spar

Finished most of the big sewing jobs, now to knuckle down to the details like the keel and the reinforcements for the spar pockets. The lower sail is all hemmed up (as shown here) with a spar pocket immaculately sewn in (I am the bomb). The upper sail is all hemmed up and waiting for Dacron reinforcements. Miscalculated the lengths of bridal line needed, but I'm going to Dan(Harradine)'s house tomorrow and he's offering up dyneema lines, which I should be able to sheathe and use instead. Result.

00146 The New D50 has landed

The New D50

... shortly before I send it off again under the kite. Wind's looking good for tomorrow aftee and so are the light conditions - now I just have to hope I don't screw it up. It's like starting all over again.

In shooting news, shot the first two cards ever at 15, a respectable 95 followed by a reasonable 93. That was Tuesday. This Thursday I got drafted into the "Elliot Bowl" - teams of four, each member picks a "start" which is added to their card score when finished. It's wierd, because you have to start by getting as high a score as you can on the first seven or so targets, then hopefully try to lose marks as you near the end. I picked a start of 8, so I needed a 92 - which I got in the first round (it was a knock-out competition). In the final, I got 103, which counts as a 97. I adjusted sights right off to the 7 ring, but scored a bull - pants luck.

Kitesurfing today - gusty as hell again, but boosted a massive air off a wave at Vazon in cross shore winds. Airborne for at least 3-4 seconds, got around 20 foot at least (translates as twenty foot max) - just sublime. Apart from that it was a bit of a struggle and I can't wait for a clean onshore. Camaaaan you onshores.

00145 Cut the topsail

Topsail cut to size.

Topsail's cut, next I'll be marking out where everything goes and sewing on the hem band. Or maybe I'll start on the bottom sail, just to get all the major cutting out of the way.

Kitesurfing today - really gusty and overpowered again, this time at Vazon. Mike had a 9 meter up to my 11 and consequently was much happier. Dan had a 12 and was overpowered too. Got a glimps of what it's like to do a good size jump off a wave. Must try that again.

Shooting - two 15 yard targets back-to-back gave me a 95 and 93. Quite respectable as the scores were supposed to come down from a 25 yard score. I'll be shooting four targets back to back on Thursday in practice for the Jersey match.

00144 The Maxi Dopero making has begun

Top sail material sewn together

I've sewn all the material together ready to make the topsail. Now all I've got to do is measure out and cut the top sail pattern, then hem it and add some dacron reinforcement where the spars and elastic meet the ripstop. Then we're on to the lower sail, then on to fixing the elastic and cutting the spars. Oh, and making and sewing the open vertical keels (OVKs) and attaching the bridle.

The fun just never stops.

Oh, hang on. It's stopped.

Probably best.

000143 Tools

So I'm musing about a want list for tools and, short of a table mounted circular saw, I'm thinking of:

The Dremel Lithium-Ion kit

A pyrography kit


A sailcloth/rip-stop cutter


Will this endless longing never end?

No, that's why it's endless.

00142 Ooooh, it's so craaaaaazy

From the MAKE: Blog: Optical Illusions blog

Kitesurfing today - wind too strong, skill very low, spanking recieved. Stop.

00141 New camera

As with most things these days, I seem to have spontaneously purchased a D50



How did that happen? Well, I've lost the Pentax Optio S4 that I do my KAPing with, plus I've been bitching about the quality for KAP for ages.
It's a bit heavy 620 gram body, plus 210 gram (18-55mm) kit lens gives me 830 grams to lift, but that's why I'm going to construct the Maxi-Dopero. Spars are on the way - it's going to be big.

Other news, I'm off to Jersey to shoot in the inter insular small-bore competition, so I'll be getting in some practice next week (the last two shoots of th small-bore season). The jacket is excellent and although I'm still experimenting with technique, I shot a 96 on Thursday last which could so easily have been a 98 (couldn't it always). Next time maybe.

00140 Someone else's sand work

Just came across some "Cropless Crop Circles" on a site called Phidelity. The video is really nice, although it doesn't run to the end of the production.



I like the idea of fine geometric shapes, but the natural flow and the threpeutic value of doing a one off, freehand thing is more alluring right now.

00139 Getting better

Flames abstract

So the colouring in thing is getting better, although this one did take quite a long time to make. The questions are, would it be feasible to do a really large one? If so would it be any better thatn a smaller, more simple one? Either way, I really need to get some peope in there for scale. On the other hand this poses it's own problems - it'll probably be in summer when there are more people on the beach when I get the chance to include people in the shot, bu the down side is that there'll be loads more people on the beach, probably walking over the work or their dogs digging it up. Them's the breaks.
Shooting tomorrow - first time in two weeks after the neck thing. Might try staying down on the range for two or more cards and see how it goes.

00138 Dot and squiggle experiment in KAP

A dot and squiggle experiment in KAP

An experiment in shading in large areas of a raked pattern - I'll be doing more of this. The wind was blowing force 8 at times and I was using a Flowform .7msq as the light faded away badly. Better conditions'll give me better results next time. Also interesting to note that this shape looked much better from the ground.

00137 Update

So, just as a kind of diary type thing for the record I was out at Ladies Bay on Saturday and a tad underpowered with the 11 meter - I tell you, I'll definately be down to Vazon in those winds next time with a bigger kite. Griff went there instead and I knew it would be better.
The shooting last night was a mixed bag, a good 96 - with a 7 no less! and than a rather all-over-the-place 90. Don't know what went wrong there. Anyway new jacket arrives soon so hopefully that'll mark the beginning of a new upward trend (it's the one at the top)

00136 Maybe

Maybe I'll get round to:

Making a backgammon board - JY has told me in no uncertain terms that he wants one. He knows I deliver. In around 1998 he gave me his Ford Gran Torino to repaint. He got it back in around 2002. Fortunately the storage posed no problem as it was only about 7 inches long.

Solar powered boat - I've got some epoxy lyig around and I'd love to use the solar panel kit that Meriel got me for my Birthday to power it. More research needed into release compounds for glass fibre molds as well as waterproofing methods for boat drive shafts.

Maxi Dopero - The material is all selected (out of the scraps I had) and I've just got to sell afew games on Ebay to make up the funds.

Carom board - I'll probably just buy this in from here or more likely from here or here

KAP camera - Another purchase. If I'm desparate, I'll end up with a Nikon Coolpix 8400, if not it'll be the D50

00135 KAPing Dan's New GK sonic

Dan's New GK sonic

I can't remember who took this, me or Simon. THis raises the question about who is the photographer and who the image belongs to. If I ask him to hold the kite does that make it his image?
Anyway Dan has obviously got a nice new set of kites and the weather was perfect for KAPing. If only I hadn't been so slack I could have got an image of the kite and rider on the water. Sadly I am quite slack, so I didn't.
To KAP it all, the images from Simon't 8MP Canon look much nicer than my slowly failing S4. Good God I want a D50, or at least a Coolpix 8400. Give me strength (preferably strength that I can swap for cash).

00134 Look! I got a picture of the Rasta one!

Kitesurfing at Grande Roques

And what's more, it's me flying it. Pity the wind didn't stay good fro long before a squall blew in and took away the wind. Still not a bad session. That was Saturday, I think.
Now yesterday had the same weather thing going on, but this time I got in around an hour of really good surfing before the squall which nearly took me off my feet (on land! without the kite!). Helmet kept the hail off my head - that's why you need protection.
Back in the dry, went off to the range and got one card in - a 97. Good day all in all. I'll be ordering my jacket soon.

00133 Shootin' diary

I've been logging on to shooting diary - http://www.shootingdiary.com/ - to get some sort of analysis done on my progress. It's OK, but I think a quick conversation with one of the local programmers might yield an offline solution which I can manipulate to give me a more useful analysis (what am I saying?).
I'll be buying a jacket soon, although we could probably do without the expense - not forgetting that I'll be buying spars for the giant Dopero soon. Money, money, money. Where will it all end?
Thursday's shooting was good, although the first card was a bit farcical 'cos of a mix up with the turn direction for windage. I kept adjusting the sights to bring the shots back left and they kept going farther and farther away. The next card was a tidy 94, and only then with a couple of wierd pulled shots. Improvement is on the way, I can feel it.

00132 Slack

Slack line

So I did this KAP thing with Simon (Carrot) and only got round to looking at it today. This is pretty much all we got, but we were only trying out the technique. Slack line flying, eh?. He's off to by a Rokaku, which I reckon will be best to start with.
Other news (seeing as I obviously can't be arsed to update this blog too regularly), I've been shooting and the scores are going up. First was a 95 followed by a 91 (but I've a great excuse for that one).
Also I've sorted out the material for the Maxi Dopero. It's alot. The spars are going to have to be glass fibre, because the equivalent in carbon would be over £100 - not going to happen.

00131 Dopero

Do I want a Maxi Dopero? I don't know, bit ever since finding my bag full of rip-stop I obsessed anew. Sadly the cost of carbon rods for a kite thais size is around £lots, so I'm into glass fibre. Let's see if it comes about.

00130 On the Grand Roques

Kitesurfin' - what am I doing rigging up the 15 on a squally, low wind-high wind day? Dunno. Set it up the first time, then spent an hour hanging round by the car dodging rainstorms. Then Dan comes along with his "might go out might not", while I stand about dressed in rubber in a carpark adjacent to the main road. What have I become? Still, went out for a gusty 2o mins and shelved the 4am-drinking-like-a-man-who-wants-to -get-nasty-but-just-doesn't-have-the-demeanour hangover (was that too much?). Won't do it again, well ... maybe not. Arse.

00129 Shootin' better

Two cards on Thursday (16th), the first coached by Martin Mace, the club secretary. He didn't move my sights, so the group was well off center, but tight as a gnat's. The second, coached by John (who's father's name I don't know - this is how he's known to me), was sighted, adjusted and scored at 92. Yeah, I could justify this with suitable excuses. And so (as Dan mailed me the other day) it begins. Maybe I'll cook up a shoulder injury next week. That should sort me out with a six point drop. 94.

00128 New KAP discussion site

Just to mark the event, Cris Benton has launched the improved KAP discusion forum and it's much better than the last iteration by a mile.

And here it is

00127 Grand Roques jumping

Vazon was crowded out with surfers and a windsurfer on a low tide, so I decided on Grand Roques.

Good decision.

Great, if a little gusty, but as soon as I had it "dialed" (I am now holding out my arms and moving the middle and index fingers of each hand up and down to parenthesise this and in doing so providing a modicum of sarcasm to add to the proceedings) I was "rippin'" (see above). Even with the gusts I was going great guns on the new board - the size and flex gave me great control in the heavier gusts and made sure that I didn't accellerate out of control. The jumps were small affairs, but they'll grow in size slowly as the confidence increases with them - that's the idea. Just before I left I thought I'd try to get in a good big one and found myself with mucho altitude and a certain feeling of "hangtime" (once again I refer you to the passage referring to parenthesising extreme sports speak so as to make light of it). Man that was good. And thank goodness for the seat harness as I'm sure the brown stain on the back of my wetsuit would otherwise have been obvious.

Should add that rootin' tootin' shootin' was all over the shop yesterday. I will now come down from my high horse in order to take up a "it's no fun being perfect, I'd rather have room for improvement" attitude.

00126 Gusty Vazon

Slightly worried about the fact that this has just turned into a log of when and where I go to KAP, kitesurf or shoot. I'll look into the creative side of things later.
In the meantime I was of course out kitesurfing at Vazon today. Really gusty, I guess because there was too much south in the wind, meaning that it came over tehheadland and became more turbulent as a result. Still, got a couple of good runs in - but I wasn't going to start jumping in those conditions, no siree.
Oh, didn't I mention, I got lofted and dumped in the shallows thank goodness for seat harnesses. So much for not jumping.
Out shooting tonight. Wonder how the exertions of the kiting will affect things.

00125 New KAPer?

Went to Vazon in very low winds to find something to KAP. Took the rake, but ended up talking Simon (Carrot) through the mechanics of KAPing. He'll be off to buy a kite now, although still needs advice on exactly which one. Sutton Flowform 30 with Becot modification I reckon.

00124 Surfin' and shootin'

Target

Wednesday was kitesurfing, Thursday was small-bore shooting.
The kitesurfing was the first initiation into jumping. The new board was really good with an overpowered 15m and the jumps were pathetic to start with, but once I got the hang of sending the kite back into the window it was superb. 'Course I did land every one on my arse, but that's the way it starts. More soon, I hope.
The shooting was good. Just some grouping to start with, so that I can ease myself back into it again. The groups were nice and tight, so at least my eyesight hasn't deteriorated too much yet. I'll try to go every Thursday, but they'll be closing up the small-bore and moving to full-bore at the end of March (I think). I haven't shot Full bore since I was 18. Why not try it again, eh? Anyway, the first experience of it over here was much better than the time I did it in London. Everyone seemed very welcoming and eager to help. I might even get to join the OE team. Man, that'd be wierd.

00123 KAPin' the nags

Finally got out to do something more than cooking (although we have been cooking up a storm with the old Christmas present - "Casa Moro". Crackin').
Actually went out to take some image of the mounds of sand made when they (the States of Guernsey) send out a digger and a tipper truck to excavate sand from the sea wall, where it builds up and then blows over the wall onto the houses behind, and dump it below the shoreline. It's usually done on something like a low spring tide, so that they can take the sand down near the edge of the water with the truck, then all the mounds of shifted sand just get washed away and redistributed further down the beach. Unfortunately it was done yesterday and they didn't do too good a job of it, so I just got a couple of mediochre images of just a few jumped-on heaps of sand. If I timed it right and got the right light, I'd get really long rows of sand mounds, clean and crisp just after dumping.
As it was, I still managed to get a horse (not quite the group galloping across virgin sand that I had in mind) and experimented with doing fish with the rake. I don't know if it'll take off. I might just try some precision raking with calculated parameters to get even geometric patterns. How much time do I really think I'm going to get to do that? Not effin' much.

00122 New F-one 120

New F-one 120

She's here!

£270 bought me this nice little board which I hope will see me taking to the air very soon.

Pity it's brutally cold out there. Guess I'll just have to stop whinging and get out as soon as the wind shifts - so far it's predicted to be Easterlies, no good for me.