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.

00121 Thingy

Thingy

Catching up with the blog.

Went to the beach on Sunday (I think) and decided to do a big doodle. Didn't come out too bad, although next time I've promised myself that I'll be doing something a bit diffrent. I'm thinking fish.

00120 Three days on the trot

I won't draw it out, but I've been out kiteboarding three days in a row. Two short stints on Monday and Tuesday with not really enough wind and one decent session at Ladies Bay today (the first there for a long, long time).
Mike reckons I should start jumping. I told him that I'd been popping off the water without any kite movement and his reaction was "move the kite" - scary, but exciting.
In other closely related news I get my new board in the post soon (allegedly). Ieeeeeee!

00119 Birthday KAP

Tendrils

With all this Southerly and Easterly wind there's no kitesurfing, so I'm out KAPing more. Today was my Birthday, so I got special dispensation to go out and do a bit of raking.
I always wish I'd spent more time filling up the sand - there's an element of "less is more", but at the same time a really voluminous and intricate piece feels like it would look really good. One day...

00118 KAP surfers

Surfer

Put on the wetsuit this afternoon and headed into the surf with the kite. Must remember to put the camera over the place where the surfers are going to be - not where they sit waiting for the sets. I'll nail it next time.

Still, that wetsuit is unreal. It's cold out there, but I was well toasty. Bonzer.

00117 First sail of the New Year

Went out to Pembroke on Wednesday (4th) and the conditions were as good as they get there. Tried to do a couple of gybes to toeside - man, there's a fair amount of acceleration when you whip the kite through the window in the opposite direction. I'm going to need alot more practice.

No more wind for kitesurfing for at leat a week. I'll turn my attention to KAP.

0116 Back again

I think I'm finally back up to strength now after having had some unholy virus which first fills the lungs with hacking mucus and then empties the body of nutrients over a period of days using the lower exit . To administer a killer blow, I ensured an intake of alcohol and rich food kept my ebb low over the festive season. You can never be sure about these things, though, so just to be sure I limited sleep and eventually my success was assured. I was fucked.

So what's on the cards after the return to form? Well, I've considered a few options.

KAP? No wind, plus I'm pining after a D50 with a Sigma 10-20mm (at a cool £700 this should be safely beyond my grasp)
Kitesurfing? No wind and no time. Plus I'm moaning about needing this shorter board for high wind and to help initiate me into the awesome world of the jump (£400 plus p&p means I won't be seeing that one any time soon).
Board building? Although the 138x36 proved to be a great board for upwind and chop, it's definately too heavy for getting off the water. I need access to glassfibre, vaccum bags & pumps and perhaps the thing I most require, a working knowledge of board engineering and composite materials (a PhD would be dandy).
Backgammon boards? Need some more tools for this and Meriel has our alottment of woodwork evening classes shorn up (but I'm not bitter).

A new kite? Now were talking.
I may not have the D50, but I'll not be entirely happy until I've lofted a quality camera. But as is becomming painfully apparent, quality not only costs, but it weighs. So I'll be looking into a KAP Pilot:



From an original design by Peter Lynn, it's been tweaked for KAP in low winds, which is exactly what I need for lifting heavy gear in under 10 mph.

Let's just see what happens ...

0115 Wave

Wavey

KAPing last Sunday (11th), kitesurfing solo at Vazon on the previous Monday (5th).

I'll since then, can't make a fist ...

00114 Kitesurf meal

Kitesurf meal

So we went out to this indian place for the kitesurf Christmas meal and we did a secret Santa thing - and Meriel got this hat.

Which was nice.

Drunk? Me?

00113 KAP at last

Slipway by Richmond Fort

Tuesday was a perfect KAP day, so I indulged my causeway obsession. New pics in the causeway set. Low winds, but just enough to get the rig up meant super-steady shots, and with teh wind - perfect. Must get out more.

00112 Low wind upwind

Ladies for the first time in ages and it was really good. A NNW meant that we were traveling out from the beach and in to the bay. With the benefit of a little experience, I can now see why Mike yearns for a NWerly - flatter water and smooth passage over the sandbank. In the flatter sections I got to grips with the edge and release technique that I've wanted to try in these conditions. Little wake-style jumps with no kite movement. Soon as I've got that sussed I'll try a little more kite-lofting (but not like yesterday's).

00111 Vazon and the air

After deliberating whether or not to try some KAPing this weekend, it would seem that the winds have turned favourable for a spot of kitesurfing. So out we went, me and Grif, off to Vazon - which is handy, 'cos that's where we're living now.
High tide, but neap, meant Richmond end. Started with a 15 and the 138 woody and I would have been fine if it hadn't picked up and I got lofted and dropped. A first for me, and a real eye opener. The wind increased and so did my speed on the water and by some sort of misguided instinct I lost ground downwind before raising the kite, which in turn raised me. I got dropped in shallow water - but not too shallow, thankfully. Wish I'd made inroads into getting further upwind and I'll make sure I do next time, rather than pissing about anywhere near the beach. Grif lost his board as he got overpowered on his 14 and a high speed body drag ensued, followed by a mile long walk to retrieve his board - bummer.
Tomorrow looks good, mind. Hope the wetsuit dries or it could be icky.

00110 Maiden voyage

She goes! I took out the 138x36 (or 35.5, to be accurate) and she really flies upwind and scythes through the chop. Much better speed control than my other board - because of the flex I guess. I went down to Pembroke with Mike and started on my Mauricio Pro, thinking that if there was less swell I'd take out the ply board. I was imagining that one decent landing after hitting a wave might snap her in two and that might nearly break my heart. In the end I thought f*** it, and off we went. In a word, beautiful. And if there was a down side to the first outing it was that my Mauricio Pro just didn't perform as well - although the epoxy coating on the ply board isn't UV resistant and might break down over time, I like it much more - more flex and sharper rail and I'm sure the longer deeper fins had something to do with it. I'll look into UV-proofing any boards I make in future.

00109 Stubby 120x38

Stubby 120x38

Should I really be thinking of doing this when I haven't even taken the finished 138x36 on the water. Guess I'm just a boardbuilding slut. Spank me.
This time there's the allure of using glass fibre to keep down the weight and improve the strength.

00108 The First Kitesurf Board Project Index (FKBPI)

This collects together the posts relating to the construction of my138x36 Marine ply kiteboard:

00080 New project -plywood kite board
00081 First design - the proposed 138x38
00082 The next iteration - 141x36
00085 The Fins are here
00086 Plywood arrives
00087 138x36
00088 Outline stuck to board
00088 138x36 in the wood
00089 Testing testing
00090 138x36 - Test run's dun
00091 Holey mid ply
00092 Laid up
00094 Thoughts on the layup
00096 Out of the jig
00099 Board n' bits
00101 Filling in
00102 Fin hole test
00105 The final coat
00107 138x36 finished

There - stick that on your feet.

00107 138x36 finished

138x36 finished

So this is the finished article - it just needs a maiden voyage, which will hopefully be without a snappage. Now that would be a bummer.

00106 Hungover at Pembroke

Kitesurfing at Pembroke

After staying up to gone four o'clock in the morning, I was off to Pembroke for ten. Seven kites out there were, that's alot for these parts.
Wind was good, although it got gustier as the morning went on. Too choppy for trying any tricks, so I concentrated on controlling my speed and dealing with the random waves which kept trashing me. The good news was that going upwind was a no-brainer, it's totally there, so now I can concentrate on other things.

In board news, I'll be fitting the fins and pads today and the next session I'll try to take her out and see how she goes. Really wish I'd built a smaller board now - and the offcuts just aren't big enough.

00105 The final coat

The final coat

The final coat of epoxy is on my new board. It's not the best job in the world, but it's not half bad either. As soon as it's dry I'll fit he fins and straps and we'll be good to go.
So that's pretty much it. I'll try to take it out tomorrow if there's not too much swell, otherwise I'll wait until the wind changes direction so I can surf it at Ladies Bay where it won't get a baptism of waves.

I know I missed blogging the first coat, but what can I say? I put it on and sanded it when dery with 120 grit - wish I'd had 80 grit to start with, to take out the mottled bits.

00103 Rippin' kiteboard sesh

Mum & Jennifer - rippin' kiteboard sesh

This picture of my mum and her guest for the week, Jennifer. They walked past the beach right after I finished kitesurfing at Ladies Bay in good, but slowly deteriorating North Westerlies. Just in time to help me get my gear back to the car. It really did look like two ladies of a certain age walking back from a rather pleasant outing with their Flexifoils - no doubt dialing in some most singular backloops before a nice cup of tea.
The session was excelent, as moving and staying upwind, I managed to turn some 180s and then jibe the board as I turned the kite, carving round onto a new tack - just superb. Also started the edge and release technique that I've been reading about as a preparation for learning to jump.
Had a go on Mike's Wipika Serum in powered-up conditions and it was a reall eye opener. It really ran smoothly over the chop and handled the extra power superbly. As soon as the wind dropped a bit, it came to the end of it's usefulness and I started going futther downwind. so I switched back to my Mauricio Pro and off upwind again. It's made me think that if I evr get round to making another board, it'll be a 120cm model for higher winds.

00102 Fin hole test

Fin hole test

Today I just thought I'd see how easy it is to drill three holes equidistant in a perfect line to fit the fins. Not, as it turns out, but at least I know that before I try it on the board itself. The idea of drilling and filling the fin bolt holes with epoxy/microbaloons is superb. The first coat of epoxy also worked a treat and the epoxy that spilled onto the top surfaces after the lamination give an idea of how smooth and shiny two coats of epoxy are going to look. It's really worth having this little test board as it's definately saved me from messing up the simplest things (which I am liable to do). I'll definately be recommending it to anyone starting a plyboard build for the first time. I'll also be recommending that when filoling the drilled out bolt insert holes that they stick the masking tape to the bottom of the board, not the top. Sounds intuitive I suppose, but for several reasons I did it on the top side and now regret it - although it's not going to cause any major headaches.
I sanded down the board today, taking a tiny bit off the topside of the rail and leaving the bottom edge sharp. I'll now be coating the board in two layers of epoxy and then drilling out the fin holes. I already drilled and countersunk the strap bolt holes with the intention of glueing in the bolts and filling over the countersunk bolt heads on the underside of the board. But now I think of it, it doesn't really matter and if I fill over the bolt heads and coat the board, the coating will most likey crack as I tighten the nuts to attach the straps. I'll fit the straps first and if it bugs me that much then I'll fill in over the bolt heads at the very end.

00101 Filling in

Filling in

With all the holes drilled, I made up a solution of epoxy and microbaloons to fill the holes. Once cured and sanded, I'll drill them out to take the bolts for fins and straps.
Just tried to use a roller to apply a coat of epoxy to the test board - just to see how easy it is before I coat the real board. As it turns out it'll probably be the easiest part of the process. I rested the test board on screws so that I can coat both sides in one go. On the real board I'll be leaving it topside-down, to avoid any roughness or stippling from the screws supporting the underside.

00100 Return to Vazon

Vazon Slipway

Although we will all be returning to Vazon (Gods be willing sometime soon, so that the works can start), I went down today for a kitesurf session of the highest order.
I met Grif down at Ladies Bay, where he had already taken a wind reading - 17kts gusting to 30kts - not good. He was reluctant to go out, but suggested we go to Vazon "just to see".
As we pulled out of the car park, we passed Mike, who looked like he had persuaded Grif to turn round an rig up at Ladies. Grif turned around (again) and pulled up next to me saying "what d'you think". After a couple of secs I said we should hit Vazon - I like the variety of Beaches we have here and I really wanted to have an equal amount of experience of all of them. Besides which, if you hit a big gust I'd sure like a few hundred meters more of beach to get dragged up to give me a little more "release time" (that'll be the kite, but possibly also the bowels).
So Vazon it was, and how. It looked quite promising when we got down and afer a shaky self-launch and the usual twenty minutes of getting dragged off the board, it all clicked and I was upwind, really upwind. After that first twenty I spent the next hour zipping up and down the waves and across the beach and not once did I do the walk of shame - DO YOU HEAR ME? NOT ONCE! I even caught a but of carving waveriding action. Solid gold.
On landing we both agreed that it had be a most singular and acceptable afternoons activity and vowed to return when the wind blows West.
In other news the KAP was crap. Managed to knock off a quick half an hour and out of about 300 shots, the light was bad enough to reward me with one semi-sharp image (this one).

All in all - most excellent.

00099 Board n' bits

Board n' bits

As you can see I've got the deck pads now. Relatively comfy.
I've drilled out the holes for the fins and straps, ready to be filled with epoxy. Still don't know if I've done the right thing by drilling them right through the board (especially for the footstraps, because of the pressure they're under). Still, the board doesn't seem to have lost any strngth so what the hell.
So it's just a matter of time now. I'll fill up the holes, wait 'till they're cured, drill out the holes for the bolts and finally sand and epoxy the board to finish it.

In other news, decided to create a set for my causeway obsession and added an "Current obsessions" list to the sidebar of the blog. I am now driven to get out and KAP some causeways as well as capturing the horses for the "motion" theme. And exactly where will all this time come from, Mr Lenfestey, mmmm? I see you are overdrawn already, and yet you suggest we extend you a larger line of credit? Shit, how am I going to break the news about the looming extreme backgammon board constuction thing I'm brewing up.

So the next post will be a century. 'Spose I should have a big party.

Or maybe not.

00098 Back in the water

After a two week layoff, I got back in the water today.
Firstly I went for a swim at Petit Port, this time with a wetsuit. Got an ice cream headache, so I stuck on a swimming cap. Then decided that the goggles would have to go, as they are blue tinted to too great a degree and fog too easily. When I finally did get to swim, the swell was really big and I got the heebie-geebies – I don’t really want to get dashed against the rocks, especially with no one around to help. Tried KAPing instead, but the wind was too turbulent around the cliffs. The KAP group theme this month is “Motion”, so maybe I’ll try to get some images of those horses running along the beach that I’ve been meaning to shoot for ages.
Oh, and secondly, Dan called up today to say he was going out to check the wind. I though tit was going to be unsurfable Southerlies today, so that came as a surprise. So we all went down and rigged up at Grand Roques. First ten minutes was great and I was really getting upwind. Then it started getting really gusty, to the point where the wind just died completely and then I was hoiked off my board – most undignified (not that any of the kitesurfing I do qualifies for any sort of dignity bonus). Won’t forget my boots again, it was like walking on … well it was actually walking on sharp pebbles. Ow.
After the surfing, we headed down to Dan’s house, where Lucy and Meriel were playing with the kids. As Dan said, it’s a kind of kitesurf widows’ benevolence thing.
The board construction is taking a back seat while I wait for deck pads. Surfstore gave me some bum ones, so I’m off looking for more elsewhere and sending theirs back.

In other news Brooks pointed out today a couple of World Wide Panorama entries that are really something else. I’ve recently stopped posting bumf from the interweb, but these are exceptionally good:
Dog composite pano and Child in a playground composite pano.
This is surely something that could produce awesome images from a KAP rig.
Ignore them and be blander for the ignorance.

00097 Tintin rocket

Tintin's rocket

Having just returned from a trip to Eindhoven with the family, I had to post this to remind me that I must make this at some stage. I think a lathe and a few quality blocks of wood glued together to give a wierd collage-of-grain thing would be cool - we'll see.
Didn't get to KAP, mind - bummer.

00096 Out of the jig

DSC_1368

The jig is up and my board has emerged, rocker and all

00095 New Gentled AUTO for KAP

Slip away

After helping James Gentles (but only by giving him the dubious benefit of my experience and opinion), I got the new Gentled AUTO in the post.
I've been neglecting my KAP recently, partly because of the kitesurfing and partly because I'm running out of original landmarks and good weather - not to mention the fact that we're not finding ourselves down on the beach with nothing to do. It's not summer anymore, y'know. So this gave me an incentive to get out to the (IMO) unfortunately named Fort Pezeries to take some shots of the fort and it's nearby slipway.
The wind was a good F5 and 3 sections of tail gave me enough stability once the kite got out of the wind shadow of the headland - you know that feeling of attaching your camera and rig to a bucking and diving kite ... well, maybe you don't, but hey.
As per usual I could have used some more height to get the Fort in full-frame, but I got a couple of decent shots along with the one I wanted of the slipway shown here. I later tried to stitch a pano together, but it was like pulling teeth and all I got was this. To be honest any slipway would have done, I just wanted to take a pic of one to see if slipways looked as good from the air as they do from the ground - and I think they do, so I'll be doing that again, time willing.

Anyway, to conclude, this AUTO thing was excellent, instead of the usual mucking about with a rubber band or a long timer interval with the associated "is it on? is it not?" problems, I got a no hassle setup with a velcro attachement, then I just turned on the camera and flicked the switch on the AUTO to start it capturing - easy peesy Japaneesy.

00094 Thoughts on the layup

I posted this on the Flexifoil forum thread on ply board building in reply to a couple of questions, but I'm posting it here too because it covers some details I meant to mention:

I've just stuck two battens of a suitable height to the floor (to give me the rocker), covered it all with a polythene dust sheet, put the laminated board on top, then covered the board with the dust sheet and then put the weights (bricks) on top. The majority of the weight from the bricks is placed at the point where I intend the outer footstrap bolts to go, this way I'll get a gentle progressive, almost eliptical rocker. I've used the poly sheet before in a test and it provides a cheap, perfect and very thin protective layer to stop the epoxy sticking where it shouldn't.
I did lightly brush (or rather spread) some epoxy on all ply contact surfaces before adding the epoxy/silica mix, so hopefully it'll bond well. The only bummer is that halfway through the process, my one-pump system started acting up, so I had to estimate the volumes of hardener & resin towards the end. I was doing so well, it'd be a bummer if the whole thing was messed up by faulty measuring pumps. I have a feeling it's going to be ok.

00093 Rocky surfin

So I almost forgot to add an entry for the kitesurfing at Pembroke on Thursday 13th (last week). I got down there extra early as Meriel had to drop me off before picking Jonah up from school – we won’t have to do this again as we have our new car now. I got there at 11:30 (too keen) and rigged up the 11 meter, a good choice for winds gusting up to 27 knots. Naturally by the time Grif arrived it was dropping, but there was still enough wind to be powered at least some of the time. Meriel arrived in time to see the end of a four hour session and proclaim that I have improved immeasurably since the last time she saw me at Ladies Bay. I really got to grips with tacking across quite large waves, hitting myself in the chest with my legs a few times as I absorbed the impacts. The tide meant that there were partially exposed rocks suddenly appearing in front of us, but as the tide went up these started to disappear thankfully – they were a real worry and a big confidence deminisher. Dan had a go on my board and pronounced it fit for general consumption and Grif leant me his SK8, which was really nice – a lot of flex and a hard rail.

00092 Laid up

138x36 layup

Here's the board all layed up and weighed down to give it some rocker. It's quite an old set of floorboards and the bricks are getting on, so I guess you could say it's an ageing rocker (haw). I've got an image of the side view to get a better idea of how much rocker there is. There's a fair bit, but I envisage that it will spring back a little when I take off the bricks.
The laying up took longer than I thought (naturally), but without the aid of one of those epoxy squeegies (spreading tool), it would have been a nightmare. As it was, the epoxy got everywhere - but fortunately I'd covered everything with a polythene dust sheet. It seems that with all the best intentions in the world you can set out determined not to get the stuff on your hands and by the end of it you are practically hand painting the room with it.
Anyway it's done now, so I'll leave it well alone for a couple of days, possibly longer until it's properly cured. I had a bit of trouble with the "one pump" epoxy setup I had and the mixtures of resin and hardener weren't entirely consistent throughout, so fingers crossed that it actually works.
Next step will be to drill out the footstrap and fin holes, fill them with an epoxy/microbaloons mix and wait for it to cure before drilling out the holes, then I'm practically done.

00091 Holey mid ply

Holey mid ply

Following Ben Vine's lead, I decided to bore out some holes in the mid ply of the board to save weight, making sure to leave well alone the areas where the strap bolts and fins will go. It'll definately help cut down the weight, now I just have to worry about the jig that I'm going to lay up the plys and the epoxy in. It has to be accessable from the underside to wipe any excess epoxy off as it oozes out when I apply pressure to the layup. Mmmmm.

00090 138x36 - Test run's dun

138x36 - test run1

I ran a test to see if epoxy would hold the rocker, add stiffness and if it would work at all. So it did work and I drilled some holes in the upper ply just to see if it would make any difference to the stiffness. To be honest it was difficult to see, because the test area was so small.
The picture top left is the small rocker table I fashioned while the plys were wrapped in plastic with bricks on top to weigh them down in the middle during curing (DURING CURING - excellent).
The board sprung back a bit when I removed the bricks (albeit twenty four hours too soon), but only by about a third and I imagine that this was also in part due to the small size of the test board. You can see the rocker I was left with in the top right shot and another view in the bottom left.
I filled up some of the holes with the remainder of the epoxy and bonding additive and drilled it out (bottom left shot) to accept a countersunk bolt - worked fine.
Now I have to decide if I plough on with the real thing or if I do another test, this time with the outside coat. It's a tricky one to call - on the one hand I don't want to waste my time (although I am rather good at that), and on the other I don't want to mess the whole thing up by not knowing what I'm doing.

00089 Testing testing

I'll have a picture tomorrow of the two ply test I ran using the epoxy and two sheets of the marine ply. I made a "board" about a foot long out of two sheets of ply laminated together and with the help of a few house bricks, I added a little rocker (more that I'll have on te board itself), just to see what happened. I coated each sheet in epoxy, then added a bonding compound (I think it's a silicate additive - basically a glass thickener) to one layer and stuck the two together. I guess that the bonding additive would give a similar effect to the addition of a glass fibre layer. I also drilled a few holes in the top layer (as I'll be doing with the middle ply of the board) and filled them up with the remaining epoxy/bonding additive mix. This way Ill find out how reliable it'll be to drill out big holes to take fottstrap and fin bolts/inserts.
I've learned to always have more gloves to hand (heh), and never start the proces unprepared. Also I bought the "Glass Fibre Handbook" off Amazon the other day, full of stuff including a frustratingly small chapter on sandwich construction - basically foam and glass fibre (presumably carbon fibre would work in a similar way). Man, there's a lot to learn, as usual ...

00088 138x36 in the wood

138x36 in the wood

The covers are off. I cut the ply with my trusty Bosch D1A0 - splinter free blade, nice, good anorakage.
All the drillings for foot straps and fins are marked up. Next thing is the epoxying/laying up.

00088 Outline stuck to board

Pattern & board

I've printed out the board outline, stuck it together and spray-mounted it onto the three pieces of 4mm ply, ready to be cut out. I screwed the ply together to make sure that they stay together when I cut them. I thought I'd be clever and drill through where the footstrap fixings will be, so that I could put screws into the holes and hold the boards together that way - naturally I drilled them in slightly the wong place. Ah well, you've got to get a mistake or two out of the way before you start working on something, otherwise you'd be left wondering what you've done wrong. At least I know what I've cocked-up.

00087 138x36

138x36

The final iteration before production begins. A thinner board and slightly more rounded edges. Slightly shorter too. I got the wood cut to 141cm and it looked a bit long - don't know why.

00086 Plywood arrives

Plywood cutting

The plywood arrived and we went down to get it cut down and pick it up. It looks much thinner that I thought it would, but that means I'll be able to put a rocker in it alot easier.

00085 The Fins are here

Fins

Kitesurf board fins from Omnitech arrived the other day. I've got the epoxy, I've got the straps, I just need the micro baloons (or whatever) and as soon as I have the wood (tomorrow) the process of building the board can really begin.

00084 Star Wars and low winds

Bought the box set of the IV-VI Starwars trilogy so that me and Jo could watch it together - should be here next week. Also got a book on Fibre Glass use - now what did I do that for?

In other news, went to Ladies with Mike. Waited an hour fro the wind to pick up as it was supposed to. It only just made it enough to get going on the 15 and when I finally did a few runs, the wind dropped with the kite way up high - so the kite dropped, wrapped itself in the 5th line and there weren't no wind to relaunch it, so we packed up and went home. Bummer.

Still, Thursday looks good. Nice.

00083 Pembroke on the big board

Afternoon session with Grif at Pembroke yesterday. We agreed that it should be a big kites and big boards party, and so it was.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that the 5th line system installed on my kites is detracting from their power. I posted up a thread on the kiteboarder forum and there's one guy there who agrees with me. The up side is that, in the right conditions, there's a possibilty that I can fly the bigger kites in a higher wind than I first thought. Concerns for safety, however, mean that I can't just rig up the 15 whenever I please, I'm going to have to continue like this for a while.
Anyway I really liked the big board and it turns on a penny - worryingly saw a large rock revealed by a trough between waves, but the board reacted almost faster than I could think (if that's possible). I didn't really notice any advantage in the upwind, however, but maybe it's the board, the wind or just me, time will tell. It's certainly a different style of riding. The best thing for me was that I got really into riding over medium sized waves, dipping the kite for more power as I went over the edge of each wave - that's where I was losing speed before. I'm also better at predicting when to lean back as the kite pulls while sining, that way I don't lose so much ground downwind.

As for the board, I bought some epoxy today (expensive stuff) in order to bond the ply together. I'm erring towards using the original method of bricks and wedges to get the rocker, after having previously been through all sorts of loony ideas. After scanning through 1000 of the 1600 posts on teh Yahoo kiteboardbuilder group's message board, I keep toying with the idea of glass fibre. One step at a time, I think.

00082 The next iteration - 141x36

The next iteration - 141x36

The second iteration of the design. After looking through half of the 1600 posts on the Yahoo Kiteboardbuilder group, I've made the boards a little longer with straighter edges (to test how the upwind ability will be affected - favourable, I hope), it's also have less width for handling the chop better (although here I might make it 37-38cm). The rocker will probably be 3-3.5cm and be more eliptical, if I can make it happen. I've also given it a squarer look as I don't really need a board that'll turn well in the waves - that'll be for another board.

The Fins are on order from Omnitech - tracker fins, 2". I've ordered six, four for the ply board one pair for the Mauricio Pro. The straps will be my old Wipika ones and the deck pads will either be £20 from online order, or a cut up camping mat (yet to be decided).

As for the board, maybe shorter and a little wider - I don't know, it'll probably be decided as I cut the thing out. Also to be decided is whether or not to use epoxy (more expensive) or just do waterproof wood glue (tempting). If I use epoxy, there's the additional temptation to add a layer of glass fibre.

In addition to all this I'm wondering whether or not to drill out the center ply of the laminate to reduce weight as per Ben VInes board. It makes sense, but I'm worried it might make the board quite weak, especially if it's to be 141cm long.

Another question is whether to add some kind of cushioning or reinforcement to the area around the heels, where most pressure will be excerted. But then I'm only roughing this board, so why bother - I don't want to lose sight of the fun element, I just want to build it and take it out.

00081 First design - the proposed 138x38

The proposed 138x38

It's supposed to be a way for me to experiment, so I thought I'd try a 138cm x 38 cm with nice rounded edges. I suspect I'll be coming across the usual design problems and mess up quite a bit on the way, but I've got to start somewhere.

It'll be 3 ply using 4mm marine ply sandwiched together with epoxy resin. Hopefully glass fibre rails will reinforce the edges, but I've never done this before, so we'll have to see ...

00080 New project -plywood kite board

So I’ve decided on my next homebrew project – a kitesurfing board. Everything I’ve read or heard leads me to believe that it’ll be fun and cheap, my two favourite words.
I’ll be using (or so the current intention goes) 3 sheets of 4mm marine ply laminated together with an epoxy resin and placed on wedges with bricks to weigh the board down, creating a rocker of 5-6 cm at the tips, leaving a flat section in the middle. Images of the design to follow.
My only decisions are what size to make the board (I reckon 145cm x 38 cm) where to get the fins from, whether or not to reinforce the edges with glass fibre and whether or not to add a design. I might even consider sticking a piece of fabric to the base of the board with epoxy.
The 8’x4’ sheet of marine ply is on the way, now I have to source the epoxy, glass fibre, footpads, stainless steel bolts to countersink into the underside and the fins.
What’s going to happen – no one knows.

00079 Wavey day

20051002 Pembroke

Went to Pembroke today in a NNW started on the 11m and after the customary screw-ups, got out on a few tacks. But, my word, big old waves in the middle of the bay meant losing the board and wiping out quite alot. Still managed to stay upwind for a little while which meant I didn't get beasted by the waves too much. Big air (for me) off the biggest waves and I learned to move the kite after going over the wave - it really takes the speed out of you (I guess it's because you move nearer the kite on the crest, so the kite loses power). Quite enjoyable all in all and some new things to try next time: keep hands towards the center of the bar to avoid violent downwind aerials on my back followed by heavy deep-water impacts, and power up after a wave.
Wind died later on, so I tried the new F-one board, but it was too rough for me and the wind had died too much to carry on - shame. I'll wait to try it at ladies under "laboratory conditions".
Am now seriously considering making a board from ply. Mmmmmmm.

00078 Boardy boardy

Jo, Cara and the new directional board

This is the F-one directional board that I got from Carl for a song (I'm really good at singing). Apparently I'll be able to get upwind really easily in the right conditions and it'll let me go out in lighter wind days when my other board would hold me back.

Oh yeah, I'll believe all that when I see it.

Incidentally I didn't get the kids with it, I already had those.