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BizB
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Wow... what a day
2006-05-01 |
After an amazing few days in Florida with the 'rents, the trip home was without problems. We did have to get up VERY early on Sunday. After our 4:30 wake up, we drove to the Sanford airport where we exchanged hugs/kisses at the curb. BBCK and I went and checked in and then "enjoyed" a coffee and a cinnamon roll. On the plane, BBCK slept quite a bit and didn't experience the kind of ear pain that she experienced on the way down.
After dropping BBCK at her mom's, I went home to see Stupid. She was moderately excited to see me. I off-loaded all the crap from the vacation into the living room and checked the wind reports for Maumee Bay State Park.
Thermals!
The wind was pumping out of the east at around 13 mph. Perfect speed for either of my kites, actually. I could be over powered on the 20 meter kite, or just powered enough on the 14 meter kite. So, I loaded up the kiting stuff, invited Stupid to join me and off we went to the bay.
When I first got there, I rigged the 20 meter kite because there weren't even any white-caps on the water. I tied Cadence to the bed of the truck with her leash and headed out to the water. I got in one good ride with the 20. I even did one good change of direction without falling! Shortly after that, I fell and the board got away from me, so I had to body drag up wind to get to the board. That's a satisfying feeling! I had a quality ride AND I was able to retrieve a lost board. Good stuff. After I got my board back, I rode back to the beach because it appeared that the wind was really picking up - whitecaps on the water. I deflated the 20 and pumped up the 14. I gave Cadence some lovin' and headed back out. Another good ride! I wasn't able to turn around without falling this time, but I did get right back up after I fell. Neither kite had touched the water at this point! All good stuff. I rode back in and decided to power up the kite a little more since I had rigged it fairly weakly the first time. I got to the beach and landed the kite without incident. After I re-rigged the connection points to provide more power, I walked over to get some water before I headed out again. I took Cadence with me to the fountain and I gave her a drink, too. Back at the truck, I tied Cadence up again and went back to the kite.
I launched without a problem and went down the water. The wind had picked up even more and I was beginning to wonder if I might be better off with the kite de-powered again. But, I was able to walk against the pull of the kite, so I figured I was okay for a while. Once in the water, I stuck my feet in the board, gave the kite a turn and pulled myself out of the water. I was really cruising along when something told me I should look back at the shore. Something didn't seem right. When I looked back, 1/4 mile away from the shore, I could see a small dark-colored thing bobbing in the surf. Uh-oh... better look back at the truck to make sure Stupid is still there. Nope... that's her in the water! Crap!
She was at least 200 yards out and still following me. I yanked the kite around to head back to the beach and pulled myself off the board. Since I had attached the leash, I knew the board was following me, so I just did a body drag back in Cadence's direction. I got within 15 feet of her, but I couldn't reach her. While I was concetrating on the dog, I was not paying very close attention to the kite and as such, I accidently sent the kite into the power zone. It promptly yanked me out of the water and pulled me on shore. After I released the kite to the 5th (safety) line, I turned my attention back to Cadence who was reallly huffing and puffing at this point. She was still 100 feet off shore. I started calling to her and encouraging her to keep swimming. There was a small gathering of onlookers on the beach who started calling to her, too. I backed myself back into the water to about waist deep and once she got to me, I wrapped my arm around her and assisted her to shore. When I looked back up there, the crowd had already dispersed.
Cadence had broken her leash. She was exhausted and out of breath. While I packed up the kite, she rested on the grass. It seemed that she recovered rather quickly, but she did sleep well last night. I did, too. My day started at 4:30 and consisted of an emotional departure from a great week of visiting with the 'rents, a 2 hour flight back home, unloading the truck, loading the truck with kite gear, a drive to the bay, pumping up and rigging 2 different kites, some awesome riding, a dog rescue, a Subway sandwich for dinner and then off to bed. I was asleep by 8:30 and I didn't wake up even once until my alarm went off at 7:00. |
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