Nabq Bay, Egypt: Day 5
10th June 2008
Another day of light wind today - lots of hanging out on the beach and cool chats! And most definitely better than being at work :-) The wind picked up after lunch and we got out for about half an hour, before it died off again! so badly wished it could have stayed a bit longer! We were all so under powered so pretty hard to do anything, I tried one unhooked railey but I just didn't have enough power unfortunately. Hopefully tomorrow! (I've said that every day now for 3 days!!) - I am a strong believer in positive thinking! Had a swim tonight with my bro and two guys we met out here, Steve and Mark, we all did some lengths and then met for dinner. Two more days out here - I really don't wanna go home! I'm going to get an early night tonight so I can be on the beach for 8 - have to make the most of every minute out here!
Nabq Bay, Egypt: Day 4
9th June 2008
Woke up this morning with the famous dodgey Egypt belly! I've been to Egypt 5 times now and never got away with it - not sure what it is but seems to get most people that come here! So spent the morning in bed trying to sleep it off! Tony dropped by with some dodgey belly-pills so I popped them and then went back to sleep with chilled tunes playing! Luckily there was no wind otherwise I would have been going mad, but I kept texting Tony to see what the situation was with the wind (I can see the kite beach from my room but was good to have my own wind update!). Started to feel a bit better so me an my bro went to the pool for a swim and to catch some rays! I'm not great at lying still in the sun for very long now - so probably spent longer in the pool, but either way I was starting to feel better and that was a relief. We had lunch and as we were finishing up I started to see a few kites on the beach, so we headed down there. Wasn't feeling 100% still so hung out and chatted for a bit then went out on my 11m. It was pretty light and hard to stay upwind but it was a nice surprise - I wasn't expecting the wind to show today - MASSIVE relief for all of us who are super-keen! I was quite underpowered and did my usual tricks and also tried a unhooked railey, which I nearly landed but not quite! Wind died soon after that so I will have to wait until tomorrow! Railies are so cool, something I've always wanted to do so I'm so happy I am close to doing them now. It's such a wicked feeling, like flying! not sure how good my railies look are at the moment but it good to just be doing them unhooked and I will keep working on them! Had another chilled evening and really hoping for wind tomorrow - 3 kiting days left in Egypt and I have to make the most of it! So nice not kiting in a wetsuit too! something I keep reminding myself not to take for granted! Until tomorrow... :-)
Nabq Bay, Egypt: Day 3 (8th June)
9th June 2008
Wind didn't show in the morning so everyone just chilled out on the beach, and at the centre. Met some really nice guys out here, so was cool just hanging out and chatting - I was dying to try another railey but we all just had to be patient! I was loving lying on the hammock on the beach, it was wicked! At about 1pm the wind picked up and I went out on my 9m, not really powered enough to do railey so did lots of frontloops with grabs. I'm really making myself do more grabs now! Then the wind died again and I just about made it back with out kite falling out of the sky. We had lunch and then me and a few of the guys decided to go and chill out on the sunbeds and have a couple of cheeky drinks in the sun! noooo wind! stayed there all afternoon just hanging out and chatting. When Tony finished teaching he came and joined us and we just hung out and chatted. When the bar on the beach closed, me, my bro and two mates Steve and Mark went for a swim in the pool and did some lengths! Then we had dinner and an early night. Feel really tired today - still aching from yesterday - but a nice feeling - I have to do railies tomorrow! the more i do the more i will get used to the crazy feeling that you get when you do it - such a cool feeling, just leaves me smiling and giggling to myself! going to sleep now, wanna get up early tomorrow - see you then!
Nabq Bay, Egypt: Day 2 (7th June)
9th June 2008
Today was pumping!! I couldn't sleep last night because I could hear the wind! so when I woke up and could still hear the wind, I know I needed to get down there. From chatting to the guys here it seems that the wind tends to die in the afternoon here so I wanted to get out while it was pumping! After a good brekky, I hit the beach and pumped up my 7m - no hanging around! I get so excited when its windy!! I was so over-powered and it was quite gusty so it always takes a few tacks to feel confident to start doing tricks! it wasn't really great conditions to try new tricks, but it was great practice to get out in it and just try land the tricks I can do which in crazy wind is quite hard sometimes! I came in after a few hours, it was pretty tiring out there - such an awesome maxed out session When one of the beach dudes landed my kite he noticed it was really soft, so i ask Doctor Tony to have a look at it for me - again! (I wonder if my 11m will need a repair while I'm here too!) Tony also spotted the stitching was going on one of the struts, where the batten is sewn on and after some lunch he fixed all of it for me - what a legend! (I really think I need a new small kite!!)
Later on the wind dropped a bit so I pumped up my 9m bandit, I was quite pleased about getting out on my 9m, it's my favourite size I think and def my favourite kite. I love my bandit so much and can't wait to get a 6.5 and a bigger one - prob 11m. The wind actually picked up again while I was out on my 9m but I could just about hold it and did some biiiiig jumps!! It was such an awesome session - did all my usual tricks and landed mot things which was wicked, and I'm feeling a lot more confident. I guess flat water always has that affect but it's good to feel everything is fluid and sweet! When my mate Tony had finished teaching for the afternoon he took me through railey-bootcamp! I was actually about to come in and was asking the beach guys to land me and Tony told them not to and said I had to go out and do a railey, unhooked! I asked if I could do it hooked in first and he said I had to just go for it and do it, so I did as I was told! and to be honest I needed that kick up the arse! and it did the trick, my first attempt was pathetic, so was my 2nd but then my 3rd attempt I unhooked, did the railey, really felt that sensation of stretching out superman style and landed it! it was AMAZING!!! I couldn't believe I landed it and couldn't stop smiling and giggling the whole time on my way back to see Tony. I asked him how it was and to thank him for making me do it! and he said I did really well and was really proud of me and told me to go and do another one! which I did, which felt a lot better and I was chuffed it wasn't just a flukey attempt the last time! then i did another one and crashed out but I was getting pretty tired. So then I just went back out and did jumps and front loops and just stuff I could do without too much thought and concentration. Had such a wicked time, and everyone on the water was just boosting and the atmosphere and vibe on the water was pretty special, everyone was having a wicked time and loving the wind! I came in after about another half hour because my body was just really tired and I started doing silly things because I was tired! When I got home that night I watched the Fatsands Advanced Kiteboarding progression DVD which has raileys and surface handle passes, and riding blind which are on my list to learn, ready to try it tomorrow. Please be windy... :-)
Nabq Bay, Egypt: Day 1 (6th June)
9th June 2008
After a month of full-on work on two different sailing races, with no day off I was really looking forward to the week holiday me and my bro, Jonty, had booked. We managed to get a sweet deal - all inclusive at the Regency Plaza Hotel which is right next to the Colona Kite Centre, probably about 20m from the hotel along the beach - perfect location! I can even see the kite beach from my room - it's about about 50m away - prime location! I could so get used to this - it couldn't be better! My mate Tony teaches out here, and this morning he knocked on the door claiming to be room service - nice try! was really wicked seeing him, he told me it was windy and I was on the beach within half an hour. The set up at the centre is so idillic - sooo sweeet! Compressor to blow your kites up, kite storage, the Egyptians guys are on hand to set up your lines, launch/land your kites and pack up your kites too. The water is warm, flat and never more than waist deep, apart from one part which is deeper a bit further downwind. There is also a guy at the end of the beach who waits in the water all day in case your kite goes down and you head downwind and he will grab your kite and walk it up the beach, while one guy gives you a lift in their water-bike (well, pedalloe-bike! no motorised vehicles are allowed as it is a national park, which I think it great! big fan of that - no jet ski's brilliant!! ) back up to the kite beach! sweeeet! i gotta get myself one of them!
Had such a wicked session - did some back/front loops and jumps and just kind of getting in to the swing of it - didn't even get dunked for the first half hour and in fact didn't crash out at all today so was pretty pleased about that! I guess the conditions are just sooo perfect and everything is so much easier in flat water. Imagine if you kited here every day of say 3 months, you would improve soooo much!! I can feel another trip away coming soon!!
I was slightly underpowered on my 9m so ended up downwind and the dude landed me and i got a lift back up on the waterbike which was wicked! The leading edge on my 9m was really soft and looked like there was a slow puncture but my buddy Tony fixed it for me later in the day so now my 9 is all ready to rock! He also gave me a little lesson in how to take the bladder out and put it back in which was wicked - good to know! THANKS TONE! :-)
Then i pumped up my 11 and although there was hardly any wind, Tony gave me a lesson on surface handle passes - just standing in the water. It was one of those days when your kite just doesn't really wanna stay up - but good for doing this kinda thing i guess. Anyway, after a few important tips I managed to pass the bar and was SOOOO happy! i've only been unhooking recently so it still feels a bit strange sometimes and slightly scary but i'm getting used to it. So today was a bit of a barrier to get over, so felt like i really achieved even though it was a small thing! Tomorrow i'm gonna try do it with the board, but i have a feeling it will be a bit tricky! but i'm so determined to do it - i'll keep at it until i can do it! We went out for dinner tonight and got a lift back on Tony's moped which was wicked - quite like going on bikes. Early-ish night tonight, ready for tomorrow!! early start cos wind seems to die off in the afternoon so need to hit early!!! really hope i can nail this surface handle pass and if its windy I've gotta learn raileys too!! I'm so excited! ok gotta sleep, more tomorrow!
