Outer Banks, NC  3/30/12 to 4/7/12

This year’s Outer Banks trip is dedicated to two of the coolest, greatest guys you could ever meet: Chuck “Bones” Kinney (10/17/59 – 6/18/11) and John “JD” Donohue (10/20/69 – 11/21/11.) You guys were something and will always be missed.

The first time I saw Chuck’s harmonica case (back in 2002, the first year I went to the Outer Banks with these guys) I was like whoa, this dude is serious!

Jam session, OBX, 2010. Sorry about the poor lighting. That’s Chuck playing the harp on the left, Geoff on guitar and Bill B. on the drums.

Also from 2010: Chuck is in the foreground in the grey drysuit, on the green sail. Dave is next to him. Bob is up top on the left and not too far from him is Bill S.

JD doing what he did best – having fun! Kiting in Pamlico Sound, OBX, 2009.

JD (also from 2009)

John gave me a great kiteboarding lesson last year and some excellent advice. And once I envisioned what JD told me, to imagine just rolling up onto the board after diving the kite to get power, I started getting up on the board way better than before and he helped me immensely.

Lyle and JD, Pamlico Sound, OBX, April 2011 (photos courtesy of Uli)

The Outer Banks, NC   3/30/12 to 4/7/12

The Sweet Machine III / Mobile Living Unit, locked, loaded and ready to roll!

Day 1 Sat. 3-31-12

We got to the house in Avon at around 2:30 p.m. Ken and I stopped at Real Kiteboarding first and bumped into John the Canadian in the parking lot. There was nice wind and a lot of people were out. But by the time we got to the house the wind had come down considerably and nobody went out.

Day 2 Sun. 4-1-12

A great day, sun and wind for most of the day. Ken and I cruised down to the other house (the one in Buxton) to drop off Uli’s kiting gear. Then we launched out of Kite Point. There was nice wind, I was on my 7.5 kite and had a great session for about 45 minutes before the wind started to tail off. We went back to the house, had lunch, and I put up my 12 M and rode the 150 Door and had a great afternoon session, almost two hours on the water. The wind then suddenly died at around 5 p.m. I’m glad the bay is shallow. I had to walk about 300 yards to get back to the house. My calves are sore from that trek but I’m glad I wasn’t farther out. Bill S., Bob B., Bill B. and Geoff had a good day windsurfing behind the house. Dave P. showed up at around 9 p.m.

Pamlico Sound, our beautiful backyard. And you gotta love those whitecaps!

Day 3 Mon. 4-2-12

N, NW, gusty and wacky wind. It was blowing 18 – 40 this morning (it was scratching the low 40s in the gusts until about 1 p.m.) Bob B. went out on a 3.9 (windsurfing rig) and Ken was on a 3.7 (windsurfing rig). The rest of the crew (Bill B., Geoff, Dave P. and Bill S.) went out mid- and late-afternoon and had good sessions. I had squirrels in my brain all day, not knowing what to rig. At around 4:30 I decided to windsurf and put together my 4.2 sail. By the time I did that and suited up the wind died considerably. I then put up my 12 M Liquid Force Envy kite and went out with my 146 board. I had a short session, underpowered, went in to get my bigger board and my kite fell out of the sky. The wind was steadily declining at that point. I then practiced self-launching and hit one. It was tough to practice that though due to the lack of wind.

Bob B.

Bill B.

Geoff

Bill B. and Geoff

Day 4 Tues. 4-3-12

Sunny, warm and beautiful but no wind. Geoff crashed his miniature helicopter into my spiffy, brand new 15 M Best Taboo kite (it was set up on the beach) and put two tears in it near the trailing edge (one about 4-5 inches long, the other about 2 inches long) so I brought it down to Charlie in Hatteras Village and he put a patch on it. I went to the Native American Indian Museum in Frisco and it was very cool. I also went to the second house to see Uli, Clara, John and Rosa (JD’s wife, daughter and parents.) Uli’s brother David is here (all the way from Shanghai) and his friend Daniell and his friend Peter (both all the way from Detroit.) Then I went back to our house.

Geoff’s helicopter.

A little before sunset we all walked out into the bay. Bill S. had some of Chuck’s ashes. He poured them into the bay. We all reminisced, told stories about Chuck, laughed and drank Rare Old Highland Malt Whiskey in his honor.

Day 5 Weds. 4-4-12

Great wind, all day! I went out on my 15 M Taboo kite in the morning and 12 M Liquid Force Envy kite in the afternoon. Everybody else also had a good day on the bay. Uli came by and had a great session on her 14 M kite. Steve, one of JD’s friends from Vermont and who runs Mojo’s Sunset Cafe at the Real Kiteboarding center here, catered a fantastic dinner for us at the house to honor JD. Steve cooked up a feast: pulled pork sandwiches, cucumber and potato salad and corn bread. The crew from the second house came over to join us for dinner. We ate outside on the deck and it was great.

Uli

Uli

Day 6 Thurs. 4-5-12

More good wind! Ken, John the Canadian and I did a down-winder (I was on my 7.5 Kahoona and 146 Liquid Force Edge board) from our house in Avon to the Buxton house. It’s about seven miles. We took our time, had a blast and made it down there in about 1 hour and 45 minutes. And I thank you Ronnie the fisherman for finding my 146 board washed up on Loveladies Island in Barnegat Bay in March, calling me and getting it back to me. It’s the first kite board I ever bought!

That evening Uli’s crew from the Buxton house came to our place. We poured some of JD’s ashes into the bay. His father (also named John) spoke briefly and summed it up best: “John was a good man. A good son. A good husband. A good father.”

The newest member of our crew: Clara!

Day 7 Fri. 4-6-12

Cranking, strong wind, all day. I didn’t go out. I brought my 12 M Taboo to the Best office to get it fixed. The inflate valve was partially torn off the bladder, causing a leak. They ordered a new bladder for me.

Ken, on a small sail and my Gorge board (an 84 L Rutger that I bought at Hood River, Oregon in August 2010.)

There are great sunsets down at the Outer Banks.