Day 4 - 4th May - Updated
I woke with one of the worst hangovers I have ever had, we were still a little bit drunk so we had to wait for a bit before making our way to the event location.
Once we made our to the event location we passed some wind turbines that were not moving! To no shock there was no wind at the event when we arrived but we had lots of sun and the temperature was nice and warm!
We met some of the local kite surfers and spent most of the day chilling around the bar or sun bathing and just relaxing. Travelling back to the later that night to the UK I decided to load the car up. At around 6pm I made my way back to Calais to get the Eurotunnel. Once back in the UK I made my way home, just over 3 hours later I was home.
It was a great long weekend, sadly there was little wind, but everyone there made me very very welcome so it made the no wind no problem!
Thanks to Peter Vanden Busche for looking after me while I was out there, very appreciated. Sadly I don’t have any pictures from the event.
Day 3 - 3rd May - Updated
After arriving in during the small hours of the morning I was not exactly up early. We headed to the event location where we were greeted by light winds. This meant kites would fly so there were plenty of people getting their kites out.
I put up the 8.5 Blade IV to see what it was like to have some surpriseable power, the sand was soft as the tide was in way in so room was on the small side. I did a bit of freestyling, some small jumps, rotations but it was becoming to hard to buggy on the soft sand.
Nobile had some of their boards here so I grabbed one of the new skim boards, put on a wetsuit and went for a skim session. I got quite a few looks as I took the Blade 8.5 out! One of the younger locals went out also on an LEI but there was not enough wind at all to keep his kite up, and there I was boarding along holding a line no problem! It is such a light wind monster and added with a skimboard is great fun.
The wind started to pick up so I took an Ion Three 10.5 and the skim out, all the 12.5’s were being used. I was able to get up and board along no problem and play around on the board. On a tack in the wind started to lull and the kite hit the water. I tried to relaunch but there was not enough wind, as it started to go up it flipped so that the top edge was now facing me! I started to swim in and luckily the current was going upwind and towards the shore, this was good for swimming but meant the kite was floating upwind so the lines went slack, as I got closer the wind caught one tip of the kite and rotated it round making it possible to get it in the air! I body dragged to the board and kited in!
Once I was changed and had had some food and drink I set the 8.5 out for a buggy session, the wind was ok, not the greatest but not the worst. Evan though there was plenty of power it had very little lift which was quite annoying. After an hour or so we packed down and headed back.
That evening we got a bite to eat and headed to the local surf club on the beach where we chilled and had a few drinks. Again I found out that they like there vodka in large portions.
Day 2 - 2nd May
With light winds forecast there was no hurry to get up and out of bed. After getting sorted out we started to load the gear into the vechiles. While lifting my bag into the van I manged to do my back in, I am not sure exactly but I am pretty sure I have slipped a disc again. Its mega mega frustrating and odd that it happened at the Mellow shop last year when I was visiting this same beach. I’ve been back to the shop twice since last year but been visiting other beaches.
We made our way up to the “east coast” of Belgium, although it is still the west coast and set up for the days activities. I took it pretty easy as there was a very light sea breeze, nothing usable for traction but others messed about flying recreational on the beach.
Late afternoon we packed down and made our way back to the shop. Myself & Peter headed to the local beach bar for a few drinks, afterwards on route back to the camper I stopped at a local restaurant for a pizza. After having a quick wash and changing clothes I headed to the local bar “Posse” where I met up with some of the local kite surfers. We had a few drinks before heading to one of the “locals clubs” not tourist bars & clubs where I got to meet lots of the locals, some could speak English, some tried, and others had no idea! It was a great laugh and took my mind fully off my back. On the way back we stopped in at this rather smart club, as you walk in and go through to the bar & dance floor there is a massive painting on the wall, but right in the middle is a kitesurfer! Pretty kewl to see.
Im not sure what time I rolled back into the camper but it was a very good night out!
Day 1 - 1st May
When Peter at Mellow mentioned heading back to Zeebrugge for a demo at the Animal surfclub I was more than happy to attend. This beach is just hard enough to buggy on but not for landboarding. Will was going to come with me but sadly was not able to make it.
Leaving at 2am to get a morning ferry was tough, but once on board was able to get some sleep on some seats for an hour so. 30 minutes up the road is Peter’s shop which was where I was meeting him and his crew. After arriving we loaded up with all the gear and headed to the event location in Zeebrugge, a 40 minute drive.
We arrived to cross off moderate winds, seeing as my 6.5 was the only kite set up I took it out and went for a session, loking upwind you could ssee that rain was imenante, and as it got closer the wind went nuts, at points it was 4.0m weather but being slightly downwind & knowing that by the time I would have it set up it would be raining I stayed out. You did not evan need to move kite hardly, it just lifted you up and floated you around! Now being downwind I just decied to go all bells and balls and starting adding kite loops in, even though these were not mega surges the distance that was covering was immense! The wind dropped slightly so I made my way upwind, within a few moments the rain started so I packed down.
Once the rain had cleared I went back out and took the 8.5 Blade IV as the wind had dropped some what. I was able to get some nice floaty jumps and rotations in the some what light winds, it was nice to chill out and just relax and enjoy the session. Just upwind of the event are some dunes, around 5m and 15-20m wide with all sorts of terrain! These were soon investagted by me, it was fun of an epic proportion. Being allowed to do what you like in these is something that made it evan better, after half hour or so I headed in.
That evening was spent chilling at the local bars before heading back to the camper to get some much needed sleep.
