Martha's Vineyard 2011 MASSkiting trip

Well over a week later I am still gathering my thoughts and trying to add up all that went down.

A lot of big thanks to everyone who came on the trip and everyone for their various contributions. Whether you drove, cooked, cleaned, rescued stranded kiters, or simply helped share the stoke and had a blast! With out everyone who came out in force and grabbed hold of this trip it would have just been me sitting on the beach solo. Its really a pleasure to put everything together, try and plan out the logistics, and then see it all come together through everyone's shared excitement and help! Again without all of the shared effort and enthusiasm this weekend could never have been what it was.

It seems only Marie has recovered enough to post pictures but I am sure the rest will come and the video footage will tell the tale of our adventure. IN the mean time I will do my best to recreate some of my personal favorite moments from our 4 day kite safari.

The inevitable confusion, chaos, and last minute rush to make the ferry always sticks out. Several of our vehicles were on the same ferry and in order to get food, camping gear, kites, and the like across for 32 people we called in JohnnyD's Kite Excursion Vehicle. Although its been to the beach before and made its rounds I think JD would agree this was its first test, with tents, cook stoves, propane tanks, tiki torches, coolers, a solid 10 people packed into the Sprinter making a mad dash for the ferry it was a sight to be seen.

Friday late afternoon and night we proceeded to create our tent city at the Camp Ground and through out the evening were greeted by very well trained skunks and the last members of our group who came over on later ferrys. All in all it made for a fun night of catching up with old and new friends a like.

Saturday was an Epic struggle of packing, re-packing, and organizing our group to get from the camp ground to the beach. However once everything was packed in, tires were dropped down, and we were over sand I saw the same great smiles and excitement in people that was there last year when we first headed to the beach. Every kiter knows the troubles, headaches, and hassle of kiting on the cape with summer restrictions. To take this many people to a huge open area with no restrictions and endless flat water was truly a pleasure. This only got better as the weekend went on with three great days of wind people really got in the groove and explored both the ocean and bay side with its endless waves, sandbars, and slicks.

Kiting flat water in off shore winds would normally cause you to consider your surroundings a little more carefully but being surrounded by land, flats, and shallow water no one seemed to be worried. Well, this was a miscalculation I will say. 32 kiters, 60-90 kites between us and a whole lot of enthusiasm things were bound to go wrong. While the actual number of broken lines, blown bladders, ripped canvas, and lost boards will be debated for a long time to come I will place my bet at about 14 broken kites and a few missing boards. Haley easily rescued, or at least saved from a long swim, 4-5 kiters, 3-4 kites, and more than his share of boards. Walter and his inflatable made a repeat visit this year and became invaluable as Haley could only rescue so many.

Broken kites and long swims aside the amount of progression people saw in three days of consistent wind was amazing. Gorette, Marie, Ben, Ferd, and others took advantage of the shallow water to really progress and you could tell by the fact that they were the last out of the water that they were having a great time and had some of their best sessions of the season. Others were inspired by Laurent, Leo, Kirk, T, and JD to push themselves beyond their comfort zone and while the smooth landings probably felt the best the many crashes and wipe outs looked the best from shore. The Peanut Gallery was in full force.

I could go on for much longer but I think I have said enough. In the end when everything was packed up and we headed home I was left with the same great feeling and energy that we all shared. Exposing people to the largely unexplored bliss of the Island, bringing everyone together from all backgrounds, abilities, and walks of life, it reminds me as always what Masskiting is. This was a great trip shared by many and loved by all.

Those are really great pics Marie and sorry to hear about your camera. When I grow up I want to be photogenic like Tyler
It was great hanging out with all of you guys and I hope I'll get another chance soon.

Nice meeting you Marie. The photos are awesome. Thanks so much for sharing!

awesome!
such a fun trip