2012 summer recap

Hello, let me re-introduce myself.  I am Ryan Theory.

I felt the need to reiterate who I am since I have been absent for 5 or 6 months since my last post.  Yes, I guess I am a wildly irresponsible blogger, and now that we are headed into winter I probably won't be a whole lot better in the coming months.  I apologize now ahead of the neglect of this blog.

So my intention, the reason for this post, is to just give a spring/summer season recap.  Let me just start by saying this summer was awesome!

First things first then.....

April and May were both pretty good months for wind.  In late April we got almost 2 straight weeks of wind.  Many kiters here in the Seattle area were in double digits for consecutive days riding.  Spring was definitely not the warmest, but we made the best of it at the beaches.  Often building a fire on Jettty Island to keep warm between, or after a good session.

 local Seattle kiteboarding cr3w - me on the end, no not the freaky guy on the left...I'm on the right.



For me, spring was also a pretty exciting, if not scary time, since my wife and I were expecting our first (and only) child in May.  On May 31st my baby girl arrived.  Her name is Avy Dejah Curtright.  pronounced "A V"  and Dejah is like Deja Vu.

 Avy Dejah Curtright at 24 hrs old....

  
 My little girl is the best.  She is super smiley all the time and just a joy to be around.  Even at 1 month old she was starting to head to Jetty Island to watch daddy kiteboard.  In fact, on July 4th we went to Jetty and spent the day.

Jetty Island- July 4th 2012. I'm in the neon green w/ 14m 2012 Naish Park.

 

And here is my little diva enjoying her first day at Jetty Island on the 4th of July with daddy kiting in the background.

Avy even stayed at Jetty until after the fireworks show.  Not one single crying session or fit in what ended up being a good 12 hr day at the beach.

 

 

What else is new?  Well, I updated my birds and yes, I love them! I got a 10m and 14m 2012 Naish Park.

 

And today I pick up my new 2013 7m Naish Park from the shop.  The new Park comes in Orange and Blue....so we will see if I like it as much as the neon green combos.....

Also this summer I taught quite a few kiteboarding lessons for Urban Surf Kite School on Jetty Island.  In fact, I am about 1/2 of the way to my Level 2 IKO Certification.  My goal is to get to Level 2 by the end of next summer season.  And my wife and I are planning to pack the baby up and head on our life journey, chasing wind, looking for our own piece of paradise on Jan 1st 2014.  That roughly 15 months from now...and now that we have a baby, I am sure that the time will fly by.

Here is a quick youtube video of one of my student, Kris, getting the hang of things this summer.



 

Some other cool tidbits of summer for me included DJing and competing in the Kiteboarding 4 Cancer event in Hood River.  Not only did I DJ day 2 of the event, but I competed in the endurance race on Day 1.  In order to compete I needed to fund raise or pay an entry fee.  I decided to fundraise at last minute and didn't think I would actually make my goal of $500 before the event.  But in less than 5 days I did hit my goal and was one of 30 or so people to hit the $500 mark.   

 

To learn more about the event and who it benefited, click the link above.  We brought in over 60 thousand dollars for Atheletes 4 Cancer this year, so it was an epic success.

 

I also took a bunch of pictures of my friends at the event.  So, enjoy.....

 

Sick Nick

Sam Light

Sam Light

Robert

Philip goes big for the crowd

pardon me, but do you have some grey poupon?

K.C.

Jon Carrol

Caroline and BBQ Jim

Greg Gnecco of Liquid Force

Disco Devon Carrol

Darcie

Kip shows off pro-body dragging skills

Allen

Allen again....

 

Well, that about wraps up my summer.  Once I started having to pick Avy up from her daycare I pretty much lost the ability for an after-work session...now I am just a weekend warrior.  Hurry up life change and get here!  That being said, heading straight home to spend time with this little doll isn't so bad...in fact, I love it.

 

pics taken 2 days ago...

 

 

If I get out in the next few weeks on my 2013 7m Park, I will be sure to fill you in.

 

Until next time....keep riding and may the wind be in your near future.

 



Oahu Kiteboarding recap w/ pics

near Mokes

As I promised, I have some pics from Oahu to show you.  I am currently working on a little video to show the trip, but will recap some highlights for you with some pics.

North Shore Pipeline

First, I might mention that this wasn't a kiteboarding trip, but instead I was in Oahu mid-February for my little sister's wedding.  That being said, my family was very accommodating and I got to kite 3 separate times in my 8 day trip...so not a bad deal at all.

The first time I kited was in unusually rare conditions with the wind coming from the SW.  This means I got to walk out my condo and kite right in front of Waikiki Beach.  Totally rad.  The only bad thing is that my Contour Roam quit working, so I lost the helmet cam footage.  Add to that bummer, I also had my 10m RPM ripping right down the middle of the canopy along the ripstop tape.  I did get it professionally repaired when I returned, and thank goodness this was the only 10m day.

Waikiki

Pumping up on Waikiki Beach

Epic and rare conditions to ride in front of the city.

Yep, big ass hole in my kite :(

Nice sized group of us got the goodz!

Here is a quick video of the conditions and riding in front of Waikiki.  It is from my dad and wife's point and shot cameras, so the video isn't the best and I have done no editing.  Regardless...

After ripping my kite and coming in, I ended up meeting a kiter from Bellingham who was in Oahu visiting family.  His name is Eric Schlemer.  We exchanged numbers and planned to meet up and kite Kailua the following day.

When I gave him a call, he said he was instead going to take a boat to the Heeia Sandbar, and that if I wanted to, I could meet him and the launch and tag along.  Becky came with me, even though she is pregnant and couldn't kite.

That being said, the wind was pretty light, but the flat water was epic.  I had a bit of trouble staying upwind, but nothing I haven't dealt with on a light day at Jetty Island.  There is a Naval base close by, so there is even a pic of my kite with a plane flying overhead.

After kiting, we met my folks for some lunch and Monkey Mike's, which is a roach coach along the side of the highway.  It was awesome.  After that shopped a bit, until it was time to meet my folks at Halieva Joe's. pic below

Here are some other pics of Hawaii.  None of the related to kiting....but they show you some of the beauty that is everywhere in the Hawaiian Islands.

Stay tuned... I should have a recap video (edited by me, so don't expect much) posted shortly.

Also, I am totally stoked, Spring has finally arrived in Seattle, and the kiting has been epic for the last 4 days in a row and doesn't show signs of stopping for at least another week.  Hellz yeah.  Should have some local pics and video for you soon as well!