(recap of 2013 pt 3) Kiteboarding 4 Cancer 2013

For those that know about, as well as those that participate yearly, the KB4C event (Kiteboarding 4 Cancer) is one of the most "looked forward to" events held at the Hood River event site.

The event raises money for several cancer related  research organization, as well as Athletes 4 Cancer, an amazing organization that sends young cancer survivors to a retreat, Camp Koru" on Hawaii that helps a them re-enter a life that has often drastically changed, and may at times feel like life ended even though they survived the cancer treatment. At Koru the campers learn to reengage with life through water sports, such as surfing, SUP, and kiteboarding.  Check their website out.

Besides the money raised, many people come to be wowed by the sheer number of kites on the water at a single time during the 6 hour endurance race.  Many riders clock well over 100 miles of riding in a single day by doing 60-70 laps around a 3 mile course.

This year I once again participated in the race, and while I didn't go the full distance, I did personally raise $1,000 to the cause during the weeks prior to the event.

Here are some pictures of me riding in the event....

Same moment, different angle....

While I don't have any pictures to prove it, the event was heavily attended by the pros.  Jason Slezack, Craig Cunningham, Colleen Carroll, Sam Light, Renu Romeo, Brandon Sheid, and others I am sure that I am forgetting.
Anyways, it was a hugely successful event, with a ton of money raised for the cause.

Here are a few other pictures from the event.

(recap of 2013 pt 2) Spring is here

The spring of 2013 wasn't my best year for kiting opportunities, as the whole "kid thing" had finally become a reality, where my responsibility of picking up Avy from daycare (my wife drops her off at daycare) definitely cut into my ability to jam out of work and head straight to Jetty Island for a session. Spring of 2013 really was the first time I didn't have absolute freedom to kite at will.

On the other side of things though, as much as I love kiting, I really do love spending time with my little princess.

Regardless, I was still teaching kiteboarding lessons for Urban Surf so every weekend you would find me at Jetty Island.  Many times I got to teach for a few hours and then get a good session in myself.  Although...yes, I did get less time on the water in the summer of 2013 because I wasn't teaching both Saturday and Sunday like previous summers.

On a good sunny Sunday, I took the whole family to the island, including Avy's Grandparents (my mom and dad).  The wind wasn't great, but Avy proved once again that she is a natural beach bum and water dawg.

Avy loves the water.  Here you see her first body surfing experience.

Sun and wind mean kites, boarder, and friends at Jetty Island!

 Avy and her grandma....watching someone shlog around in the light wind.

Not to veer too far from kiting with all these pics of Avy, I bought my wife Becky a new 11M Naish Ride for an early bday present. She loves this kite.  A very good kite for light wind riding with a ton of low end grunt.

Avy was tired after her body surfing session...but that was nothing a little lounging and mouthfuls of Strawberries couldn't fix.

And here I am, wearing my Chennai Super Kings Cricket Jersey (I got in when I went to India a month earlier...non-kiting trip or you would see pics).  Definitely did not get the best session in on this day...but I had a great time.  And, I did get a decent amount of kiting in at Jetty Island over the next 3 months of summer.

OK.  To close out this post, I will say that I won't always bog down my posts with 100 shots of my little girl.  But for this post I thought you may enjoy seeing Avy once again, among the Pacific Northwest kiters at Jetty Island, Seattle's premiere summer kiteboarding beach. 

(recap of 2013 pt 1) Winter Kiting at Lowman Beach, West Seattle.

Alrighty, so in my quest to catch up on all the kiteboarding goodness that happened between my last post at the end of 2012 to the current date of March 2014, I am digging through my folders of pictures to see what I can find to interest you.

First session of the year was with my buddy, Dan aka Tuna, on Feb 16 2013.  It was a short, gnarly, cold session at Lowman Beach in West Seattle.  I brought along what was then new to me, the camera I had recently picked up.  Here are some pics of Dan killing it on that cold, but sunny, winter day.

Crazy enough, Dan forgot his booties and still managed to kite for 20 minutes or so....pretty sure he didn't feel his feet for a week.

Another pair of kiters where there but failed to come into shore before the wind died.  I bet that was a long and very cold swim in.