New National Speed Record!

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BAHRAIN NATIONAL RECORD

This is the view of THE WALL, the Bahrain speed strip

Aloha

Chris K97

The Sunset Sessions

I knew that it was windy but didn't think that I would make it back in time for a session. We are so close to the equator that the days are quite short and with it light soon after 5am sunset today was 5:07pm. After rushing home I threw my gear in the back and rushed to the beach - so fast in fact that my gear fell out the back of the car, twice! I arrived at the beach, everyone was packing up but I quickly rigged my 5.6 and dashed out (the Bolt is proving to be really great here). The sun was just setting with the sky golden it was about as beautiful as Bahrain gets! Soon is was dark but I could just about see where I was going to stayed out for a while and had fun splashing around during my freestyle practice. Having not expected to get out on the water today I was super stocked just to get wet and wash off the day at work.

Heres hoping for some more action soon. BTW rushing back home my gear fell out the car once more, maybe I should be more careful! Luckily all that was damaged was my fin and I have plenty of new Black Project Fins on the way soon so that's not really an issue!

More to follow...

The Start of Something New - 60 Days of Summer Days 55

As I rode my last wave yesterday I knew in my heart that would be it for me. Today we have to pack and get ready for the long journey back to our other home on the Amwaj Islands, Bahrain. Stuffing all of our things in boxes is always a little bit traumatic but over the years I guess we have gotten used to it but that doesn’t mean it is easy. Clearly my gear feels the same way and in a final act of defiance my slalom board decided to choose today to balloon up in the sun just as I was about to remove the air plug. In the knowledge that I would not take a wrecked board with me the 125ltr Exocet clearly decided that drastic measures were needed if he was to get to stay in paradise.

The Exocet in action, before it decided to desert me! Really gutted as I was hoping to use in Bahrain to great effect! Guess I'd better get myself on ebay and see what I can pick up.

We now have a 33 hour door to door journey to enjoy and it will be Friday and Day #57 before we get back. So I must leave you now as I have some more things to pack! ... ...  As we drove to OGG I glanced at the clock and realised that exactly 15 years ago to the minute when as an 18 year old full of excitement I arrived on the island for the very first time, and I must admit that there were a few tears in my eyes. Liz reminded me that this would be the last time that we would be leaving and in 15 years time we would be able to look back and remember the last time we had to leave our precious and wonderful home.

When I get back we will have about 30 hours before we have to leave for work but the 60 Days of Summer will continue until fully complete. Fingers are already crossed that it will be windy when we arrive back in Bahrain and I will be hoping to get out on Day #58, if not it’ll be time for a long swim or paddle. Once the project is complete I will be taking a step back for a little while but will be posting whenever there is something interesting to report. I will also continue to write for WindsurfingMag.com so look out for some fun things there. It will not be long and I will be back with a new project, I have a few ideas so stay tuned.

More to follow…

Forget the World Cup its still windy!

The wind continues to blow here in Bahrain. My feet were not as sore as I thought they would be so got out on the water for half an hour after work before the wind dropped down and I decided to watch the 2nd half of the England Vs Germany game (BIG mistake!)

It was great to get in the water after another hot day here at the edge of the desert. Strange at the end of the session I was sailing along and hit something underwater, I was in deep water and didn't see anything but heard a ripping like sound, it was rather strange and not sure what I hit.

The wind seems to be on a downward trend but still blowing. I am hopeful that I will get a couple more days, 4 in a row now and counting (and 5 in the last week). Still working hard on the flakas but I was a little disapointed yesterday and today, I think that I need to throw the rig more. I will watch some more videos think that will help and get some video taken so I can analyse my error(s). 

More to follow...

More wind, more freestyle.

It didn't look to good when I woke up on Friday morning with think dust and only 10-15 knots but as the day passed the conditions improved. By 2pm it was windy and sunny again.

I am getting lots of freestyle practice which is good and some what pleased with the results. I can certainly say that I am falling of alot but also that I am starting to feel more comfortable, I have not broken my anckles yet so that is a bonus!

Flaka progress - watching the videos has helped, I am feeling good in the set up and getting rotaton but killing it by leaning back on landing, I need to get my weight over the board. At the moment I am going down wind, popping the board, rotating upwind but finishing off with the later stages of a board/sail 360 so at the moment it is rather a hybrid but something I can work on. Much better than a few days ago.

The wind was best betweem 3 and 4pm and I was pleased to see so many people at the beach, there must have been 20-25 kites and 4 windsurfers, add to that families etc. it was quite busy on the beach and on the water, luckily the kiters still to a small area so I get the rest.

Not much wind so far this Saturday morning but it looks like it will pick up later and it is already sunny so that should help.

Less than 2 weeks till the 60 Days of Summer now... must look for cars on http://www.craigslist.com/ today. Yesterday I got my boardbag off the roof... a year of dust, think it will need a rather good srub before being packed!

The wind still looks good for the next week.

More to follow...

Monday night flaka freestyle

Great to get home and see some wind, not tons but was perfect for some light wind freestyle practice (5.3 Fire and 105 Sumo). Trying to work on flakas, I am getting better but need to commit further forward. Wind was rather on and off so spent some time improving heli tacks and board/sail 360's.

Water was really hot and salty but the breeze was enough to make it bearable

After sailing I had a fun swim at the beach club as the sun went down it was a great way to relax.

Looks like the forecast is holding, in fact it looks great for the rest of the week and the start of next.

More to follow...

Wind on the way!

Well looking at the forecasts it seems as though the tail end of June will deliver some good conditions.

Windfinder.com

Windguru.com

Will be good to get some action in before leaving and starting The 60 Days of Summer!

More to follow...

The wind is back...

I woke up to some wind this morning. I am hearing reports that there was a kiter out this morning at 5am, but I had to go to work (not for much longer!). According to windfinder.com is does seem to be building throughout the day, it wasn't really forecasted so fingers crossed it will hold until later when I get back on Amwaj. Unfortunately it is rather dusty, hope that clears abit later.

You can see just how hot it is and today is a cooler than normal one!

More to follow...

No wind but it looks good for June

Not much wind forecast for this week although it seems to have been blowing abit (while I have been at work that is). Statistically June is the windiest months with 62% of days over Force 4 so fingers are crossed.

http://www.windfinder.com/windstats/windstatistic_bahrain.htm

More to follow...

Its all in the wind

I woke up this morning to again find that the forecasts were correct and the wind was still blowing 18-20 knots so I quickly made my way down to the camp.

The Camp, a few bits of wood made it rather more sheltered today which was great.

The tide was very low so it was great for freestyle and blasting but not much in the way of ramps, I was rather stiff from my run last night so went exploring the channel. Once I had loosened up a bit I cam back to Kite Beach for some more freestyle practice, I do feel like I am making small baby steps forward. With the weather this perfect this really was fun windsurfing, I only wish I could have shared it with some people, windsurfing in Bahrain is rather a lonely past time. 

Amwaj is covered in flags, and the good news is that they have to get replaced quite frequently!

After a break I was back on the water, the wind had started to drop and it was clear that it was the end of the three days of wind. I had a really fun freestyle sesssion between Kite Beach and the ships, trying hard to land a flaka but not really commiting myself enough, something that I will have to work on. The wind dropped and I called it a day. I thought that the fun was over but I had the pleasures of dealing with a welded together mast, I guess three days of sandblasting on the beach in 35-40 degree heat doesn't help. I had to take it home in one piece and it took a lot of banging on the grass and alot of water to finally loosen. 

Today's wind chart.

There was just enough time left in the day to meet Liz at the pool and go for a swim at Tala Island, what a perfect end to day. I think that we will be waiting a while for the next batch of wind so it is back to the paddle board and GPS training,

More to follow... 

A little bit of nature

Today had looked like a good day on the forecast and it didn't dissapoint. As Liz was working I didn't have a car so after my session last night I left my gear hidden in a building site next to the beach so that I could ride down this morning to sail. It was great arriving at the beach a little after 7am and my gear there ready, the wind blowing 18-20 knots and the sun shining.

The Camp!

Beach Road

I have been slagging off my Angulo Sumo 105 recently, to be fair it has seen better days, but it has spent almost 2 1/2 years getting thrashed by the harsh Bahrain climate, the rugged and sharp beach on Amwaj and a few trips to Hawaii where is was always abused and made to do things it shouldn't! Today though it did prove (yet) again that it can handle a whole range of condition and is well suited to the sailing here.

Beach road

I had a fun freestyle session (with a small wave fin) in front of my new beach camp, the condition were perfect and it was good to make some progress (small steps!). With it not super windy I put on a longer and straighter fin so that I could make my way upwind to the building ramps in a spot I will call Outsiders, a lonely place upwind and offshore where there are ramps when it is windy enough, luckily we have had a solid wind for 2 days now so the (small) swell lines have started to develop and they produced some decent ramps. 

It was nice to be able to get some good forwards rather than just spinning although I never find looping on a 100+ litre board that comfortable on the ankles or feet. My feet actually started to rub on my straps and worried that I would create the same problems that I had during the last two summers (where my feet had holes in them for what seemed like months) I though it was time to make my way back downwind and reunite with my bike. 

After a break, food, water and a 30 minute gym session I was ready for a 2nd session. I knew that I needed to change the staps on my board to reduce the rubbing so I quickly took the really soft HSM ones that I have on my wave board and slung them into my rucksack.

A nice healthy lunch.

A brief session infront of my freestyle DVD over lunch did help!

Changing the Old Dakine to super padded HSM straps did make my feet less painful but they are still sore.

Another freestyle session and some more progress before going to Outsiders where the waves had built up and were providing some decent ramps for forwards and backs. Was great to be getting some height for a change but it was a bit hetic on the 105 now and my feet were sore so didn't stay that long. With the tide building and a solid 20+ knots I knew that the Wall (speed course) would be starting to work, the tide was still a little low but as I went down my second run I saw a dolphin which was rather cool. Session 2 over, time for a quick ride to the pool to relax with some friends before going home for a break.

View from the camp.

I wanted to try the Wall later so made a DIY aquapak for my GPS and made my way back with a new supply of drinking water. With the temps over 35C from 6am to 6pm it is vital that you have water wherever you go, carrying it all is rather a pain! My first run was my best with 22.14knots, while not quick it is the first timed run on the course so guess that makes it a record. The wind was dropping and I was rather underpowered but it was enough to show the potential that the Wall has. I did see 2 dolphins so that made up for for dying wind. Time to call it a day and get some food so that I can train at the gym tonight.

I have seen dolphins in Bahrain before but this was the first time I had seen them in Amwaj.

With the wind forecast to stick around for another day I parked my gear in the camp and rode home, kinda liking this no rigging / de-rigging life!

More to follow...