Kent's EXCELLENT Adventure, (after the race!)
 

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album219/...KA_s.sized.jpg

Ok, so you hammer along 60 or so miles down the coast. You are mugged by a turtle as you blast along. Some juiced up Nereid jumps you and runs off with your GPS and camel pak. Once your arrive, you kick back, woof down some suds, a lot of suds, fast! Starting looking around for something to do and figure, might as well go home. That is by kite, another 30 miles for a total of about 90 miles into the night.

So, how about it Kent. What happened on your Excellent Adventure???

Good thing I didn't go for the Goslings Rum! As you know, the wind picked up substantially after the race. I felt pretty good and decided to finish the rest of the ride to Miami after the awards.

Starting out it was pretty rough getting through the first inlet to the South of Ft. Lauderdale, but after that it smoothed out. The tide was lower and I guess that the water is a bit shallower for a longer way out the further South you go.

It took me about 30 minutes to shake the cob webs off and then the ride was very nice. The water flattened out a bit and the waves were smaller, but much cleaner. I really wanted to check my new board out a bit with out having to grind so hard like we did in the race. I was really surprised to see how good the board turned given the straighter outline and flat rocker. I know that the board is very fast, but the fun factor was a surprise.

As I rode, I thought that I must be getting closer to Miami, and then I saw the “beach ball” water tower in Hallandale! Actually, I was having a great time and just airing it out a bit. It really is amazing how easy it is to just ride down the coast, often switching tacks, etc., rather than racing. The sun was just going down when I was just about to South Beach. I looked out to sea and saw about 25 sport fishing boats heading toward Government Cut. I guess they must have had a sailfish tournament. I’ll bet that there were some sea sick fishermen out there. Going through Government Cut was the worst of any previous inlets during the race. The tide was ripping out against 20 25 plus knots of wind. I made it through and went to Virginia Key hoping to hop out as the sun was down. Nobody would grab the kite as they were all well into the party mode and so I kited down to Crandon. There was one last kiter out and I saw Paula, my Fiancé waiting for me on the beach. I guess that I owe her, because those of you that know me know that I’m probably a handful… (Probably not as bad as Neil, but pretty bad anyway). Thanks Paula!

After the ride, I was totally stoked. We all remember our best solo rides, and this was in my top ten. I really wanted to hit 100 miles, but ran out of sun. My board worked very well and I still had plenty in the tank. A great time.

Kent

Thanks for the story Kent. Sounds like a sublime session, solo or no. What a way to cap off an interesting day of shredding. I would think long distance kite runs might start to catch on. The seas and conditions change so much, it is a worthwhile experience.

What happened with that turtle anyway? Some get a bit over amorous and have crappy eyesight, you can guess the rest. What were your turtles intentions anyway? Dereck's board might have additional properties that are worth knowing.

Speaking of Kent, here's one of my favorite stories out of the race. I heard it from both Kent's side, and then from Thomas's when I got into work this morning.

A little background: I kite in Delray (when I have to) so I knew where the checkpoint was and what it looks like from the ocean. But if I didn't, I probably would have been confused, and when I got to the point where it felt like "halfway there" I would have gone into shore wherever I saw a few people milling around, not wanting to miss the check-in.

So ... Andy's footstrap broke a couple of miles north of the checkpoint in Delray ... at Briney Breezes, which is right where Thomas (the Best R&D guy) lives. Thomas and a bunch of his friends were milling around on the beach, filming and watching the procession. None of them knew about the whole "checkpoint" thing, where all the riders had to stop in Delray and shout out their name/number to be accounted for ... all they were expecting to do was watch kiters racing by their beach.

All of a sudden Thomas sees Andy kiting in, near the shore, pointing at his footstrap. Simultaneously, the guys right behind Andy must've figured, "Andy's from Delray, he knows what he's doing, this must be the check point," so they sort of follow him to the "checkpoint that wasn't the checkpoint."

Kent comes to the shore, yelling and pointing at himself, "I'm Kent!! I'm Kent!! ME, I'm Kent!" The crowd is just standing there ... not knowing what to do with this piece of information, looking around perplexed, not sure why a random kiter was coming into introduce himself. Thomas said, "Yeah, I know who you are! You're Kent! GOOD! GOOD JOB!!" The crowd was cheering ... Woohoo! Way to go! Giving him the thumbs up gesture ... Meanwhile Kent kept trying to make himself understood ... Kent! Kent! I'm Kent!

Thomas said he ran inside to get Andy a new board, and he came out and Kent was still "circling around" ... hehehehe. That cracks me up. I'm Kent!

Unfortunately, Thomas didn't get that part on film, since he put the camera down as soon as he saw Andy in trouble. He said it was the funniest part of the race for his little group though :). We were laughing about it all day.

He also said Billy Parker was going so fast he was barely touching the water. I can't wait to see the footage. It'll probably take a few weeks for them to finish the video, but I'll post the link here when it's up.

yeah... Andy messed me up... Actually, Jeremy Green was just in front of me as well and did the same thing. But get the story straight, I was saying, "number 10, I'm number 10". I think I got a “great, good for you, keep it going and I'm sure you can get a top 5!” The funny thing is that I knew where the check point was and I still decided to check in early. It just goes to show you that anyone can get a job in the US.

Regarding the turtle, I hit one about 8 miles into the race doing about 25 knots. I thought that it ripped off one of my fins because my board started to spin out a bit afterward. As it turned out, the turtle did no damage, but my brain was trying to sabotage me. I did happen to see another turtle along the way that had partially swallowed a plastic bag. This is a huge problem as it can cause death in turtles. They eat jelly fish and often mistake bags for dinner. Keep the plastic out of the ocean, or the sharks will run out of food and eat YOU!

Andy had a great race and no doubt was my guess as the pre-race favorite. I don’t suppose that his life time membership at the cable park hurt him any.

Kent

I bet they thought you were Bo Derek in the movie "10" or something. Wasn't there a kiting scene? Also, is there any truth to the rumor that your going to be in Excellent Adventure II?

You must have been smokin' Turtles usually blast out of dodge with approaching board noise. Also, surf noise may have masked things a bit. I had heard about turtles gobbling bags for years but had yet to see one. Ditto to Kent's suggestion, keep the plastic out of the ocean.

The Grasshopper did haul ass down the coast. Way to go Andy!

I think your downwinder to Miami was the perfect way to cap the day though. Go hard and far, then just taking things further still. Wish I could have had a go as well. Company XMAS parties come just once a year I guess.

I was bored today ...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...03461053&hl=en

LOL!!!! Thats some funnt shitakes... Good one Stacy. 10!!!

Interesting video clip. I have some footage of George Bush and also for Pamela Anderson you should have a go with.

Seriously though, Kent was not the only guy who was confused about the checkpoint. Billy was as well. Other guys had problems identifying it. The same thing happened in the St. Pete event to others, including some of the leaders. The local riders didn't have the issue, the visiting ones sometimes did. Something for competitors and organizers both to consider for the next events.