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It was another year for GLK's annual Hatteras trip and this was by far the best trip I can remember!! We rolled into town early Friday morning to find sunny skies and warm temps in the 80's but no wind. So we all chilled on the beach to soak up the sun. Fortunately the waves were good so I grabbed my Stand up Paddle board and proceeded to catch some waves. Well I caught a few but it was much more difficult than I thought not knowing the proper way to really catch a wave on a SUP. Fortunately on Sat. morning Dan Cote, Mike Bauer and Mike P rolled up into town. Mike is actually an experienced SUP rider so he showed me the proper way to catch waves. I have to say that was an incredible experience to be able to catch almost any wave you want. Just being on the water with SUP and the many dolphins in the area was a magical way to start the week. So later that Sat. the wind did pick up for 30 min and I was able to put up the new Slingshot 10m Key and ride it with my Wainman 5'8 wide surfboard...well I wouldn't say actually riding, more like slogging but I did get out and I will call that a session, so ha!!

 

Finally around Sat mid afternoon everyone started rolling into town and we were able to get into our 2 houses, one on the sound side and one directly across the street on the ocean side. We had another divers crowd this GLK Hatteras trip, from doctors and nurses to fireman, engineers and insurance salesman. I have to say that it's the people that make the trip...this was an incredible group of kiters and as I always say this sport attracts great people and I have meet some of the most interesting folks in my line of work!!

 

We woke up Sunday morning to another cloudless day and warm temps in the 80's. There was no forecast for wind so most people just chilled on the beach and soaked up the sun. Mike P and I surfed again with our Sup's and had a fantastic time. After a few hours the wind started to pick up and we all went north to Kite Point for some powered 12m riding. This was the start of a very windy and warm week of riding. Sunday through Friday brought south winds 20-25 mph and not a cloud in the sky with temps in the 80's. Most of the riding was on the ocean with head high surf. We logged many downwinders on the ocean, driving 8 miles south to the village of Hatteras and riding down right to our ocean side house next to the Frisco pier which was our landmark. We also logged a few miles on sound side also but it was the ocean side rides that will stand out in most of our minds!! We mostly rode 7 and 9's the whole week!!

 

During our trip we had photographer and video guy Steve Berry document the trip with pics and video. So on April 30^th GLK will be holding a video premier of the Hatteras trip at our St. Clair location. We will also be raffling off a 2010 Best Spark board and will have tons of swag to give away from Slingshot, Best, Wainman Hawaii, Dakine and Hyperflex. GLK will also premier the new Ben Wilson movie called Coming Together which is about some of the best kitesurfers in the world riding their local break. All the action will start Friday April 30^th at 7:00pm at our St. Clair Shores location.

 

I hope to see you all there!! Ride safe and have fun!!

 

 

 

Brian LeFeve

Great Lakes Kiteboarding

Our Michigan winters have never been that great the last 6 years with an exception to this last winter. So GLK has been searching for an affordable winter destination. Last week myself and 3 other kiters along with a private pilot flew off to a small island just south of St. Petersburg Florida for 4 days.

 

 

 

The pilot who is a friend of a kiter I taught years ago knew of this place called Shell Key Island where you can camp right on the beach. Well the island turned out to be an incredible place.

 

 

You can ride any wind direction, its shallow and there are also some great slicks and coves. We ended up kiting three days powered on 9 and 12m. The best part is that this pilot is totally stoked on the sport of Kiteboarding which will be in our advantage since he owns his own hanger with about 8 planes.

 

 

 

GLK will be setting up camps/lessons on the island for the winter months and of course anybody is welcome to come and ride with the GLK crew. We will be posting more info on this winter destination on the website with complete costs soon.

 

 

Ride safe and have fun.

 

Brian LeFeve

Well I have to say this was another epic trip to the Outer Banks. We had 30 people and 3 houses in our group and 3 other houses of Michiganders very close to our spot. We had close to 40 people on this trip. Hatteras did not disappoint, we rode 6 out of 7 days some on the sound side and some on the Ocean side. The down winders on the Ocean were absolutely outstanding, conditions’ ranging from 15 knots and 4 foot faces to 30 + knots with 10’ faces. On one of the bigger days Me, Lando and Andrew Bailey rode strapless surfboards on the Ocean side down winder, this was our best day on the water by far. There is no other feeling riding a surfboard strapless on 8 – 10’ faces. One of the best parts of the trip for me was riding Matt Campbells kite surfboard and Stand Up Paddle boards. I rode the surfboard on the first day we arrived on the sound. We tested the board next to my 6’2 Rawson. Well the first ride on it I blazed up wind way further then the Rawson…this is in part of the 5 fin configuration. The other thing I noticed right away was the board stuck to the water and felt 10x damper then the Rawson. This is because of the Resin X that was used on the board…no more vibrations and chatter, just smooth as butter. Playing with the fin configuration was awesome mainly because of how much it changed the ride of the board. This will come in handy with Michigan’s conditions. Now I have to say one of my favorite sessions was on the Stand up Paddle board on the sound right before sunset. The board is just over 10’ but very wide and stable. The board glides through the water effortlessly and the best part is that you don’t even know our getting a workout. The paddle board works your legs, abs, arms and shoulder. I want to thanks everyone who came down… we had an incredible group with incredible conditions.

I would like to thank Eric Greenham for all the photo’s he took on this trip.

 

You can check them out at http://gallery.me.com/eric.greenham#gallery

GLK is looking forward to seeing you all on the water.

Cheers,

-Brian