Hi everyone :)
I am looking for someone in SA that would be keen in fostering a kite apprentice to give some tips and generally keep an eye out for when watching me face plant the water for a few hours.
I had some lessons last year but only really got a chance to fly the kite and body drag before the weather became average.
I am just making my first attempts at getting up on the board and really it just comes down to practice, practice, practice at this stage.
I am keen to get out as often as possible after work and on weekends as well but not keen to go out by myself and get stuck out in the ocean with no-one watching my back or giving me useful advice on how to fail less.
I have forked out for two lessons and after buying gear I can't really afford any more.
I have mainly flown out at parham but I work at Mawson lakes so any of the more northern beaches would be fine such as largs.
I am 105kg and fly a 12m Cab Crossbow to give you an idea of what wind ranges I would be flying in - probably 15-20 knots at this stage would probably be a good start but I would love to learn some light wind flying skills at some point in case I look at getting a 14m one day.
send us a pm or post here if anyone is feeling friendly and wants a good laugh :)
if your close to largs go there plenty of learners willing to help out and match each other on who can face plant the hardest
Myself and a mate kite the northern beaches as well as Parham. He works at Mawson Lakes and lives in Gawler also, I am from Kapunda. Depending on forecast, we generally plan a kite a day ahead to work out where we're going, if we do a downwinder, etc.
We'd be happy to keep an eye out on you so perhaps PM us your contact details. Otherwise there's usually plenty of kiters at Largs that will no doubt help out if asked.
Chaps.
Hey mate I'm just starting out this season also and have a bit of a hit/miss ability to get out. I go to Largs and have found it to be generally friendly and easy to get a launch etc if you're there by yourself. Am happy to have someone on board to faceplant with if you need.
Hopefully heading out tomorrow after work so maybe see you down there!
hey guys - Heading out to Parham tonight with my dad and his friend kiting and keeping an eye. Any other noobs wanna come down feel free.
I was thinking we should get all the noobs down to one of the Friday sessions down at grange and have a few beers with some of the SAKSA guys and share some tips around.
Was out at parham on Sunday and noticed someone with a black 12m slingshot and possibly a 14m red and yellow slingshot struggling with the light winds. We were going to give you a hand but you seemed ok landing the kite yourself as there was absolutely no wind by that stage.
Got up on the board for a couple of 10m runs last week - totally addicted now :)
Hi Spawn
I'll probably head to Parham mid afternoon tomorrow for a kite, if the seabreeze picks up a bit. If you come down feel free to introduce yourself. I'll have a black and white rebel. ps DaGodfather's spot on- I often ended up getting blown away towards the end of the evening on my 12m.
Cheers, Brian
Hi Im the one with the black 12 m and the other is a 16m and although it was very light winds any time on the water at this stage is good!
Parham is really good as its very flat so you can concentrate on your kite skills.
I find I constantly sheet in the kite too much and it stalls, I keep kicking my self but it is coming slowly.
Just to say all the guys have been very helpful and Largs is really good and also North Haven when the wind changes.
See you out there some time.
Jim
Sooo good news and bad news.
Good news is that it was blowing pretty much between 19 and 22 knots at parham.
Bad news is that On sunday in the light 12 knot winds I managed to invert my kite after 10 minutes and had no idea how to get out of it so had to drop to safety and wind my lines up.
I didn't seem to notice how it happened as I was fiddling with my board.
Went out again with my coach watching me this time and after 10 minutes I inverted the kite again with a bad result 
Kite relaunched inverted and then crashed down in shallow water and blew the bladder - tearing a 30cm rip in the leading edge.
Coach advised me that I am letting the bar out too far with slack lines when I stack which is allowing my kite to roll.
So a couple of questions for everyone......
I know that a repair of that size will be around the $80 mark but I have no idea whether it is easy to get a replacement bladder for an 08 Crossbow and how much that will be?
Can anyone shed some light on how to recover from an inverted kite on the water if it is possible? Reading around seabreeze I have seen some suggestions to crash kite downwind and then slacken and work on the lines but I'm not sure exactly how this works and was wondering if anyone else has tried this?
So taking a break for a bit until kite is repaired - hopefully sooner than later 
Sorry to hear of your setback! Initially I had some problems with my switchblade folding and inverting- seemed related to not pumping it up enough, and powering it up while I had effectively anchored myself at the bar end. Problem solved after I pumped it harder and learned how to water start.
