VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Extremekindness Erik here!

As I have been up fighting fires in Northern B.C. recently, I have not been the water at all recently....

Until THIS weekend! I extended my weekend, drove 16 hours to get to Victoria and got a day of kiting in on Friday. SO STOKED!

As I sprinted from the parking lot to the stairs I stopped for a moment by John's memorial. (thanks again for putting that up). That was my first day kiting there since he sailed away. It's nice to have a visual reminder of the good spirit he has bestowed to Cook St. As I took in the view I half expected to see Mr. Reed there surveying the water, down on the beach telling stories or out in the water launching! (sigh)

I made my way down to the water and ran in to all of you great people. Everyone was launching and catching kites, hooting words of stoke, telling stories, laughing... generally playing in sunshine the way happy should.

Throughout my session, I helped and was helped by countless people. People I hadn't seen in months or hardly knew, made me feel welcome and included. Others were out in the water just shredding the whole time. After a few hours I realized that we are doing a fantastic job carrying on John's legacy. These are all the things that he optimized. I felt really happy.

As I drove back to Houston, reflecting on my session, I was thinking how grateful I am to be part of such an awesome collection of random people. Thank you all for fostering the spirit of Cook St. Each one of you is doing John proud!

Specifically...

Paul- Thanks for your positive attitude, thoughtfulness and phillips screwdriver.
Ed- Thanks for your stoke.
Marathon Dave- Thanks for shedding non stop! Way to go hard.
Billy- Thanks for your helpful hookups.
John Z- Thanks for your enthusiasm.
Martin D- Thanks for your effort.
Grant- Thanks for being a positive fixture at Cook St.
Kendra- Thanks for your helpful advice.
Dwayne- Thanks for facilitating this great sport.
Tyler- Thanks for your warmth and positive energy. Nice to see the family at the beach! (Lindsey and a half plus the dog)

Thanks to everyone else for your contributions to Cook St Spirit. Keep up the great work and have fun!

Stoke from the North,


Extremekindness Erik



P.S. I am on a mission to find some spots to kite up near Smithers if anyone has any insights please let me know.

P.P.S. See you in September!

thats some serious stoke, thanks for sharing!

extremekindness Erik wrote: Marathon Dave- Thanks for shedding non stop!

my mom-in-law has a dog like this.

And that, my friends, is why we call him Kind Erik.



John Z

Yo Erik - was good to see you on the water! Ya gotta stop lighting, uh, fighting fires and get yourself a real job!

Yes, the Cook St. spirit is alive and well, your post a good reminder of what we have going on. Let's do what we can to keep it up...

see ya in september dude

I realize I'm several months too late on this but regarding spots to kite near Smithers - its a bit of a drive but Kitimat has a thermal wind much like Squamish, I've only kited there once from Hospital Beach (upwind of the alcan smelter) Which was a sweet rigging area (grassy) but a bit sheltered from the wind and had some gnarly logs thunking around at high tide. I'm told at low tide its a better area as you can launch from the sandbar.

Apparently you can also get to a spot in the Estuary that might be decent for launching. I only got one day in there this summer but have been told by a wise old windsurfer that every day 2pm its raging.

I was overpowered on a 9m at the furthest reach of my tack, a little weaker closer to shore. There is also another launch spot from the native village on the south side of the channel.

Burns Lake is another spot that I'm told blows every afternoon, but have never been there to see it.

Closer to the coast, between rupert and terrace the skeena is definitely kiteable in the summer, it was windsurfed lots in the past and has huge inflows.

I only started kiting in July this year but all these places are on my hit list. (I've also heard Smithers has wicked snow kiting).

All the best
matt cooper

I Hope you get Tubed a whole lot this winter.
Good to see such a stoke.
Have a great Ride..
Cheers
D