Another week on the Oregon coast and I am STILL psyched!  I have had solo morning kayak surf sessions in the fog, beatdowns while shooting in the surf at sunset, lens changes in a paraglider at 4,000 feet, a fire writing experience on the beach at night (tough one to explain), unseasonably good kiteboarding conditions, landboarding lessons, random kitebuggy images, an hour long paramotoring flight, time for creative flexibility and again, great company.

            In my life, I have learned to savor every moment because you will never get them back.  There will always be a time of transition, a lull in the action, a period of unknown outcomes, loss, loneliness or simply downtime.  We all deal with it.  And it is during those instances that I reflect on the lasting moments like the ones I had this week. 

A flying husky, kayak surfing, paragliding over the Oregon coast, a technical camera revelation, an entire day on the beach, fresh seafood and great new people.  And that was just Saturday.

Since then there has been more paragliding, swimming / shooting under boosting kiteboarders and, of course, giving it a try myself.

I have been oogling over kiteboarding for about 10 years and I have never had the time, opportunity and location access to jump in, but all of that is changing.  In case you haven’t read the second to last blog update, I grew up wakeboarding.  I spent every possible minute on the water.  I dreamt about landing the next big move or that perfectly glass calm morning session, carving through the water on a hard edge that would never give.  I lived for the days when it was too good to hold anything back.

My love for riding kept me thumbing through Wakeboarding Magazine, always looking for something new, and it was during one of those page tearing initial flip throughs that I first laid eyes on a man, a board and a kite in the same picture 50 feet above the water.  It was powerful.

On my own quest to shoot more kiting sports and become a part of them as well, I have been lucky enough to get connected with Eli Anderson of Ozone Kites (www.flyozone.com).  He’s been giving me the tour and taking me to all of the local spots, introducing me to his crowd of flying and riding buddies and even showing me a thing or two.

Thirty minutes into my first kiteboarding lesson, I found myself clinging to a sports car of a kite while screaming on a heavy cut across the Columbia River.  I was all smiles.  Coming back was a bit less graceful (or “in control” might be a better way to put it), but I handled it, and now I think I am hooked.  Wakeboarding without a boat is too cool.

I also tried my hand at battling against the 10-12 knot current of the Columbia River while shooting with my water housing.  I was pretty weary about what the kiters’ reactions might be, but I found out really quickly that I was completely welcome.  As soon as I got to the sweet spot, I had kiters gunning for my lens, launching over me left and right, and making me realize I need a brighter helmet.  It was AWESOME!  I found the rhythm of approach patterns and was able to judge my timing by the second pass (The current goes one direction while the wind blows the other.  I naturally went with the current and would run up the beach for the next round.).

The day went on and the sun dropped lower, lending to some of the nicest light I have seen in a while.  I had already been swimming and running up the beach for about two hours, but it was just too good, so I kept going until there were no more options.  By the end of the day, I had been swimming against the current for over three hours, and I was still smiling.  I don’t think that will ever get old.

I also mentioned paragliding.  The whole week started with Eli setting me up with Brad Hill and Maren Ludwig of Discover Paragliding (www.discoverparagliding.com) on a tandem paragliding flight over the Oregon Coast.  It was surreal, and really got the brain working through some image ideas.  After landing, we got a little crafty and the idea actually turned into a reality.  I’m afraid I can’t go into more detail than that, or show any of those images, but hopefully you will see some of them in a publication soon.

Other than that, I took my playboat out into the surf for a nice solo session in the waves and had a blast.  I have always wanted to do that, but never had the chance.  It was one more first in a week of firsts.

I can’t wait to see what this next week has in store.