{"id":1518,"date":"2014-04-15T09:56:10","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T16:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannonrocks.com\/blog\/?p=1518"},"modified":"2014-04-15T13:23:13","modified_gmt":"2014-04-15T20:23:13","slug":"spring-time-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannonrocks.com\/blog\/spring-time-in-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring time in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_4299edit2\"<\/a>So here I am in Italy\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Work commitments have dictated that this year my European visit will be a tad earlier and that the summer will be spent somewhere else.<\/p>\n

So for the first time in years, I am in the med wearing a full suit. Other peculiar thing is that because of the lack of users on the beaches during the winter around Rome, authorities don’t bother cleaning the beaches until late April. The result is that beaches look more like rubbish dumps than kiting beaches. Ostia (beach closest to Rome) was particularly bad. So you have to watch where you put your feet and land your kite.
\nQuite a shock coming from the remote beaches of Cannon Rocks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5016\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_4224\"<\/a>
Fregene Beach, looking towards Macarese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Wind has been on the light side. I was hoping to find a little more. On one outing I did managed to use a 7m Swell<\/a> which I brought along in an optimistic outburst. But I don’t think it is going to be a normal occurrence.
\nAnd when the wind blows, it gets busy even though the temperature is still pretty low!<\/p>\n

Otherwise it’s been a lot of 11m and 15m Fury days. Takes a bit of time to get comfortable again with big kites. But it is either that or no kiting\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5430\"<\/a><\/p>\n

During the last few weeks I reverted back to an old 128 Squadron Board<\/a> that I have as a back up \u00c2\u00a0in Europe. The board falls short on some of the new technology, however still great fun for Board offs being so small. But for cord offs you need wind.
\nAfter so much wave riding in South Africa, it does take a bit of time to get tuned in again. Here are a few shots from a couple of sessions.<\/p>\n