Kitecamping

So a few mates and I recently did an extended downwinder a few weeks ago. In the lead up we were trying to find out info or tips from anyone doing similar. Basically, we loaded up some hiking packs with garbage bags and did an overnight kite trip. No hits on the web regarding kitecamping so I thought I'd see if anyone else was trying it out or keen to come along. The trip went off without a hitch aside from some gear issues which have been resolved. Roughly 60km as a crow flies with a bit of tacking and upwind work to get around some tricky spots. The initial plan was to establish feasibility and we reckon we can comfortably get 3 days worth of travel with appropriate packs. (we carried spearguns and all sorts of crap which was a totally stupid idea). The first trip was from lower shark bay in WA to denham. Unfortunately due to time constraints we cruised past so many perfect inaccessible spots where we could have dropped our packs, had a bite, and nipped out for a bit of smooth blue water freestyle fun. But we just wanted to see whether the concept can be reality. While the wind is up we are considering a mammoth trip from coral bay, travelling over the ningaloo reef to exmouth sometime in the new year. One of the things I found most satisfying about the trip is it felt more like an adventure with the opportunity for some awesome kiting spliced in throughout the day. If there is anyone in the area who thinks such an adventure might be their cup of tea, feel free to pm me and we can discuss dates and logistics. Should be heaps to see and roughly 3 days of ultimate caveman coolness with the wives waiting patiently and drinking cocktails by the pool at potshot.

My friend and I had discussed doing something similar in the Whitsundays, with the hope to go hopping from island to island.

Just curious how you felt kiting with a pack over the long distances?

We thought about getting an inflatable tube/ small boat/ something that we can fill with our gear and just tether it to us with it dragging behind us. I have never tried this but saw a U-tube clip of a kid getting towed on one behind a kite surfer. So figured it is achievable.

Dont know how well it would work, but if you wanted to carry lots of heavy gear (ie. fresh water) this might be more comfortable for the trips. Then when you get to a nice spot you want to kite in but is still some distance from land. You could anchor the tyre/boat and have the freedom to really enjoy the area.

Either way sound good and enjoy

Like where this is going, enduro rather than short circuit. with the right preperation no reason you can't go outa sight without a saftey boat. i.e. good in stable conditions, what if a kite change was required, chalenge for kite designers now to come up with enduro model to kick along kite touring. A kite ADV rider site would be awsome. legs between on shore facilities shouldn't too difficult, going wilderness a fast yacht would be handy to have along.

Nice work! Yeh get a safety boat, Flares and epirb, inflatable life raft, GPS tracking system, a short wave radio and a satellite recognition location tag. Farq me where's the adventure gone!

Nice work guys, yeh there are dangers, but less danger than growing fat, old and slow mowing the Farqin lawn until you finally die in your own ****e in a nursing home.

Oh how very irresponsible of you, dear me

Awesome I'm up for the next one, I will bring water, food and my Farqin manhood with me.


Ps just thought I'd preempt all the pussys who have had their balls slowly shrunk living in suburban hell, listening to whining women, when they tell you the dangers of your expedition.

Eppo, How do you KNOW my wife?

I'm so keen for this! Lanno to greenhead perhaps?

A sleeping bag, stack of peanut butter sandwiches, bottle of water and a bottle of rum should do the trick!

Kite Touring, ha I tried every search term except that!!! thats good to know :-)
thanks rayoli

To be honest guys, none of us are especially experienced kiters and aside from a small 10k downwinder done a few weeks beforehand this was the first trip I've done. One of the guys actually got held up for 30min when the coastline turned downwind as he'd never really tried going downwind and took a bit of learning. It was good for a laugh when we were giving him sh_t later about going downwind being the first thing most of us learn to do well.

That said, we are all fit, capable, and surf/kite/spearfish regularly in the area.

We had three kiters and a sailing kayak (the guy is actually a kiter but a sprained ankle meant he wouldnt cope but he didnt want to miss out on the trip) we carried all our own gear despite persistant efforts from the kayak offering to take our gear to weigh down his upwind outrigger.

The kayaker had a GPS, one of the kiters had an eperb from his boat, and a phone. we carried 6 lit of water each which was way too much and we tipped most of it out before the last leg. + first aid kit/duct tape etc as well. Fruit and Nut mix and hard boiled eggs were the food of choice. two of us hitched up 1 meter spearguns plus fins plus mask/snorkel plus tinfoil plus condiments:-) This was really silly, what sort of spearfishermen expect to be able to see anything in 20kts of onshore wind?????!!! but we were full of plans.

Carrying a pack is not a problem generally except on the second day, a wind shift and reduced strength meant we had to kite clean around Eagle bluff and go back for the packs. +1 hour. I'd go with a bigger kite next time but I enjoyed the challenge and problem solving aspect of it anyway and saw no disadvantage to mixing it up in that respect.

I say carrying a pack is not a problem but that depends on the type of pack. we had one hiking baby carrier pack with big drybag where the baby would sit :-) I used my cabrinha Kitebag with a tough garbage bag after initially testing out my deuter 75 lit with the full kit the night before at the facine in Carnarvon. got some strange looks:-) The third guy was much more sensible, small pack with garbage bag and the bare essentials.

Once up and running, all the bags were fine. Problem with the kite/hiking packs were they had alot of empty space and foam padding which soaked up water and significantly increased the weight right when we needed to get upwind fast (water starting in straight onshore with headland jutting out about 200m into wind.)

additional problem with the hiking backs is that they are tall, making body dragging a challenge as you cant tip your head back. few mouthfuls of water before I learnt to roll more on my side and bodydrag blindish. I guess the straps did get a little uncomfortable after a while but nothing so bad as to affect your riding.

Climbing/caving/canyoneering packs are key as they have to leave space for the climbers head to tip back with helmet and are generally very waterproof and quick rolltop entry without having to **** around with garbage bags. Will make intermediate stops and muchies all the easier. We have since bought two such packs for the next one and we reckon they are exactly what we need. Im planning to email the manufacturer and see if we can get a wholesale deal on a bunch in exchange for providing some youtube footage and pictures for their marketing as I reckon there is potential for this pack to own the market if they get it right and hook up with a local kitestore as distributer. The first one arrived yesterday and ill be doing a gear review in a couple weeks.

We dabbled with the idea of a sled, believe me, I was thinking of all sorts of ways to mold one out of f.glass but decided the packs would do the job. definately an application for a tow sled type thingy tho and I did see that youtube vid;-)

As with the recent Lano wedge d/w same considerations and caveats apply. I'm doing this with or without others but anyone is free to tag along, and of course we are all going to look out for each other where we can on the water. But as someone stated, this is an enduro type adventure and we are all responsible for ourselves.

Eppo, I like your attitude, you'd be most welcome.

Am thinking mid March - early April due to work constraints but will have a look at the avg winds for the area to determine if this is leaving it a bit late.

there will likely be a windrush cat or the sailing kayak to follow at the rear but my plan is to do it without relying on the boat. Each to their own tho and if someone wants to bring their noisy 18ft power boat with a thousand stinky fishing rods, and doof doof stereo good on them, I'll be camping down the beach.

That said, The kayak/windrush will be trawling lures over the top of one of the best reefs in the world and i certainly can put my soloist convictions aside for a free fresh fish dinner:-)

be great if we can get a good crew.

WA, and in particular shark bay/ningaloo is such a perfect place for this kind of thing, consistent winds, great coast angles, and the remoteness of the place makes it all the more enticing for me.

I'd be very keen but would have to crank up my endurance!

Where do you get those small swags from? We slept in sleeping bags on a tarp but was too hot and a lot of bugs/spiders. Would be nice to have something with a cover.

Get the 'bikers' swag they are specially designed to be packed small so they fit on a bike.

they'll sell them at kathmandu, getaway outdoors, BCF and those kind of shops!

hate to be a party pooper but you couldn't pick a worse time. March is our peak clockwise direction wind and April the lightest with the chance of it being an up winder.

I think I could do mid Jan but it would depend on where we will be doing it. Being based in Perth it is not the easiest for me to go up there...

Na I think the concept is awesome, but why waste a good trip with carrying all your gear "unless you are going for the adventure trip thing"

I think that a trip like that with a support boat with your gear, tent, food beers etc would be the way to go so you can go hard all day long and have a great camp with nice food drink along the way...........

and if the wind drops and you have the rest of the time with no wind you have a boat to pick you up and worst case you have a boat trip and camp along the way to your destination..........

Akwa just bring more rum man won't need a swag then you'll sleep anyway!

And stevebeva yeh didn't read that bit, march, April we would need 17m kites a bible and some serious Farqin luck to be not blown to Africa on the easterlies.

Those swags do look small and compact hey. Akwa you could hide a bottle of rum in each I reckon.

Fruit and nut mix and boiled eggs, interesting times around the camp fire! I'd recommend some hydration supplements as well.

Ha ha spear gunning at 2o knots now that's an extreme sport. Load the jellies did ya. Just don't hold the gun upwards.

I'd be on my edges though so I will wait for you at each designated Spot. I'll have plenty of time to spear a fish for the boys. Ha ha ha

Seriously though a damn good idea. I couldn't organise a chook raffle (wife does all that, then i dont have to think too much, well at all really) but I would be keen to be part of it.

What kite sizes, makes, boards did you use?