Hey everyone!
I've had a few lessons and am planning to have some more. However, I've bought my kite and harness this week, and now I'm itching to get out there to practice , even if it is just the body dragging and all that. I'm not really too sure what wind directions are safe to go out on around the Adelaide metro beaches.
I know it is not safe to go out on Easterlies (they are offshore right?), but is it unsafe to go out when the wind has ANY east in it? or are some SE/ NE winds ok for particular beaches?
Any help is appreciated!
Cheers!!
elise
Also, make sure that the wind strength is right.
Too much = bad, Too little = bad
By that, I mean the too much part is obvious, but with too little wind, your kite will be difficult to launch, wont fly well and you may end up damaging your gear.
Summer will be alot more predictable and has steady seabreezes but if you find a good day in winter, then go for it.
Ideally wait till the forecast is 15-20 knots and no storm fronts are coming through .
If the forecast is only 10-15 then don't bother. And if the forecast is over 20 knots it maybe unsafe as no one can predict what the top end gusts may be in winter conditions. Also when you are learning, don't go if the wind is directly on-shore (W) - you won't have very far to go before you hit the beach. Best directions are cross-on shore (SW,SSW,NW,NNW) or side shore (S,N). Luckily these are also the most common ones in Adelaide.
Remember, when ur body dragging it's the walk back up wind that can be tricky if the wind is out of range. You don't want to crash your kite and/or get dragged on the beach.
I thought I had started the wrong sport. I thought it was called 'kite walking' in the beginning as I spent more time walking up the beach than actually in the water.
I found the 'progression' series of instructional cd's very helpful but you can watch a lot on youtube.
Yeah, what Jim said. On an average 2-3 hour session I recon I would walk a couple of kilometres back up the beach. Body dragging is not particularly difficult once you get the hang of it, but I wouldn't use it as a method to transport you back up the beach having been blown downwind. Just takes too long. Better to walk back.
Just starting to get up on the board and edge a bit, so hopefully won't be too much longer. Might have to wait until summer though. Was 4 degrees last night. Brrrr
thanks for the vid jim, was definitely helpful!
Seems like im gonna get a bit of a walking work out then
4 degrees ouch! I hope you've got a wetsuit, cos have you seen the forecast for next week?? I know its a few days away, but tuesday and thursday look gooood
(i'm definitely hoping to get out!!)
cheers guys!
Just a heads up from my personal experience with winter kiting.
When i first started it was around May when most of the seabreezes had moved on and the water had shifted from "ooh that's nice" to "jesus that's cold!".
At the moment the water temperature is "Holy F#%^ my balls are the size of ball bearings it's that cold!!"
I was super keen and was trying to learn while heading into the winter months.
Here is my advice from reading a lot of posts in seabreeze and good advice from other people here.
If you are really keen then make sure you have a full length wetsuit + boots + gloves. Fashion takes a step down under freezing your balls off in my opinion.
By all means if you think you can tough it out in water that is 2 degrees in your board shorts then i praise you all mighty iceman (woman) for you are more worthy than I!
On a more serious note here are the main challenges you will run into when trying to learn in the colder months.
- The wind is unpredictable most of the time - fronts and unpredictable gusts are the main dangers for kiters so do your research and learn what to look for with the weather.
- An example of this was when I was last at Parham about a month ago and the wind went from a comfortable 19 knots to 30+ in a space of ten minutes. Personally I thought it was lovely how the sun had come out and it was nice and warm now.. what I didn't realise was that the incoming wind had quickly moved the clouds away and I was about to cop it - good fun on a 12m
- Try to kite with like-minded snow people who can watch your back. I say snow people because they are the only ones dead keen enough when the water is that cold. In winter the kite population on the water is less so therefore if the shiite hits the fan there is less people to help you out who know what they are doing and less people to call an ambulance if it really hits the fan.
- Finally - cold water saps your energy. In case you haven't noticed - when you are first starting to learn kiteboarding you get dragged around and dumped in the water a lot. This is hard work combined with the fact that if you struggle to go upwind you will be walking back up the beach - wet - tired and walking directly into a cold breeze of 15+ knots.
- Read this article - it has some good points in it as well
www.seabreeze.com.au/Articles/Kitesurfing/Winter-Weather-Warning-for-new-Kitesurfers_2879690.aspx
- Overall I don't want to scare you away I just like to share my own personal experience as it can be very disheartening to fail at something for 6 months (trust me I know the feeling). So if you can reduce this disheartening period by giving yourself the best conditions to learn in then I think there will be less chance of us seeing your gear for sale in 3 months time :)
End of essay :)
Spawn