Out of towner...looking for local knowledge

[rmurray]

Hello Tampa / St. Pete kiters! I'll be in your area from Nov. 16-27th for a wedding. I'm from Seattle and have been to Tampa / St. Pete many times but have not kited there yet. I'd really appreciate any and all advice. I'm staying in St. Pete Beach and will have a car. I've been riding for 2 years and am a competent rider. Looking for flat water first, waves second. If I bring 2 kites, what sizes should I bring (I have a 9m Fuel, 13m Fuel and 16m Rhino)? Where should I go? Where should I not go? Do you have a link on your forum with beach info? What wind directions work with which beaches? I hear kiting is very popular right next to the skyway. What is the best website for checking the wind?

I know this is a lot of questions so I appreciate any feedback I get. If any of you visits Seattle, I'll return the favor with local knowledge.

Thanks!

Ryan Murray

[Skyway Scott]

Ryan,

I would post on here in the let's ride section the night before you want to ride.
That night, enough of us ride that we can give you advice and ride with you the next day at agreed upon spot (s).

Looking forward to riding with you :)
I would try to bring all 3, but if only 2, I think the smaller two.

Scott

[rmurray]

Thanks, Scott! I'll check the forum for info the day / night before riding. I found this link http://www.epickitesurfing.com/tamaplaunch.html on a "Where not to ride" sticky on this forum. Looks like a lot of great info on your kite beaches. North Skyway looks ridiculous....flattest kiteable water I think I've ever seen. I'd love to ride there. Hopefully we can hook up! Looking forward to meeting some of you guys later this month.

How many days a week do you get rideable wind in Tampa / St. Pete?

-Ryan

[bryanleighty]

it really depends.. we get a front thru and it can be 4 or 5 days in a row.. sometimes its just these morning sessions that drop off before 10 or 11 am..

if you are here for 10 days.. it would be reasonable to think you could kite 5 of them.. possibly more if you are skilled at lighter wind riding..

those that have the schedules that allow can find wind almost daily these days.. seems like every days lately has had some ridable conditions at select times..

north skyway and a few other spots in the area are amazing on NE

tho nothing compares to ft. desoto east beach on an epic S-SW afternoon.

[bryanleighty]

also.. check this out.. i think chris made this a while back.. good info and map gives you good views of locations..

http://tinyurl.com/284jfa

[Tom Stock]

And some videos of the locals riding:

http://www.floridakiteboarder.com

We really have some great riding spots in almost every wind direction... you are going to have a good time. If you can do a down winder with someone (you'll need wind with some west in it) I high recommend it. But if it's flat water you are after, I can guarantee without a doubt that you will be able to find flat water in just about any direction, but check here to make sure you go to the right spot (most are near the skyway / ft. desoto). Bring a wetsuit, it's starting to get a little cold down here, although I am still riding without one.

[bryanleighty]

tom failed to mention his skin is thicker than most 5mm wetsuits.

most humans would recommend a wet suit.

:)

i could also insert a joke or two here regarding cold water and shrinkage and certain peoples love there-of.., but that probably only result in E-Bone coming out of the woodworks to make some vulgar comments..

for shame.

beware the mangroves.

[rmurray]

Thanks for the heads up on wetsuits. I'm assuming a 2mm shorty will be enough. Water temps in Seattle's Puget Sound are about 47-50 right now! Air temps 35-55. Relative to Seattle it's balmy down there. Did somebody say shrinkage? :rolleyes:

[Skyway Scott]

This is the time of year everything usually changes in a period of 2 to 3 weeks. Water temps could easily drop down to around 62 or even less, depending on how cold and strong the winds are with the next couple of fronts.
If you are riding on a day that the front passes through, it could start off that day at 65 degrees and end up 50 degrees by sunset.
If you are use to that, no biggie. Most people need a pretty reasonable full wetsuit, starting real soon. I don't think a 2mm shortie is going to work, even for a Northener :).
Then again, maybe you are laughing at my idea of cold (?).

[bayflite]

lake magorie off 9th street iz nice
also riviera bay iz nice
4 landboarding try i275 and 54th ave north i think it iz.
most of us wear speedoze and swimming gogles
peace

[rmurray]

I'll be in town on Saturday...Is the wind supposed to blow in the next few days? I'll check the forum... Please let me know where you'd recommend. Looking forward to riding with you guys!!! Bringing all three kites...9, 13, 16m.

[BigR]

Looks like if you had arrived one day sooner you would have been on your small kite but at least there is hope for wind after saturday on your big kite. goto the Skyway or east beach @ ft desoto for the easterly's


SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON


TONIGHT
NORTH WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 5 TO 7 FEET. BAY AND
INLAND WATERS ROUGH.

FRIDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS EARLY...DIMINISHING TO
AROUND 15 KNOTS BY AFTERNOON. SEAS 3 TO 6 FEET NEAR THE COAST AND
6 TO 9 FEET FROM 20 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE...SUBSIDING TO 2 TO 4 FEET
NEAR THE COAST AND 3 TO 6 FEET FROM 20 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE IN THE
AFTERNOON. BAY AND INLAND WATERS ROUGH.

FRIDAY NIGHT
EAST WINDS AROUND 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. BAY
AND INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.

SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2
TO 4 FEET. BAY AND INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.

[STORMRIDER]

not to hi-jack this thread but i'm trying to deside where to meet my kiting buddy she is already in coco. We want to hit the hot spots for kiting and fun.
I'm trying to figure where we should meet to get the best of both....do we meet in orland, miami or tampa for the best that florida has to offer in the next two weeks...cum on now give it to me straight cause i've got to book my flight 2day.....hook a bruthr up...if you were coming in from the gorge to get some sweet butter water and your party on where would you go!!!!:confused:

[BigR]

If you wanna go on a bender then prolly miami beach in miami takes the cake, ; I wouldn't recommend the keys this weekend since all the rednecks from nascar will have taken everything over.
A good second might be ybor city or clearwater beach in tampa. Or a third possibilty would be cocoa/ orlando but they won't pack as much a swinging crowd as the above I think.

As for wind... you're in the same boat as the rest of us.. keep praying for some...

[STORMRIDER]

ya, we want to get bent a little,share some romance, have nice weather and more than anything get in some kiting...thanks for your input keep it coming

[Sean B]

A good second might be ybor city or clearwater beach in tampa.

You mean gay-bor? Storm..don't even consider going to that place. It's ghetto and full of ferries. If coming to Tampa, hit up channelside for a good time. It's got a ton of bars and clubs and is in a nice area. If you're in Orlando, hit up boardwalk at Universal or church street in the dowtown area. Both fun places..again, many bars/clubs. Good luck brutha! Enjoy your stay :)

[LSUkiter]

Church street is definitely cool. Its kind of an upscale college scene

[rmurray]

12 days...2 very small sessions. Thanks for all that tried to point me in the right direction. The 2 days that it blew the strongest I had weddding stuff to take part in. I got a session at Indian Rocks beach on Monday afternoon. It the wind was blowing 18-22 out of the south and I debated rigging my 16m or my 13m. I rigged the 16 and felt well powered, but couldn't stay up wind. Seemed the south to north current was too strong to stay up wind. Is that current typical? I ended up doing a mile and a half downwinder and walking back.

Can't wait to come back and kite in some of that butter smoothe water at Skyway and Desoto...in warm sun. It's a nice place you all live in.

Back in Seattle. 38 degrees. Booties, hood, gloves, 5mL, chop, waves, numb fingers, addicted.

[Tom Stock]

Sorry the weather didn't play nice while you were here... sometimes the direction is NNW which makes the flat water hard to ride (but backside skyway is still doable), or it's just simply not blowing at the skyway when it's blowing up around Indian Rocks.

Hopefully you can find another reason to come down for awhile... when it's right for East Beach.

[Skyway Scott]

Sorry the wind wasn't more consistent.
IRB is definitely prone to current. :(

[ryansurf1]

Awesome site and great information on the launches.

I need to do business in Madeira beach for part of a day this week, 12/03. I started planning a trip last week and wanted to coordinate it around wind. I had hoped a front might pass...it is not looking so good.

I don't want to chance the morning sea breeze and would like to get business out of the way in the morning. I am looking for a locals guess of wind...NOAA and Ikitesurf show some wind on Tuesday or Wednesday....which looks the better bet? Where to ride? I'll ask that again the night before.

Thanks Scott in advance.

[Skyway Scott]

Tomorrow afternoon might happen, WNW at the beach.
Tuesday, either N maybe NE in the morning.
This season has been tough to guess.
If you still have my number, feel free to call.

[ryansurf1]

an out of towner...in town on Mon. 12/17...

what is the best suggestion for a spot in the afternoon?

How about a locals guess on direction and speed?

im an experienced kiter, just let me know if there are any don'ts / do at the spot?

Thanks

[Skyway Scott]

Usually what happens the day following a cold front is that it will blow the following morning real well from the NNE until around 11am.
Unfortunately, that's the one bad direction for us locally, as it tends to be gusty, mainly due to lack of a spot with a clean fetch (except southside SW). If it stayed due North that'd be one thing, or NE.... but it is usually NNE. :(
The Skyway is the best place for the wind (it seems to get funneled across the bay there), but it's usually gusty.
South skyway is best for this direction, imo, as the wind is more powerful and less gusty, but is a pain to set up unless extreme low tide.

Then, it's anyones guess at that point what will happen after 11am. Some of the forecasts say wind all day, others don't.
If I had to bet on it, I would not bet on wind from the NE all day, but it does rarely happen.

Sometimes it might actually seabreeze starting around 1 pm, so the beach would work. Pass-a-Grille seems to be the best local spot for that.

Then, another possibility is that it might blow NE again starting around 4 pm or so as it starts to cool. SW is best place if that happens.

It's hard to know, especially this season.
Usually the morning blow is a good bet, though.

[ryansurf1]

Thanks Scott...I still have your cell. I plan to hit you up for a conversation.

I think my business should be done early afternoon. I guess i will head towards the skyway and watch for kites.

I can't get my connection to ikitesurf here....unfortuantely it may be hard for me to tell exact NNE vs NE while trying to get my sense of direction.

Thanks

[Skyway Scott]

iMightSurf seems to not be loading lately.
The SW sensor has been down for a while, anyway.

Here is a link that has some of the sensors on it.

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/Central_Florida.shtml
This one is the best of those sensors for NNE to NE for the SW area.
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=pmaf1

Also, this following link only loads once an hour, but if it is blowing at this sensor from the N, NE, ENE or E it is definitely blowing at the SW.
It's the best indicator of all of them for the SW, imo (just add 5 knots and that's the speed at the SW, usually)

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KSPG.html

Looking at it, it seems to have tapered off since sunrise, but still windy as of now. Like my guess last night, 11 am is usually the last gasp of wind. :(
I hope it blows all day for you. I think last time it died. Night riding might be possible if you are up for it!