NW winds ... where to kite in Miami with no boat

[highroller]

I see a big NW wind day coming up this Saturday. Where can one kite this winds without a boat. The only place that I can think of (in front of the miami seaquarium) seems to be more for SW-W that NW. Any suggestions .....

I wish I had access to a boat

[ricki]

I see a big NW wind day coming up this Saturday. Where can one kite this winds without a boat. The only place that I can think of (in front of the miami seaquarium) seems to be more for SW-W that NW. Any suggestions .....

I wish I had access to a boat

Hobie Beach, the area just west of the Sea Aquarium may be the best readily accessible prospect for NW winds.

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album129/Stiltsville_Miami.jpg

The straight section of Rickenbacker Causeway shown above is more or less aligned east to west. That makes NW winds close to sideshore at Hobie Beach. Unfortunately, the bridge and Brickell Blvd. buildings create some wind shadow not that far away. So, the wind will be gusty here.

NOTE: Hobie Beach is to be shut down to all water access if what was repeated several times in a meeting last year comes to pass. In the meantime, do assisted launches and landings in the shallows as close to the swimming zone bouys as you can get. DO NOT ride near shore and inside the buoys. This really annoys the cops and a number of us have been slammed into cars and wooden posts for the practice already.

http://miamikiteboarding.com/ runs sea taxi out to the flats for about what a dive charter would run if memory serves. It provides a pretty good option to trying to deal with a shoreside launch.

Hope everyone finds some good, useable wind with this cold front. The forecast keeps changing a bit making launch selection involving a road trip variable.

[ricki]

The forecast is still varying a bit through time with the following applying to Miami/Ft. Laurderdale for Saturday:

SATURDAY
WEST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET BUILDING TO
6 TO 8 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.
SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

SATURDAY NIGHT
NORTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 7 TO 9 FEET.
INTRACOASTAL WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.

SUNDAY
NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING NORTH 10 TO
15 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. NEAR SHORE...SEAS 4 TO
6 FEET SUBSIDING TO 2 TO 4 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IN
THE GULF STREAM...SEAS 6 TO 8 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A MODERATE
CHOP.

From: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mfl/marine.php

If you go, experienced guys only with these sort of conditions choose your kite well. Again, conditions should be GUSTY coming off the land so close by. Higher winds and bigger gust ranges have been at the root of a number of our problems over the years. Winds are predicted to 30 kts. further north on the east coast. All of this is offshore in SE Florida. Have a care out there guys.

[highroller]

yes, lets see how it turns out. If anybody will be going out on a boat I would love to get a ride, if not Hobie beach will have to do

[ricki]

That was one powerful cold front. I went down to Key West to ride the flats with the Kitehouse. It looks like winds were even stronger on Saturday in the middle to upper Keys and in Naples to Miami.

How did it go for guys that hit the water? A number of guys passed on the conditions, too high, gusty and work to mess with.

[highroller]

The winds were super strong. I went out in Hobie beach but with the gusts I took out an 11 and I almost lost control (there were people flying 11's thats why I pumped it). After noticing that i was way overpowered and realizing the danger of Hobie (with the causeway right next to it) and the wind so strong I landed it barely and decided to call it a day. While I was sitting in the car someguy had the same problem with a 9. Decided to call it a day since it was too close for comfort