Help! Where to kite on Friday afternoon?
 

Help! I'm from CA and am visiting Ft. Myers for a meeting that ends at noon on Friday. I'm heading down to the Keys for the weekend, but I really want to get in a couple of hours of kiting on Friday afternoon. Any suggestions?

Sanibel is the closest but it looks like it might be light winds tomorrow.

Islamorada is about a 4 hour drive (maybe more with Friday afternoon traffic?), so I could be there at 4pm, best case. Is that my best bet? Is there anywhere else on the way, like Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, or one of the closer Keys?

I'm pretty new to the sport, so I'm looking for a beginner friendly launch.

Thanks for the help FL kiters! Would love to repay the favor when you are in SF!

Going by the forecast and the fact that we've had a powerful system just move down the state I would say if you really want to try to find wind tomorrow you are better off making it to the Keys as fast as you can. Mainland southern Florida (both coasts) is looking light for the next few days in the wake of this system. It might not work out that way but it often does. The Keys may be catching the tail end of the system plus they often are in the middle of a larger pressure gradient than the mainland, hence more wind more of the time. It is supposed to dip down there on Saturday and return on Sunday unlike points north.

Checkout the forecasts on the SE Florida site to see what I mean at:
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=6734

Have fun!

Thanks!
 

Thank you, Rick! You really do an awesome job with this forum. Is Islamorada the first good launch to hit, or is there something closer? I just realized that it takes 3+ hours to drive all the way down the Keys. I want to spend the daylight hours kiting not driving, of course :)

Thanks, again!

Thanks! Often you would have options further north on the mainland, it just doesn't look like it right now. It's been great up here on the SE mainland for a while but it's ebbing now. There are launches all up and down there Keys including north of Islamorada. Pretty much anywhere you can legally figure out where to park, find walking access to the water, prerig your lines and wrap them back on your bar, inflate your leading edge and roll it taco style and your good to go. Walk out into the shallows on the east or Florida Straits side, pump it up do an assisted launch and off you go. Hundreds of miles of riding area just opened to you.

As you're from out of the area, may not be used to doing this sort of thing and may not have an assistant, Whale Harbor in Islamorada or later perhaps Anns Beach a bit further south are probably your best bets. Sunday you might want to head down to Key West if conditions look good there. The extra driving time will probably be worth it to Hope you get some good wind, have fun.

Thanks again, Rick, for your fast replies and all your help!! Here's to some good wind this weekend! Cheers!

Rick,

Thanks so much for your advice. Unfortunately, I timed this thing horribly--I arrived in FL as the wind was dying and I'm leaving as it's picking up. Ugh.

On Friday, I stopped by Anne's and Whale Harbor but it was really too light to kite. I got down to Bahia Honda, which was a beautiful beach and actually had good wind, but the sun was about to go down. Saturday, I was skunked all day :(.

I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation, so I'm going to get up at the crack of dawn and try to kite for a few hours before I have to head to MIA airport. My question is: is there any danger to doing this? ...like any huge fish that feed on kiters at dawn? haha...I just figured I'd ask since there won't be any beach goers at that hour.

Thank again!

I was looking at the realtime wind Friday afternoon and wondering if it would fill in. Sorry things didn't time out better for you, it happens to us all. Even locals! Bahia Honda is a beautiful beach to be sure.

It looks like the wind is to build to 15 to 20 again tomorrow. Hope it happens before dawn. Lots of guys kite around dawn, there are no migrations on currently. I would have at it and have fun.

Thanks again, Rick. Hey, I'm about to drive up the Keys and I'm looking at wind but is looking like N or NE, which rules out (offshore) several of the places I was considering hitting on the way...Whale Harbor, Anne's, Bahia Honda. Is there a good NE spot between here and MIA?

No , there really is no spot between matheson and whale harbor

except for Turkey point and long point maybe, but I wouldn't recommend those

Yes, the side off to offshore problem. As low as the Keys are, those directions can still deliver poor wind quality with too many gusts and lulls. If the kite goes down and stays down, offshore you go yourself. Sometimes in Islamorada they take folks out to the sand bar about 1/2 to 3/4 mile offshore towards the Straits. The wind quality can still be uneven but at least you can standup over the shoals and walk back to where you started usually.

Aside from that, as Raul said, not a lot of spots with nearby public parking for N (side off in lots of lower SE Florida) or NE in the upper Keys. NE is a great direction along the mainland north of Government Cut in Miami however. None of this probably does you any good. Sorry things didn't time out hope it was a good trip anyway. With cold fronts driving much of the useable wind this time of year, it comes and it goes regularly.

Where is the launch for these places. I Google earthed the whole coastline along the bay from Matheson to Card Sound and did't look like any places to launch.

Sorry if I wasn't a little more descriptive,

Turkey point is exactly that, turkey point nuclear power plant on SW 344th Street. You will notice
that just past the nuc's there is a road that goes out to a point . it has picnic areas , BBQ's, beach , etc. I windsurfed from there back in 1990. Lotsa cool little islands and stuff with real pretty water. I don't know if homeland security will still let you there or not.

The other one is Homestead Bayfront park just to the north of there on SW 328th Street in Homestead, nice grass rigging area and park facilities, trees for shade , etc.

Long ways from nowhere but the water there is beautiful

Nice. I just located the Turkey Point spot. I dont think they r gonna let you out there. You may very well get a chance to test out Eclipse's new "bullet proof" warranty.:D

Bayfront sounds like a spot to try. I didn't know they would let you kite there.

I grew up in miami. I used to Windsurf alot down a little dirt road just on the immediate south side of FPL Cutler plant. Not the dirt access road but the one you go through a little neighborhood first. The dirt road is still there. Used to go out to Chicken Key. Now maybe thats a spot to try out.

well, I think the FPL TP site was mostly for employees families to hang out and have picnics on weekends, I dunno. There were signs like donated picnic stands and BBQ grills around. But I just drove in like I belonged there and windsurfed away. I will tell you it is awesome out there with little flats and islands and turtlegrass + clear water.

NE day you could prolly get there from homestead, only a mile or two, if they don't scramble an F-16 from homestead AFB first :o

I agree, avoid Turkey Point. There is some local info regarding the Homestead launch at:

http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=2499

yeah , it is a longish drive from MIA and even longer from the other direction in the keys, WH.

I wouldn't recommend it , as I said , unless I lived actually in homestead.

plus you have no recourse to put in if the wind dies and you don't have boat support

New perspective here. That would be a great NE downwinder from Matheson to either Blackpoint Marina (10 miles) or to Bayfront (15 miles).

Black point could be the mark and Bayfront could be the backup. I say that because if you miss Bayfront and cant get back up wind your pretty much SOL.

On that leg from Matheson to Blackpoint there are plenty of outs. I got a cell phone, waterproof pack, Garmin handheld GPS, and VHF if anyone wants to do a little experiment with me. I wont do it alone but Im game if I got company. PM me or give me a shout on the SE Florida forum. Im usually a Crandon/Marathon rider these days.

You should PM Kent, I bet he might be up for it.