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Old 11-28-2011, 11:34 AM
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ricki ricki is offline
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Default Palm Beach Kite Session In Photos


A look north up the coast


Went up north late in the day Friday after work on the way to meet the family. The wind was up (and down) so I thought I would hit Palm Beach and cruise a bit north and checkout Lake Worth Inlet and Singer Island. The winds were all over near the start, drifting below 15 mph but eventually settling in around 15 to 25 mph or so. The winds were ENE to E or close to onshore with 6 to 8 ft. waves, sometimes higher in the breaker lines. I tuned my 14 m Switchblade for max power on the pigtails being concerned about being able to get offshore much less navigate up the coast. I didn't want to use my larger lighter wind twin tip in all those big waves if I had a choice.

I shot these images using the new GoPro HD2 cameras mounted on my kite and helmet.



There is the historic Breakers Hotel followed by the condos on Singer Island a bit further north. Doesn't look that far, maybe three miles? Actually it is over five miles but the distance burns away fast once you're going close to a beam reach with a bunch of tacks thrown in. It turned out to be a nice few hour session covering over ten miles in good winds and waves.



The Breakers was originally the "Palm Beach Inn" constructed by Henry Flagler in 1896. It burned in 1903 and was replaced with the Breakers Hotel. Looks like quite a bit of dredge and filling happened prior to the present day.
http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/f




The Breakers in 1947 before the construction of the new eastern additions.
http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/




Some nice sets rolled through on the way north, almost double head high at points.








You don't want to get too close to that massive seawall in onshore winds and waves!




I got going at around 3:15 pm and a couple of hours from sunset.




Might as well get going north, we'll pass by this way running back to the start around sunset.




Working up to the inlet




Made it to the south jetty, need to make to windward and around the inlet to the north.




Coming up on one of the south channel marker buoys








A good sized yacht moves into the inlet ala HDR.




Crossing the channel, there is the bypass dredge or Pumphouse, dedicated to shifting sand accumulated above the north jetty to a discharge south of the inlet on the receding beach.




It has been years since I last kited up here. The last time was for the three 60 mile kite races from Jupiter to Ft. Lauderdale. I noticed at that time with northerly winds anyway, that the wave heights dropped with each inlet you passed heading south. So, this was the first drop passing Lake Worth Inlet.

More about those great races including the first one in 15 ft. seas and 30 mph+ winds at:
http://www.fksa.org/archive/index.php?t-2489.html




Sliding along inside the break pending working back out again.













Looking north towards the condos on Singer Island.




The waves build and get a bit erratic close to and just north of the inlet. Things clean up a bit and grow larger slightly further north.




The pumphouse is a well known surfing spot going back years. I understand Kelly Slater used to surf here at times. I can recall seeing a bunch of guys tow-in surfing here on livecam (above). More about that at: http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=537








The 14 m Switchblade kite proved to be a good fit for this session. It was light initially, barely enough to workout in onshore winds and good sized waves. After a while though the wind filled in particularly further offshore. The depowering came in handy at that point. When going point to point in the ocean it helps to have enough power to stay upwind without throwing in a lot of tacking.



Back to the Breakers and the sun is starting to drop.








Still playing around with HDR, it provides some unusual colors and contrasts.



The sun is about down, time to head in and call it a day. Its been fun!


.
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Last edited by ricki; 11-28-2011 at 12:02 PM.
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