How about kiting int he intercostal around North Bay Village

[AEsco48]

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+...21595&t=k&om=1

north and or sound of the "U" shaped island...

[AEsco48]

maybe a down winder from Kennedy causeway to Morning side park?

http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&lr=...14274,0.019956

http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/parks/page.../community.asp

[ricki]

Originally Posted by AEsco48

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+Bay+Village,+FL&ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=25.84 98,-80.156078&spn=0.114164,0.21595&t=k&om=1

north and or sound of the "U" shaped island...

I've been wondering the same thing myself for a few years. It is a large body of water. I would think there will still be some wind shadow impacts, e.g. gusts in the area. Inland kiting can really suck due to uneven winds caused by land effects. Riding in such areas can put special demands on the rider for some pretty intensive kite control. You can be drifting downwind into a seawall, pilings, over hanging trees, etc. with no real options to avoiding things. You need to know when to pull the plug, i.e. totally depower your kite to the water before it gets tangled on this stuff. You can drift pretty quickly too mounting the decision pressure. The wind can still pull you into things even when depowered. It can get pretty technical. Kite and rider damage can happen. I would look to some more experienced riders for their experience in this area before cutting new ground yourself. In trying to save a charter fee to the Flats you could cost yourself quite a bit more.

[kiwiar2000]

indeed. We South Floridians can name tons of places to ride, though it is just somewhat impossible. There are tons of places to ride.
I guess its a good idea to save up money for a charter to the Keys, like Rick is doing. I may end up doing a downwinder from Crandon to Stittsville. Good downwinders makes you more efficient. I like.
-Danny

[ricki]

A long time back, I launched off of western Rickenbacker, pretty technical on it's own, solo and from shore (bad choice). I rode out trying to pickup stronger winds further from land. Mother nature decided to turn the winds way down. I didn't have enough wind to make it back to my launch so I tooled out further to the south. I ended up coming into an expensive residential area with seawalls, docks, trees, etc near Coconut Grove. I was on a 5 m Wipika Classic to date things further. Still, it is amazing at how fast you move towards all that stuff, even with the kite on the water. These areas are frequently dredged so you may not be able to stand up to stop your drift until the kite hits things. If I had waited a few seconds longer the kite likely would have been trashed in a tree or something. Fortunately, I caught a ride with a windsurfer driving over to where I launched saving me a LONG walk. Beaches and undeveloped margins bordering riding areas are much easier to deal with than seawalls and developments.

[AEsco48]

iv got an apartment in northbay village and the other day while on the roof of the building....there was probably like 11knots at sea level and i took a pair of binoculars and looked at the trees on islands and the flags on sail boats and it looks like the wind was pretty constant (it was a north wind)

but its something you would defenitly want to do with a partner...and two cars...