Happy New Year

Some days the wind has been pretty light but it has been blowing. The end of 2009 is turning out to be okay and the first of 2010 is looking very promising as well.

Making the most of a light day. Even Jeff made a rare appearance.

Erika braved the cold to watch the action.

Christmas

Last year we had lots of kiters in town and up to a dozen on the water at the same time. This year we've had only a few people show up. Wind has been okay. Sometimes a little light, sometimes a little gusty. In other words - pretty normal. Water temperature has cooled off to around 65 but that is still about 5 degrees warmer than usual. The air temperature is about the same as the water today as a cold front has moved in. Wind should start again Wednesday or Thursday.

We have had some changes out at the beach. A good change is that the road has been bladed and is in great shape. Not so great is that the parking lot has been stripped of most of the palm trees that weren't removed the last time they "improved" the parking area. They replanted the trees along the entryway road but they aren't being watered so they will all die shortly. This work was done by the owners of a hotel in El Fuerte, who have taken over the old disco building at the point to make it into a reception/bar/restaurant. They are going to use that and two of the Paradiso room buildings to make a new hotel. It is supposed to open in a few weeks. They have done a lot of work fixing up the building and bringing in new furniture and fixtures and stuff but I don't see much else going on to indicate enough of a commitment to make it work. I hope I'm wrong. It would be great to have a nice bar and restaurant on the beach.

We Have Wind

We had four days of wind last week and it looks like we will have five or six days this week. The air and water temperatures have been unbelievable. The beautiful conditions brought people here from Sinaloa, Hermosillo, and Phoenix for some great kiteboarding sessions.

I haven't had much to report until this week. We finally had a decent four days of wind and this coming week is also supposed to be good. Water temperature is still warm, right around 70 degrees.

Here is Roberto, boosting well on a quiet day.

New Month, Same Lack of Wind

Hardly anything to report here. Roberto keeps track of the kiteable days and he says that we only had 8 days of wind for the month of November. December hasn't started out any better. We did have decent wind on Friday. But just one day! It never blows just one day this time of the year.
A bunch of people showed up to kite Friday and despite the fact that the wind was a bit northerly and thus gusty, we all had a good time. There were as many as 9 kiters on the water at one time. Kenn flew down with a couple of buddies and of course Roberto was there and Beau and Adam and Ricardo and Fernando and Jimé from Canada.
The water temp is way too warm for this time of the year, the chart shows it is still above 70 degrees. I took my dry suit to the beach with me, not realizing how warm the water was. I kept it stored in a vacuum sealed bag but when I took it out the neck gasket was all gooey with little stretch left. Not usable at all. When I had put it away last spring it had a small area with this problem but I never figured out what caused it and it was small enough that I wasn't too concerned. Now I'll have to order a new neck gasket.
I received a report from Glenn and Sue, who went to South Padre this season instead of coming here. He says that he's "not impresses with the wind so far." Many people love South Padre but I've never been too impressed.

Out of Town

I had to go up to the USA to take care of some business and will be gone for a couple more weeks. I'm not real happy about being away during the windy season but the wind has been pretty spotty so far this year. I also missed the annual Veteran's Day party that comes to Algodones Beach each year. You can see photos from previous years: 2006, 2007, 2008.

Frustrating Week

We had strong wind most of the week, but it was too northerly to be kitable. Finally, it was the right direction on Saturday, even if it was pretty light. A couple of people tried to milk the last of the afternoon wind and paid the price, having to self rescue from a ways out in the bay with almost no wind as the sun was setting.
The water is still warm, around 80 degrees, but the wind can be chilly. Most of us are using at least shorty wetsuits and thinking about going with something warmer soon. It won't be long before I'll be wearing my dry suit again.

Great Day

Hurricane Rick was the second strongest hurricane that they've ever had on this coast and it pushed up some pretty nice waves that started arriving at our beach today. The combination of a southerly swell and northwesterly wind made for an awesome day.



We also had a beach cleanup going on thanks to the hard work of Ricardo and Nesto, and the the generosity of Ken Francis. Ken donated a kite to be given in exchange for someone to clean the beach and these two accepted the offer. Below is a photo of day one of the cleanup. Later we had a big bonfire to burn the wood pile which made for a good excuse to sit and drink beer until after sunset. Thanks to all of you guys, the beach is a much safer place to kite now.

Marina Real

Last Friday three of us, Christian, Ken Francis, and I, tried kiting in front of Ken's house at Marina Real. There were waves to play in but the wind wasn't quite strong enough or steady enough although Christian said he had a great couple of sessions. Later we went to the usual spot by Soggy Peso and we kited until after sunset. It was really, really good. Blowing 15 to 20, fairly steady, with flat water. It is so easy to get your timing right in conditions like that. We didn't want to come off the water.

Good Turnout

We've had a couple of good days and should have one more before the wind shuts down again. Thursday, Ken and Christian flew down from Phoenix to join Roberto, Adam, Fireman John, and myself for a very nice session. It was blowing over 20 knots most of the afternoon.

There is still a lot of crap on the beach that makes launching and landing a bit tricky. One of these days we need to do a serious cleanup.

Afternoon wind

We've been getting a few afternoons of wind lately, although nothing too spectacular. I had been out of action since hurting my shoulder a while ago but I got back in the line up Thursday. Here is Roberto wrapping it up for the day while Fernando is still out on the water.

More Rain

Tropical storm Olaf came close enough to send us 24 hours of rain. I don't know how much rain fell but it had to have been at least a couple of inches. The rain has stopped and the sun is shining now so maybe we can get some normal seasonal weather soon. Windguru is calling for northwest wind later this week. I expect the forecast to change often, but right now it is looking good for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We can hope.

Season is Looking Good

The season hasn't really started, but this was a good warm up week. Saturday was probably the best wind of the week. Fernando came down from Hermosillo and had a decent day. Here he is in the photo below throwing a nice move. Roberto is back in town after the river water ran low in Colorado, and he had good time on the water although his normally flat water spot near the gap had waves coming over the rocks and entering his kite area. Jeff showed up but his session was cut short with equipment problems. My day ended early. Fernando launched me and at first all seemed well as the kite was high in the wind window and just sort of hung there for a moment. Then it fell back into the power zone and instead of rising smoothly into the sky, it went into a spiral. One line was tangled into a loose knot at the kite, either from the wind flapping the kite or from some debris on the beach. It yanked me off my feet and then drove me into the ground. I don't remember much, I think I was knocked out for a moment. Next that I recall, I was in the water pulling my safeties as Fernando was trying to get to my kite. Obviously I survived but such a simple accident could have been disastrous as there was a rock wall just downwind from where I launched. I will be out of the line up for a couple of weeks as I crunched my shoulder pretty good and can't lift my arm at all right now. It feels like torn muscles. Time will heal all.

First Session

I had my first session of the season today. It was northwest, about 12 to 18 knots. I didn't last long, only a couple of hours, but it felt great. The beach was deserted. Soggy Peso is open but still no water or electricity and the road out to it is terrible. They did a good job of cleaning up the crap off the beach in front of the bar, but a lot of sand is gone. Here are some fotos. We need to do some serious clean up to make the beach kite friendly.

A lot of the sand was washed out into the bay, making it shallow a ways out and the waves break further from shore. Wave action is already pushing sand back up onto the beach so this beach configuration may not last long.

The Season is Coming

Not much to report. I've been back in Mexico for a week now. San Carlos is slowly recovering from the historic storm that hit a few weeks ago. Only a few area still have problems with water service and in general it is business as usual in town. The main road before you get to Charlies Rock will be out for a while more and other parts of the road are still in sad shape.
The Soggy Peso is open. The beach was reshaped by the storm, washing a lot of sand into the bay and covering up the reef that sits just offshore.
The wind has been shifting to the north in the afternoons the last three days and we may get enough to kite today or tomorrow. At least it is a sign that the season is coming.

No Wind....Wind

I am still in Cape Cod and the weather has been nice, but not much wind.



I can't complain, though, because back home in San Carlos they just got slammed by tropical storm Jimena. Lots of damage. No serious injuries but a few homes lost and many damaged, roads washed out, loss of electric, water, and phone. Click here for pictures.

I also don't want to complain because we had good wind today.

West Dennis

Wind has been spotty here on Cape Cod but we had a good day today even though it was quite gusty. It still felt great to get out on the water. It was a good day for boosting but not so good for landing - you never knew if the gust would last or just drop you like a brick. It was blowing 15 to 30 mph all afternoon. Just about all of us that got out early were done by 3pm - worn out. This weekend may be more of the same as another hurricane is going to pass by.

Cape Cod

It's been a long time since I've had a good powered up day. Friday was that kind of day. Not overpowered by any means but a good 15 to 20 knots. I had a blast. The beach was crowded with kites, but only because it was a very high tide and there was almost no beach. I don't think there was ever more than ten kiters out on the water at one time. Lots of space.



I am kiting at West Dennis Beach, on Cape Cod Massachusetts. My first three days here had light winds. I'm hoping to have more wind Saturday but Hurricane Bill may interfere. Hopefully it just sends reasonable wind and big waves.

Below is a video of some kids using a bungee cord to power a skim board. Some of the kids were really good but I didn't have the patience to film more than this.

We Keep Trying

Summer winds just don't do it. At least once a week it appears to be blowing and a few of us will head out to the beach, rig up, and hit the water. It usually doesn't take long for us to have had enough. There just is never good enough wind to get a productive session in. Beginners would have a hard time staying up wind. Even if the wind measures up to 20 knots, it just isn't enough. Hot summer wind obviously is less dense than our cold winter air and thus has less push on the kites. Humid air is also less dense. That is because water vapor doesn't add to the air like salt does to water, it displaces air, and water vapor weighs a lot less than the air it displaces. After all, water vapor is two parts hydrogen, the lightest element of all, and one part oxygen. The other thing working against us is the choppiness of the water. Southerlies always produce a lot of chop and that requires more wind to be able to power through it. The other frustrating thing about kiting in the summer is that even when it does blow a little, it usually only lasts about three hours and it could be any time of the day, but usually early. By the time you realize that it is blowing and you get to the beach and get rigged up, the session is already ending.

If any of you are kiting where you are at, please send photos and comments to share with us. My email is kite420(at)gmail.com.

South Wind

We got some wind today, Sunday.
It didn't last long.
A little more than three hours.
It was over by 11:00 in the morning.
It was the most we've had so far this summer.

Estuary

Still not much wind, so I've had to search for solutions to this problem. The most promising seems to be the open area of the estuary Soldado across from where the oyster farm used to be. I went there today with Kevin, a beginning kiter from San Diego. Wind was very light, less than 14 knots and sometimes less than 10 knots. I was able to get out on my 14m kite and have some fun, although my jumps were pretty limited. Kevin struggled a bit but still had a good session.

This part of the estuary is wide enough, is very shallow, no wind obstructions and with flat water that seems saltier so has better flotation. The north end has a good launch area but much of the rest of the shoreline has some nasty brush nearby.

Friday was the annual cross dressing party at the Soggy Peso. It was hilarious. Here is a link to my post of the party in 2006: http://kiteboard-mexico.blogspot.com/2006/07/july-update.html

Italy

We continue to have very little wind.

Sometimes we try to take advantage of stormy weather approaching to get in a kite session. Here is a reminder to be careful: http://www.theromanforum.com/?p=3300.

And here is a statement from the International Kiteboarding Organization:

IKO would like to send its condolences to the family of the Italian kiter that lost his life in a terrible accident on Saturday June 20, 2009 in"Campo di Mare" near Rome. We hope that the other kiters involved will make full recoveries and return to the water once again. We all must use this as a reminder to never fly our kites high when on the beach. These men were all experienced but still were caught in an ascencional wind gust of unbelievable force.Even while speaking on the beach do not fly your kite in zenith. Please land your kite when you get to shore. Let this be a warning from mother nature that we are all vulnerable to her wrath, so always practice safe kiting!

We all take more chances than we should. So be careful.

I wear an impact vest and plan on buying a helmet, not that either one would have saved this unfortunate kiter.

No News

I've been out of town, up in the good ol' U S of A trying to earn a little money since things have been pretty slow in San Carlos. Wind Guru has been showing some northwest wind back at the Soggy Peso but not real strong. It should have been enough to get out and do something. It will still be another week before I am back in Mexico. Looks like I'll need to find another sport to occupy my time for the summer.

On a more somber note, we had a fatality of a beginner kiter over in Progresso in the state of Yucatan. Apparently he was using an older kite that was too big for the conditions, in a spot without much launching space and he was by himself. He was lifted and crashed against a house. There is also a question of whether he got adequate medical attention as he died several hours later in a local hospital and was never sent to a more modern hospital just 20 minutes away in Merida.

Be Safe!!!!

Summer Already

It sure feels like summer around here. Lots of heat, no wind and we have already had some thunderstorms. Last Sunday we had some wind and a bunch of kiters showed up for what very well could have been our last session of the season.

This is Memorial Day weekend and there is a sailboat regatta going on as well as the Mexican Youth Olympic Sailing Competition, and some sort of bicycle racing event. Even with all that going on the town still seems empty. Last night, Friday night, the bars were dead.

A few shots from last weekend:

Updates

Lately, every time they update the forecast it changes a lot. Still hoping for wind Sunday but I'll be taking my big boards.

Waiting for Wind

There hasn't been much wind. Once in a while there seems to be a southerly strong enough to kite with but it never lasts. Beau and Adam went out to Cochorit Beach the other day. I think they missed the best of it and didn't have very good conditions. You always need more wind in the summer to be powered up. Warm, moist air is less dense and the wind doesn't pack the punch of the cold dry air we have in the winter. Plus, the sea is always choppy where we go to kite the southerlies so we need more wind to power through the waves.

The forecast, however, is calling for northwest wind over 20 knots on Sunday and Monday and maybe continuing on Tuesday and Wednesday. This could be the last of the north wind for the season.

Not Much Wind

Not much to report. We have had very little wind since I got back from Texas and I've been too busy working to bother to seek out other fun stuff to do. It is getting hot here, although the water is a nice cool 72 degrees. As usual, by the time the water warms up it is so hot out that you don't care.

Here are a few more shots from South Padre.

Texas

A bunch of us from Arizona went to South Padre and Corpus Christi for a week and had a blast.
The wind blew every day. It got a bit crowded at times in Padre, but Corpus has so many spots to kite that we could always find our own area if we wanted to.

By the way, someone wrote me a comment that there is an article in Kiteboarder Magazine on San Carlos: http://www.theringmedia.com/PDFS/TheKiteboarder/thekiteboarder.april2009.pdf

A Good Day

Video

Video featuring Jeff, Luque, and Don. Last Sunday.

Funny Thing?

A funny thing happened the other day. I was fixing a pair of leaking valves on my 14m kite when Scott came by. I stopped what I was doing to visit with him and showed him a visitor that I found in my house - a scorpion, which I had placed in a tumbler. Scott made the comment that this little scorpion is one of the more potent types. After a while I went back to fixing my kite and Scott asked if he could get himself a glass of water. Naturally I said yes and continued with my chore. Scott comes out back where I am working and takes a big drink from his glass. Unfortunately he had used the glass that contained the scorpion which was now wiggling in his mouth. Luckily he was able to spit it out before it stung him. Not sure if he thought that it was as funny as I did.

Sunday

Semana Santa

It is Semana Santa and traffic is terrible but not as bad as years past. The crowd seems younger and the girls are prettier, but maybe I'm just getting older and uglier. There may be fewer people but they make up for it by playing the music louder and partying later, some until daybreak.

The wind is blowing at my house so I went to the beach but it was only blowing 10 to 15 knots with nothing more offshore. Lots of people but no other kiters so I didn't bother to stay. Tomorrow and Monday are supposed to be good.

Pictures

This blog received a complaint that I hadn't been posting many pictures. Well, I was without a camera for awhile and I was also usually on the water if I was at the beach. Lots of other people were always taking photos and I would give them my email address and ask them to send me a few good ones. They would always say yes. And then they would always fail to do so.

We haven't had much wind for the last couple of weeks, but today it blew all day. I went out about 10:30 and others arrived throughout the day. In all we must have had ten kiters today. We also had a lot of early Semana Santa visitors at the beach. Some years it has gotten too crowed to be able to kite without endangering the beach goers.

Anyway, here are some photos from todays sessions. If you would like to see the photos of the past year or so you can go here.

Fireman John, carving a nice transition.

Roberto

Jorge Luque attempting a board off.