Kite Shoreline Lake in Mountain View

[loserdavies]

I tried 5 years ago to kite it. Was shut down immediately. Never got to the water. Very anti-kite. Anyway, If you could go quick and don't mind if they call the cops go for it

[average_male]

I seriously doubt that an air plane would be coming that close to the lake at an altitude of 72 feet, the Amphitheater's tents and surrounding trees are as high as that, if not higher...

I bet as soon as that business realizes that kiting can be very lucrative, kiting would looked at in a whole new light.

So in closing, if any one asks why there is no kiting at ShoreLine Lake, the short answer is "Politics".

LoserDavies, when you say 'shut down' do you mean that you were told to pack up and not to kite the lake?

[TomAUSTRIA]

I'm at shoreline lake right now, trying to get some work done on my laptop and enjoying Google's free WiFi. When I look around, I see lots of trees that are much higher than a kite would fly so I think the airport thing is just a lame excuse.
I also think that if the wind direction is right it shouldn't be too bad in terms of gusty wind.
At the west and south shore of the lake there are usually no people at all. Apart from that, if there is good wind and the weather isn't too good there's nobody there anyway (except for a few friggin windsurfers maybe)...

tom

[loserdavies]

This was years ago and my kite never made it to the air. I'm a little faster now, I think I could make it to the water before they started yelling at me. :)

[dpca10]

I'm going to head over around 445 if anyone wants to join, make a mission out of it -Dave 415 328 9567

[KirkTalon]

Go Dave, go...

[Loscocco]

so.. how did it go? we are all anxiously awaiting details. If we don't hear anything from you within a few days we might check the Mountain View jail to bail you out for illegal kiting

[adamT]

come on come on come on we want to know what happened.. And we know after today that the news is not against kiters on TV, so no crazy police sting to drag you to jail...

[dpca10]

Not good news fellas. I showed up and the wind was super gusty, there were guys on big sails on the lake going from lit, to schloging. I thought about putting the kite up and seeing what would happen, it looks like the best launch point, at least for the wind that day woudl be the South West edge of the lake by the construction site. Tom was nice enought to offer me a launch, but I didn't think I was going to brave the gusts. I noticed on the sign that the Shoreline lake has "restricted kite flying" So I called the number, they said they have a designated kite flying area at the entrance to the park, I asked specifically about kiteboarding and they said the lake was under the jurisdiction of the aquatic center. So I called them and they said absolutely no kiteboarding on the lake. I said something like I have a bunch of money to donate to the park and they didn't budge, just thought it might open the door to talk to someone higher up. So that is it.... Didn't want my new rebel nabbed so I pussed out. The number for the Aquatic center is 650 965-7474. And the park is 650 903-6392. If anyone has any legal expertise and can look over the permits and jurisdiction of these two we might have a leg to stand on. I am sure the Aquatic center would bs to keep kites off the lake since they have a vested interest in their rentals. Anyway I didn't push it until I had any real info. If anyone figures it out I think it could be doable. The strong W wind yesterday didn't seem to hit the lake all that well. I think a NW or even a SW clearing might bring better conditions. Let me know if anyone finds any other ponds to jump in.... Palace of Fine arts??
-Dave

[MehYam]

What about the bay down that far? Has anyone tried kiting anywhere in the bay south of 92, or 84 for that matter? Maybe the wind's too westerly.