How was Alameda today?

[y2kbug]

I did not go, but was thinking about it. Was it gusty? Too much onshore?

[reyrivera]

It was actually fun, at least for me. Was on a 5 meter kite and a 6'6" surfboard. WSW winds and a big fat tide made it a tough exercise to board start on a strapless. Once I got going, I was tracking and riding those baby rollers from the shack all the way down to the next island, and then back. Nice long rides.

[ozreiuosn]

My favorite part was the private lesson that was going on.

In on shore, gusty winds.

With no helmet.

Topped off with a superman across the beach by the antenna between Shell Gate and the shack. Had it not been for that fence that stopped the poor sap, his kite would've been road kill. He appeared okay. After that they got smart and left.

[ozreiuosn]

I of course snapped pics, here's a few

20141014_155426.jpg (905.98KiB)Viewed 4657 times

20141014_155401.jpg (938.02KiB)Viewed 4657 times

20141014_175338_Richtone(HDR).jpg (690.34KiB)Viewed 4657 times

More (of more or less the same pic) on facebooks

[jalassim]

Hi
Do you guys think that a beginner (with a 10m bandit) could still go and have some fun at alameda those days or do you think that the conditions are not ok for that.

Cheers

J.

[ozreiuosn]

Hi
Do you guys think that a beginner (with a 10m bandit) could still go and have some fun at alameda those days or do you think that the conditions are not ok for that.

Cheers

J.

If being blown into shore, dealing with monstrous swell, gusty and shifty winds are considered fun then yeah sure

go have fun

but no one's gonna want to hold your hand when we're all desperate to get out ourselves this season.

Check older threads about kiting Alameda in the winter

[jalassim]

Hi
Do you guys think that a beginner (with a 10m bandit) could still go and have some fun at alameda those days or do you think that the conditions are not ok for that.

Cheers

J.

If being blown into shore, dealing with monstrous swell, gusty and shifty winds are considered fun then yeah sure

go have fun

but no one's gonna want to hold your hand when we're all desperate to get out ourselves this season.

Check older threads about kiting Alameda in the winter

sounds like a lot of fun!!! In thaïs case do you know any spots that might be appropriate for a beginner to kite while waiting for better alameda conditions?

And also... I don't really get what you mean by "no one's gonna want..."

J.

[reyrivera]

Yeah sure, I will help you if you get in trouble and I'm in the vicinity. But, let me clarify what ozreiuosn said:

Yesterday was definitely not a good day for beginners who are shaky at launching, shaky with kite control, cannot tack upwind all the time, and fall off the board on a regular basis. You needed good skills like that from yesterday's conditions.

If you are a beginner, start to setup, launch and go right beside me and the rest of the crew on the beach and not tell everybody you are not comfortable with your skills yet, get in trouble, and we end up saving you and your gear, then you will be branded for awhile as a dangerous kiter, and you will probably get a lot of cold shoulder from the people who witnessed your screw up, until you somehow redeem yourself by helping other people after some time at the beach.

If you are a beginner, talk to the folks at the launch site, and asked for advise to assist launch or not to launch you in conditions like yesterday, then you just created a good vibe, and people tend to be helpful and will not mind helping you.

I actually helped a beginner like that yesterday, helped him launch with an appropriate kite, and I had him demonstrate some simple kite control at the beach. Told him to land, and not go, he was definitely not ready. One less accident avoided.

Rey

Hi
Do you guys think that a beginner (with a 10m bandit) could still go and have some fun at alameda those days or do you think that the conditions are not ok for that.

Cheers

J.

If being blown into shore, dealing with monstrous swell, gusty and shifty winds are considered fun then yeah sure

go have fun

but no one's gonna want to hold your hand when we're all desperate to get out ourselves this season.

Check older threads about kiting Alameda in the winter

sounds like a lot of fun!!! In thaïs case do you know any spots that might be appropriate for a beginner to kite while waiting for better alameda conditions?

And also... I don't really get what you mean by "no one's gonna want..."

J.

[jalassim]

I am glad that people help and advise beginners... I already benefited from that. I was just wondering if there are a spot with the right conditions for me to kite soon.

[reyrivera]

Unfortunately beginner season is over.

Alameda is the only beginner spot safe enough for kiters to screw up and have a lot of space to fix issues and avoid deadly problems.

In order to kite Alameda as an early beginner, you need the following conditons and skills:

1) Able to go upwind and body drag back to your board if you lose it.

2) Steady kite control. You need to be able to launch your kite with ease and confidence, not slow and jerky because if the winds are gusty, you will get launched on the dunes and onto the streets.

3) For storm winds, you want Southwest winds. Avoid West, West South West, West North West winds and of course East winds.

4) If riding onshore winds, take into consideration tide height. High tide means you get pushed immediately onto shore, water is deep, tough to swim out with kite and board in tow, so you need to be tacking immediate once you dive the kite down. If you have to ride onshore winds, wait for negative low tides, you get to walk ways back into the water and have a chance to fix your errors.