Foiling at Sherman?

[lieutenantglorp]

sherman depth marked.jpg (310.6KiB)Viewed 3947 times

[windstoked]

For those interested in where the old levee was, here is a historic topo map from 1907. I outlined the approximate location of the County Park in red.

[1/2inMexico]

In late April I slept in a tent at Sherman and got up for a solo Foil session. Not a soul in the parking lot, not a soul on the water. Self-launched for my (solo) noob practice on my LF. Geeeeee... this is Fun! At one point I made it up on the foil and rode completely across the river. It was such a break-through that I did not want it to end, so a rode it all the way to the far shore. Bad crash, kite falls, no wind... it was then that I noticed 2 things: Bad strong ebb current, and a green navigation channel marker & pilings just down-stream of my limp kite coming up fast.
All alone? My guardian angel re-launched the 12M just inches from a session-ending pier tangle. I would have likely spent the entire day clinging to that navigation piling. waiting for anyone to show.

[ozchrisb]

For those interested in where the old levee was, here is a historic topo map from 1907. I outlined the approximate location of the County Park in red.

So the brown line marked 00 is the shoreline? Wow it's changed a lot since then. I'm confused about why that once pice of levee is left though?

[GOfast]

In late April I slept in a tent at Sherman and got up for a solo Foil session. Not a soul in the parking lot, not a soul on the water. Self-launched for my (solo) noob practice on my LF. Geeeeee... this is Fun! At one point I made it up on the foil and rode completely across the river. It was such a break-through that I did not want it to end, so a rode it all the way to the far shore. Bad crash, kite falls, no wind... it was then that I noticed 2 things: Bad strong ebb current, and a green navigation channel marker & pilings just down-stream of my limp kite coming up fast.
All alone? My guardian angel re-launched the 12M just inches from a session-ending pier tangle. I would have likely spent the entire day clinging to that navigation piling. waiting for anyone to show.

yikes....

[GOfast]

In late April I slept in a tent at Sherman and got up for a solo Foil session. Not a soul in the parking lot, not a soul on the water. Self-launched for my (solo) noob practice on my LF. Geeeeee... this is Fun! At one point I made it up on the foil and rode completely across the river. It was such a break-through that I did not want it to end, so a rode it all the way to the far shore. Bad crash, kite falls, no wind... it was then that I noticed 2 things: Bad strong ebb current, and a green navigation channel marker & pilings just down-stream of my limp kite coming up fast.
All alone? My guardian angel re-launched the 12M just inches from a session-ending pier tangle. I would have likely spent the entire day clinging to that navigation piling. waiting for anyone to show.

yikes....

[dwaynej]

I would have likely spent the entire day clinging to that navigation piling. waiting for anyone to show.

Situational awareness is critical and I had what could have been a kite mare of my own recently. Long story short, I had a choice between a breakwall and offshore deep water... I chose offshore deep water given I gave myself all the time in the world to sort myself out offshore vs the worst case scenario of being in a tight situation and if I screwed up, washing up on a breakwall.

Without getting into how and why, my foil kite was flying like a dog.