Got your smaller kites? Wind is coming ...

"Tonight...East winds 15 to 20 knots becoming 20 to 25 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet near shore and up to 6 to 8 feet in the gulf stream. Intracoastal waters rough in exposed areas.

Saturday...East winds 20 to 25 knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet near shore and up to 6 to 8 feet in the gulf stream. Intracoastal waters rough in exposed areas.

Saturday Night...East winds 20 to 25 knots becoming 15 to 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet near shore and up to 6 to 8 feet in the gulf stream. Intracoastal waters rough in exposed areas.

Sunday...East winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet. Intracoastal waters choppy in exposed areas.

Sunday Night...East winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet. Intracoastal waters choppy in exposed areas.

Monday...East winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 5 to 7 feet. Intracoastal waters choppy in exposed areas.

Monday Night And Tuesday...East winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Intracoastal waters choppy in exposed areas."
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mfl/marine/

Where's the wind coming from?

"Synopsis
A ridge of surface high pressure will strengthen across the western Atlantic Ocean through early next week...maintaining a very strong flow of easterly winds across the local waters. The threat for shower activity will be highest in the Atlantic waters...but will be a slight chance at best...as an upper-level ridge of high pressure is forecast to remain in place over the region."

http://weather.unisys.com/surface/sfc_con_pres.gif
From: http://weather.unisys.com/
It's all about pressure differential, say between that big high over Bermuda and lower pressures out in the Gulf of Mexico. or at http://dadecosurf.com/images/tanal.1.gif

The greater the differential, the stronger the winds as in ...

http://www.sailflow.com/cgi-bin/mapp...ime_id=1517103
http://www.sailflow.com/images/legends/30.forecast.gif
From: http://www.sailflow.com/

Smathers this weekend.
 

Smathers was crankin Friday, Sat, and Sunday with 20-24 east winds. Riding was best in the mornings and very early afternoon, since the new moon sucked all the water out by 3 pm. It was like someone just pulled the plug in the bathtub. At low tide, you could walk out to the posts and still be in thigh deep water. Winds forecast to continue thru tomorrow and back off on Tuesday. Besides the locals, there were riders from Jupiter, Orlando, Illinois, and France. With gusty conditions and kickers out past the jetty, everyone got a good workout. Sorely missed was Greg, who was in Missouri???!!!! Riders new to the area were eager to talk to the locals to find out the conditions and local etiquette. It was a great weekend.

Frank

Thanks Frank & Smathers Crew
 

Frank - I was in KW for a wedding up from South America, first time kiting at Smathers -- I read the do/don'ts & checked the pics that are posted on the FKA forum & hit up a few of the folks standing around the launch area before heading out, really helpful tips & assistance getting kite up/down in that little launch. Must say I felt quite welcome by the local crew & wanted to say thanks -- same thing for the guys up at Whale Harbor (Other Side & 7) two good sessions on the way down & up the keys.

~ Saludos Aron

Aron, glad you had a good experience in the Florida Keys. Everything went great despite the gusty conditions, which could have had dire consequences without everyone cooperating and looking out for each other. Just the way it should be. Everyone comes away with new friends and great sessions. I can't speak for Islamorada, but the core group at Smathers is a great bunch of guys - and gals. Thanks for your positive input.

Nice session tonight! Squalls miles to the north and south but blue skys and white benign clouds in the middle where I was. Nice wind too, about 18 to 25 kts. and head high+ swells. Great when things work out, could have just as easily been shut down by squalls.

Anyone else get some quality water time?

Got a session in with Greg for about an hour in Fort Pierce. The condition were similar up here. I heard there were some folks out earlier in the day. :-)

Evening winds?

Seems that may be want is on tap for the next few days per the NWS forecast. Had some lows around 6 mph but gusts to about 18 mph with average winds around 14 mph at the Dania Pier last night. It looks like it started to fill in after 5 pm or so. Still daylight then for a while anyway.

Another nice all be it real short session tonight. Waves and good wind around 20 to 25 kts. Got squalled out in short order though, less than 45 minutes. Still, it was good to get out and I shot some GoPro video. Stayed tuned for that. How else got some wind time today?

Ok. Someone get their funk on and do the wind dance. Another little fart pushing thru on Wed/Thurs but its all west :(.

We need some wind!