Wednesday (tomorrow) feb 13th
 

windy...stormy.. anyone heading out?

I may try Picnic Island after 1 pm.

Gonna wait and see, but thinking of hitting up Honeymoon as that can work on a S, SW, W, and NW. Got waves and butter all in one.

Give me a call Brian if you want to hook up and ride somewhere new.

727-542-8022

hey steve o
 

i might be up for it if you have room call me 727 420 0598 thanks allen

yo al
 

I will call you in the am. Honeymoon you can get to by car. I was going to go to 3-rooker tomorrow, but with the crappy weather and all, I thought I would stay closer to shelter just in case a bad storm comes through.

I'll keep in touch.

I am going to cruise up and down the beach going mach 3 about 10 feet from shore with a wind driven screamer device attached to my lines and fly it right over people's heads. That way every single beach goer will see me and I will make all their days, hell, probably their week. It's always a real shame, dare I say crime, if even one beach goer doesn't get to see me riding. If they don't see me, it didn't happen. That'd be a waste.

When I am done riding I know people will come up to me and tell me they have never seen anything like it and thank me for totally making their day.
They are gonna say stuff like -- "That was awesome!"
"Man, can you jump me and my kids next time?! Please?"
"Dude, you are an inspiration to us all. Thank God you were here today."

They will tell me how uplifting it was to see me and that they want their grand kids to be just like me. I will feel great about being a kiter and sharing the stoke with so many onlookers. No better feeling really. It's actually why I started kiting in the first place, was to share the stoke. And that's pretty hard to do from more than ten feet away, so I like to be up close and sorta personal.

What would beach-goers do without us, I wonder? They would be sad, I think.
Well, no worries about that one brothers. Every beach goer and bather out tomorrow is going to be loving life 'cuz they got a stoked kiter coming right their way! (possibly right at them)

Share the stoke. ;)

Dude, you need to medicate.

Some of us are heading to Honeymoon mid day. With the strong winds offshore, should be some great rollers hitting the sandbars. Maybe shoulder high today.

hey dude, i think you're supposed to use that pump to inflate your kite, not your head;)

http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t...ghlight=danger

What about the swim area Scott? Just kidding good buddy, messing with you!

Yeah, today should be great, I may miss out though...hopefully I'll make it out, if not have fun guys and be safe!!! ;)

I just have to wonder what is going through a rider's mind if they insist on riding right through swim zones and drawing that much attention to themselves.
I don't much care what people do until it threatens access. I think it's become abundantly clear that riding in swim zones full of people might be an issue.

Scott,
Have you been riding Pass a grille again? You know that is not good for you sanity. I think parody and sarcasim are a little too subtle to be useful here. Those that should recognize themselves won't bother.

Bob

I wasn't directing that post at anyone in particular. It was made in light of recent state-wide events that appear to be leading to bans. Seemed like a good time to state the obvious, which is -- don't ride close to bathers in swim zones. Much talk beyond that seems pointless.


It should be blowing in about 30 minutes once this final band pushes through.
Looks pretty good.

Wow. It really filled in out there... actually too much for a while.
Had to self land and grab Raul's kite at one point to play it safe. We both basically got blown off in 30 plus.

Good to see you guys make it back. Raul and I were a little worried about ya' all for a minute there. Good to see you taking care of one another.
Thanks for letting me try your directional, Raul. :mrgreen:

it's hard to kite in 15 kts rain going to 25+ on a 12m, but what the heck, hadda' get my fix in.

I'm pretty sure the footstraps aren't even needed at this point on that directional, and they may even hinder. I think that may be the way to go. at least in chop and waves

They don't have the BALLS to ban kiteboarding on our beaches.

They tried to ban skateboarding in down town St. Pete and Tampa and look where it got them...

Scott, Where in this thread is there any mention of anyone riding anywhere near a swim zone?

Honeymoon State park is huge, and a very small portion of it is designated swim zone and patroled by lifeguards (who are not even on duty this time of the year as there are no swimmers there).

The group that rides up there does a very dilagent job of working with the life guards and rangers to make sure that they know that we respect their rules, and the job that they are entrusted to do, thus making sure our access is protected, several of us have made friends with the folks that work there and have discussed the issue with them to let them know that if they have any concerns we will self police.

For those who do go up to Honeymoon State Park to ride, go to the far east bath house and walk to the east of the volleyball net to launch. Once on the water all stay out side of the small swim zone that is about 800 yards to the west of that area. Thre are miles of open playground there.

There is a bigger swim zone at Ft Desoto East Beach proper than there is at Honeymoon.

I don't think thats accurate.

#1 I think they don't have the complaints here like they have from siver hairs in SE FL

and

#2 I don't think they have the resources to cover our numerous launch sites, but do have the resources to cover the limited launch sites in SE FL

In light of recent events, I was being sarcastic to make a point. It sounds like lots of bad stuff is going on right now all over the State with riders arrogantly riding in swim zones and just flat out being disrespectful of others. It's leading to bans and other problems. This behavior is far from new and is not coming out of left field, or all of a sudden, from "outsiders" or "kooks". As far as I am concerned, it's always been a core struggle among us kiters to balance our desire to be free, tear it up, and flat out show off..... with the need to be respectful of others enjoying the same water and beaches/launches in efforts to insure future access. Different kiters set the balance point of self-limiting their personal freedoms for this assurance of future access at different points along a spectrum; with some apparently unwilling to compromise any of their personal freedoms while others practice some self restraint. In this particular instance, I am talking about attitudes towards swim zones and was making a mockery of certain mindsets and behaviors.

I have zero doubts about you guys doing an awesome job up North. It's clear from your posts that you take it seriously. In addition, I can't imagine Steve-
O knowingly condoning anything short of respectful riding behaviors at spots he frequents. Oh, last I checked being respectful of beach goers and having fun and going balls out can easily occur at the same time. :) Still unclear as to some people's confusion over that one.

The waves were big by the end of the day. It was absolutly smokin out there in the after noon.

Yesterday was one of those days where ya kept getting blown off the water. Rig smaller, wind picks up, rig smaller, wind picks up. Whitey, I don't know how you held down the 12M. I was at the end of my rope on the 10M. That was some of the strongest wind I have felt all winter.

As far as swim zones and access, common sense goes along way. Sounds like somebody might get a good FF here shortly.

FF'in seems to be a lost art in these days of political correctness. Maybe an example of this could help the newbies understand the definition....(I think Popeye may have a few classics from the old days.. ;) )
Just kidding, but back then, we just said what we meant and it was VERY effective in curbing bad behavior.
have a nice day!;):)

Went to Picnic Island around 4pm and the wind picked up right after I rigged my kite. I was way too overpowered that it actually took some of the fun out.

Yeah, same with the FF's, they usually had too much power for it to be fun, for most anyway.... :(
Thats when the 100% depower (button) was invented.:p

Yeah but only a select few had THOSE 100% depower buttons Steve...;)

Is FF friendly fire? I make my own depower buttons :D

http://www.floridakiteboarder.com/akbuild