Thanks, guys. Yes, there's lots of good free info out there. One of the things we try to do is collect all the kite-relevant info in one place - and that's a free service - no membership accont required. PORTS has a few good locations, but the wind info is kind of secondary to the water level and current info for PORTS. Their locations are not normally chosen for good wind info. We put the ones that seem somewhat useful on our site (Skyway, Ports of Tampa, Manatee). If you guys know of other useful free data, let me know and I'll try to get it on our website.
Scott, I probably wouldn't have an FX membership if I lived in St. Pete either. But it wouldn't hurt if you conditionally upgraded using the special link:
http://www.ikitesurf.com/ftdesoto . You can still chose to ignore the P.O.S. P-a-G station, but the more commitments we have, the sooner something can happen. We won't charge you anything until we install the new station, and you can always cancel if dissatisfied.
I believe there are 50+ kiters in the area, and growing. But only 12 have signed up with that link. I know there must be more than 12 kiters out there who'd appreciate a weather station at De Soto or nearby. Of the twelve who used that link, 11 have looked at ikitesurf almost every day over the last week, so hopefully we're good for something (even if it's just as a place to collect all the free info in one place).
Let me know where you'd like that second weather station so I can get it on the list. Something for the north skyway causeway launch?
As for cams, I agree they can tell you more than a weather station sometimes. We're experimenting with a couple webcams this year. If all goes well we plan to install more.
Take it easy,
David