So, what is your guy's approach to making the gusts manageable?
I would probably be on a 13m kite with a slightly larger board to ride out those lulls.

Have you found a "magic gust muncher" kite yet?

St. Pete isn't so gusty per se (moment to moment), but we encounter changing wind speeds (over time) throughout the day a lot. Having the wind jump from about 13 to 20 and then back down and then back up (in waves of 25 minutes) is moderately common.

You guys must be thankful that alternatives to C kites exist.