NW wind Hutchinson Island

[healeyg]

Hi - I'm going to be in the Stewart / St. Lucie area next week. Which are the best spots to go on Hutchinson Island and/or Jupiter Island?

Also, it looks like the forecast is NW wind in the beginning of the week. Are there any decent nearby fetches / launches for NW wind in the area??

Thx, Gregg

[ricki]

You might head up north to Ft. Pierce Inlet for kiting if winds shift to N to E to S. You could also visit Kite Beach in Jupiter, actually Juno a bit to the south. There are lots of options in between but not a lot of kiters at times. Unfortunately, there are no launches in that part of Florida that I would recommend for NW winds. Best bet would be to head down to Miami and Biscayne Bay to take a sea taxi out to the Miami Flats. Alternatively, there is a small launch into the Intracoastal Waterway at Sebastian Inlet to the north that works in NW winds. The east coast is not a great place for beach launch in westerly winds. Fortunately for the east coast, unfortunately for the west coast, they have been strangely in short supply this winter.

[healeyg]

thanks rick for the info

I also spoke to Greg @Treasure Coast Kiteboarding and confirmed the same thing ... I guess i will have to hope for a North vs. the W which the marine forecast is calling out now ...

It also looks like Stewart Beach and Hope Sound Beach are options inbetween as well for NNW - SSE ...

interestingly from Satellite pix there looks like a little sand beach that you can drive up to facing NW on the ocean side of the Jensen Beach Causeway (the intercoastal on the Hutchinson Island side) - anyone ever try to launch there in a Westerly?

[BigR]

Satellite pix there looks like a little sand beach that you can drive up to facing NW on the ocean side of the Jensen Beach Causeway

There are no sandy beaches that face NW in that area, although people windsurf from there. It is more of a small gravel and pine branch littered area.

[ricki]

In years past I've windsurfed and kited both sides of that causeway. Like I said though, there are no west wind launches in the area that I would recommend.

That area can be pretty hazardous. If you feel compelled to go there, I would advise walking your kite out into the shallows and doing an assisted launch there, landing in the same area. Both you and the kite should be well away from shore. There is nothing but trees, pavillons, cars and other stuff to mess things up on land. If you want a better, safer time, IF stronger westerly winds are on (I think it is too far off to say at this point) drive to Miami or Sebastian.