Beginner's Spots S Florida

[troubleshooter]

Your generic points on overcrowding, launches being threatened, etc. are valid. However, it is not an east coast west coast thing. Kiters from west coast slam Marco just as do east coats riders. And on an east wind, riders from west coast slam the keys and Crandon/Miami.

You ever counted the kites in Matheson on a true east wind 15-20 knot Saturday?

Im done. No hard feelings. Just wanted to pioint out that IMO that comment was uncalled for as it relates to turf wars.

[ricki]

Kiting should be more effectively promoted in the Miami Flats. Matheson is way too crowded, Crandon has capacity limits, Virginia Key Beach is lost to us, Hobie is still open for now with the odd built in accident and incident, all of Miami Beach is banned, thankfully it is largely not enforced. People from around the world still vacation in Miami, some want to kite and this is what we're dealing with, for close to a decade.

Tigertail, like Mead in Hollywood, the Dania Pier, Tiki Beach, Boca Raton, even Smathers have space limitations on how many kiters can realistically ride there, almost all have upwind riding requirements. Inside the bar at Tigertail is smaller than all of these. That hasn't stopped dozens of guys from crossing over to try to ride there, for years. Closing Tigertail or restricting access in Naples through careless or uninformed riding is unacceptable.

Solutions are needed, not doing the same dumb stuff that keeps dragging us into City Halls all over to try to preserve access. One solution, on the surface of it, a good one is taking more folks out to the Flats.

Can't have any hard feelings troubleshooter as I have no clue who you are. Thanks for your input though, catch you in another thread. In my opinion, the main thing that is uncalled for is continuing to do the same things that keep threatening to shut us down. Time to wake up and take care of what is important to all of us. Many people seem to go where they're led by others, not sure why but there it is. Let's try to lead them to the Flats.

[Jupiter_Kiteboarder]

Rick,

All due respect, I'm quite put off by your comments. Maybe you don't care, and maybe you are a sponsored pro, but I'm pretty sure you weren't always.

I was a great wakeboarder, and I'll ultimately be a pretty good kiter, but for the moment, I'm in need of flat water to ensure I can hit Juno Kite beach with the masses safely.

I've been nothing but brutalized and frustrated trying to learn in rough conditions. To that point, why don't the experienced riders like yourself go shred the surf, as opposed to areas that are flat and smooth? That way, the newer riders can learn and gain the skills and confidence necessary to not put spots at risk.
J
I can assure you the minute I'm good enough to be confident and safe in east coast launches with rough water, I'll likely only kite at home.

Your position is like an environmentalist that builds a home in a remote area, but then tells everyone else they are destroying the environment when others want to build.

I want so badly to learn to master this sport, but its attitudes like yours that make me doubt what I was told when I got involved which was that it was a cooperative and helpful community. I am finding that to be true about 50% of the time, and the other is aloof, rude, impatient, or downright self consumed.

Simply put, who stands to benefit most from flat water? Newer riders, but really the whole community because a rider that's learned the fundamentals in smoother water is going to be safer for everyone involved.

Maybe you meant well, but not everyone has a boat, the money for taxis, or even the knowledge of how to launch off shore. Before you suggest more lessons, I'm absolutely certain I can't afford any more lessons nor do I understand how how someone can even teach you in the water unless it's in an area like the Stuart Flats, but even at that you know at the end of the day newer riders have to get out there and crash and burn many times and I know my many attempts in rough water have only frustrated me and temporarily made me doubt my commitment to learn the sport. I've been asking anyone and everyone at kite beach for 3 months and I finally found someone that was willing to share Marco with me that wasn't looking to sell me more lessons that are really only expensive water taxis to somewhere flat. I know the safe way to fly the kite, set up the kite and I've become quite proficient at self rescue due to the conditions being more than I can reasonably manage, and having been a competitive wakeboarder years back I know the board, but putting it together on the water is entirely different.

When I finally reach a point where I'm as good as you must be and as good as the guy who suggested Marco to me was, I hope I'm more like him and interested in seeing more spots open because experienced riders are helping rookies come up and get better much quicker and safer and the forces behind anti-kiting movements will have far less ammunition.

I'm not going anywhere. I'm learning this sport. When I reach a point I can help others, I'll be the guy volunteering to help others enjoy the sport in any way i can. I hope I always remember what it was like to be new so Im always helping others.

In fact I know I will be.

Thanks.

Jupiter newbie

[ricki]

Welcome to kiting and that is one long first post. Flat water usually bores me to tears in fairly short order, so you can have my share. How is that? I vastly prefer waves and usually avoid flat water most of the time. I also prefer areas with few riders in the open ocean even if that means heading further offshore and to less busy spots to stay out of the way.

I still like to preserve access regardless of whether it is flat or wavy however. I am less of a sponsored rider and more one of the guys that has tried to keep kiting areas open over the years. Have to say the passion is waining after ten years of fighting for it, strangely for some of the same reasons we have access problems in the first place.

That is the issue with Marco, was an issue with Crandon, a managed concession since 2005 and formerly with Matheson. Matheson is now a managed concession since this post went up over a year ago. It seems to be a well run one too, looking out for rider interests.

I know you are new but you do realize we have lost access to kite at many launches? The more populated and/or crowded a place is often the greater pressures on access. We just apparently lost access to one of the few west wind spots in SE mainland Florida, Hobie Beach in Miami. This was brought on by years of problem riding behaviors.

Tigertail in Marco has been under threat of restrictions and bans for many years. The flat water portion is very small as you can easily see from the satellite photo. It fills up rapidly with not too many kiters. There are protected wildlife areas there that we can't afford to be seen to threaten any longer. This is the reason for the small riding area shown in the photo. If we violate it, we are violating ourselves and our privilege to ride there.

If you want flat water, the Florida Keys have hundreds of square miles of just that. Much of it is thinly populated too although there are a few crowded launches that riders seem to favor despite the massive clear areas available. Winds are usually a bit stronger there too than the mainland. You should checkout Whale Harbor, Annes Beach and other areas. These sites have issues too including excess crowding at times so be sure to learn the rules. Sebastian Inlet Park also offers a west wind venue not too far from Jupiter. Stay away from the bird nesting area with your kite however, more access threats.

There are few good unencumbered learning spots for new riders on mainland SE Florida, this has been the case for many years unfortunately. You are fortunate to have few problems with access in "most" but not all areas from Juno north a ways. If you head south, there are issues which you should be aware of. There is a great deal about access on this site, why not look into it?

[ricki]

Here are a couple of things riders concerned about preserving the ability to ride should examine along with the rules for their riding areas. There are several for SE Florida as "stickies" at the top of this section.

An early article on kiting access
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?p=47364#post47364

A podcast
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?p=47365#post47365