Sharks & Kites, Spring Is Here

i have only seen one shark in several years of kiting around the venice area (it was 4-5 feet long, in shallow water and near swimmers)

i went in and told the life-guard and he said "ya' , they are out there"

that was it, no big deal, ah ... ok

kd

[latino]

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/play...tape.cnn&wm=10

[jimb]

How about this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nza6d7-8NDc

[ricki]

It seems that there may be a trend in Youtube to "write your own ending" in some of the video clips. I saw another one yesterday in which a kiter supposedly hit an anchored boat. I didn't go through it frame by frame unlike the one above but at first glimpse I wasn't convinced that the event happened as shown.

Guys be sure to visit our new video section, http://fksa.org/forumdisplay.php?f=69 it is there for folks to upload links to clips that they like. Both of the above clips are already there. Must be lots more out there worth passing along.

And, one more installment on the ongoing "sharks off Delray" serial. Tonight, I didn't see any sharks for most of the session. Again, just about one hour before sunset, a spinner boosted on about 35 ft. ahead. He continued with dinner and I retired inside the breaker zone, again. Chicken! So, this may be a lull in the migration along this section of coast given the early time. Don't let your guard go down.

[HIGHFLYN]

Originally Posted by RickI

One more installment on the ongoing "sharks off Delray" serial. Tonight, I didn't see any sharks for most of the session. Again, just about one hour before sunset, a spinner boosted on about 35 ft. ahead. He continued with dinner and I retired inside the breaker zone, again. Chicken! So, this may be a lull in the migration along this section of coast given the early time. Don't let your guard go down.

I did'nt see any shark activity either up in Boynton Beach, but that could have been cause I was pre-occupied w/the 4-6+ft chunky nuggets that I was having an ABSOLUTE blast on.
Yesterday afternoon was by far the best powered session with some of the most increditable surf for me so far this year. It was Bombing lastnight!

The spring tides played havoc w/the surf on the sandbar. There were some 6ft walls of water that would just DUMP and explode. I watched several kites get folded in the ZONE. No kites were damaged just ego's

Winds in my area were ENE 20-25kts
Seas 4-6ft + and well formed up for a chop ( Underlying North swell )
Flew my 9m and 127 float

I hope EVERYONE else has been getting there share, while it's here

[ricki]

Sounds like an epic session Mike! Your waves sound like something out of Tahiti. Could guys paddle into them? Do you have hard bottom out there in places or is it all sand?

When I arrived at Delray there were two guys undergoing instruction. They left after a while. For over two hours I had the entire launch to myself! The only explanation that I can think of is that they have run out of Deep Heat lotion at the drug store for all those sore riders out there. Imagine, blowing off 20 to 25 kt. winds, no squalls, great waves and sunny weather in the afternoon? Amazing.

I am not sure how I did it but I managed to get my kite caught in one of those waves and turned it into a soft pretzel. I couldn't get it sorted out with the wind loading, so deflated the leading edge, did the walk of shame back up the beach and started over.

I imagine your waves are shaped a bit differently around Boynton Inlet and the sand bar there. In Delray approaching low tide there was a fairly calm area out to about 100 yards followed by a zone of breakers about 30 yards wide. It was often calm enough to charge ramping waves at high speed and boost big. Anyway we could schedule a weekend of these conditions a couple of times a month?

[ricki]

So the Spinner aka blacktip migration is on again. Not to worry, the spinners have predators too, aside from us of course. A 1000 lb. 13 to 14 ft. hammerhead was charging through them next to the Lake Worth Inlet off Singer Island in Northern Palm Beach County. A guy actually caught it, not to hurt it but just to take its picture. Sigh. Killed the shark, NOW we'll need more hammerheads to step up to fill the vacancy. People. If you saw this guy underwater it would appear to be up to 18.5 ft. long, big goomer!



The story follows:

Palm Beach resident Fritz Van der Grift lands 14-foot hammerhead shark off Singer Island
Click-2-Listen

By JOSEPH LUCIANO
Daily News Staff Writer
Sunday, March 09, 2008



(enlarge photo)
From left, Greg Bogban, Minot Amory, Paul Van der Grift and Fritz Van der Grift show off the hammerhead shark Fritz caught Wednesday.

Palm Beacher Fritz Van der Grift had the fishing experience of his life Wednesday.

Van der Grift, friend Minot Amory and charter boat captain Greg Bogban were fishing off Bogban's boat for blacktip sharks in the shallow waters off Singer Island just north of the Palm Beach Inlet. The fish weren't biting, and the group realized they were being stalked, Van der Grift said. They spotted what turned out to be a 14-foot, 1,000-plus-pound hammerhead shark and attempted to catch it.

"It was just this huge shadow circling our boat," Van der Grift said. "It showed its dorsal fin to us. The thing came out of the water. It was like a movie."

Van der Grift, whose father, Paul, is president of the First Serve of the Palm Beaches, said he fought the shark for more than an hour before landing it.

The shark died soon after as a result of the struggle.

"I didn't know if I was going to make it," Van der Grift said. "My arm was numb 10 minutes into it. It was a game of tug-of-war. I would reel it in 20 or 30 yards and he would take off, and then I would reel it in another 20 yards and he would take off again. It was like a game."

Van der Grift, who said his biggest catch before this was a 350-pound bull shark, said when they tried to weigh the fish, the scale stopped working at 1,038 pounds.

The fish's organs have been donated to research laboratories, Van der Grift said.

From: http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/ne...story0309.html

[ricki]

I was off Delray on Friday and further north today. Didn't see any spinners at either location although others said they had seen a few. Anyone tripping over the migration out there?

[ricki]

They say the spinners track a mass of water around an optimal temperature.

Looking at last year:

vs. this year: