Kiteforum.com

redman333 wrote:I live a couple hours south of OBX and am there all summer.

Norfolk/Virginia Beach is another "city" close to OBX. Decent kiting in VB itself. About 1.5 hour drive to kitty hawk, 2.5 hours drive to Waves where the good kiting is on the Outer Banks. Close enough for day trips!

I kite 2-3 times a week average in Virginia Beach, but you need lightwind gear for that. Not nearly as windy here as OBX, but OBX is really close.

Ride all year in a wetsuit. Water goes down to 45F in the winter. Lots of days with air temp 50+ even in January and February.

If you can go anywhere though, Puerto Rico or Hawaii sure would be nice

bnthere wrote:TEXAS kicks ass.

Well, Enlighten me!

davesails7 wrote:

redman333 wrote:I live a couple hours south of OBX and am there all summer.

Norfolk/Virginia Beach is another "city" close to OBX. Decent kiting in VB itself. About 1.5 hour drive to kitty hawk, 2.5 hours drive to Waves where the good kiting is on the Outer Banks. Close enough for day trips!

I kite 2-3 times a week average in Virginia Beach, but you need lightwind gear for that. Not nearly as windy here as OBX, but OBX is really close.

Ride all year in a wetsuit. Water goes down to 45F in the winter. Lots of days with air temp 50+ even in January and February.

If you can go anywhere though, Puerto Rico or Hawaii sure would be nice

Wondering how competitive jobs are around Norfolk.

Corpus is in an economic boom right now do to oil and gas exploration so there are plenty of jobs here. The weather is great most of the year. We only wear wetsuits here December through January and that's mainly during cold fronts. If it's blowing SE, it's warm enough for board shorts and a heater top. By March, we put our wetsuits away. Tomorrow it's forecast to blow 20-30 and air temps in the high 60's. March through May we have 3-5 days a weeks with similar wind conditions. June through August it lightens up to 15-25 in the afternoons 3-5 days a week. September sucks. October through February brings cold fronts and lot's of wind with nice temps. The poster above said the locals are half (special) and he is right, but there are enough non-special people around to have a good time. You can always visit Austin when the rednecks get to you. If you are in to kiting, it's one of the best places in the US with more windy days than anywhere else.

You asked how many days kitesurfers are out ?

If you live close (and also even if you dont), many has around 150 to 200 kitedays per year.

Peter

jwoodunlv wrote:Corpus is in an economic boom right now do to oil and gas exploration so there are plenty of jobs here. The weather is great most of the year. We only wear wetsuits here December through January and that's mainly during cold fronts. If it's blowing SE, it's warm enough for board shorts and a heater top. By March, we put our wetsuits away. Tomorrow it's forecast to blow 20-30 and air temps in the high 60's. March through May we have 3-5 days a weeks with similar wind conditions. June through August it lightens up to 15-25 in the afternoons 3-5 days a week. September sucks. October through February brings cold fronts and lot's of wind with nice temps. The poster above said the locals are half (special) and he is right, but there are enough non-special people around to have a good time. You can always visit Austin when the rednecks get to you. If you are in to kiting, it's one of the best places in the US with more windy days than anywhere else.

Now Corpus does sound lucrative, except for the rednecks and special ones.

Peter_Frank wrote:You asked how many days kitesurfers are out ?

If you live close (and also even if you dont), many has around 150 to 200 kitedays per year.

Peter

I am happy for you Peter. I would be more than happy if I could get 150 days, especially with a full time job. Denmark is not an option for me right now though.

I did not say that I get 150-200 days per year ?

I have more than a full-time job, but live right next to the sea, and drive past other spots after work - so I get a good number of session every year, true.

But those who got more sparetime than me, and close to the water, in areas without ice-winther, gets around 150 to 200 sessions per year

I sometimes get over 150, and sometimes less, but have around 40 hour work week + 1 hour transport to work per day.

Peter

I've lived in a lot of places and I have been able to find the positive in all of the places I've lived. I had the right opportunity for work in Corpus Christi and I'm quite happy here both with work, family and kiteboarding. One of the nice things is we have "working man's wind" and in mid summer its light until almost 9 so very easy to get a session after work. There is no doubt the waves will be better in the Pacific or Atlantic coast.

Sure I would love to do Hawaii or San Francisco if it made sense for me financially. They are beautiful places with so much more to offer than just kiteboarding and really incredible opportunities. I lived in the Bay Area for 3 years during middle school and high school. I really liked a lot about the area. Downsides are the traffic, population density, micro-regulations, and cost of living which add up to stress. A girl in my school lost her mother when 880 collapsed in 1989. Can you imagine spending your final moments stuck in traffic? So SFThor next time you are sitting in traffic take a minute to recognize that Texas did not do that to you. You are not stuck in traffic, you ARE traffic.

California takes 9.3% of your income if you make over $43,000 per year. So SFThor how many airfares to Honolulu is that for you? The fact of the matter is more and more people and companies are leaving California for places like Texas every day and we are welcoming newcomers who want to work hard and make a better life for themselves. Just please leave the unfriendly entitlement attitude behind because its dragging your state down and we don't want you to take the rest of America with you.

Jake

Wow - so you almost dont pay tax at all Jake ?

Here we pay between 60 and 70% tax, so the taxman takes most of our wages and only one third is left
BUT, we dont have to worry economically if we or family get sick or hospitalized, as this is "free" so to speak

And schools and even the highest educations are free (but you have to prove you are clever in order to get in of course).

Police and courts and ambulances etc. are free.

Public lawyers (the most used) are free.

Roads and traffic regulation etc are free and well supported.

Librarys are free.

You get help in many ways if handicapped or mentally sick.

You get economical help in many situations, also when having days off (sick) at work, or when going on "childbirth leave" from work (I dont know the name in English...), and the more children the more money you get (but you use even more of course...), or when unemployed.


It is almost odd that we still have to pay ourself for taxis and bus'ses and trains ha haa !

A VERY different way of handling the money, with its ups and downs of course

Well, that was off topic, I know....

Peter

Oh no I definitely pay tax. Just Texas has no state income tax so I keep almost 10% more of my income compared to California and much more compared to Denmark. We all pay Federal income tax with a top bracket of about 40%, state and local property tax, state and local sales tax. And my business also has Federal and state payroll and franchise taxes.

We also have hospitals, ambulances, schools, and libraries. Public defenders are lawyers provided to anyone accused of a crime and guaranteed by constitutional law. Medicare Medicaid and our local County health departments provide basic health services. But you can choose to pay a private lawyer or doctor. Local governments with Federal subsidies provide 13 years of education to all students including immegrants free of charge but some choose private school. States subsidize university education but students also have to pay some. Personally I believe it's more than fair to expect a student to have some skin in the game so they make educational choices to commit to generating wealth for society.