Kitesurfing in San Francisco Bay Area.

[Kolahi]

Hey guys i was wondering if you guys could point me in the right direction. In august i will be moving to the bay area, and just for kicks this past weekend (saturday+sunday) i decided to get to know the place a little better. I decided to kite on saturday at Crissy field, as around 12:00 the only place with decent wind was there. It was blowing 15, which where i come from is a godsend, here in the LA area we haven't had real winds for a while because of june gloom. I put the kite up and it was super gusty, the kite was going from stalling position to super overpowered, and when i tried to kite, at some points i was working it and going nowhere, and at othertimes i was in the air. Afterward i asked the locals and they told me that nobody kites close to shore, they all go in the middle of the bay because the shore area is very gusty. Is this true? I ride guerilla arcs - foil- and it absorbs gusts extremely well, but this was just insane gusts. The next day i went to Sherman island, but the launch was extremely hairy and it seemed to be pretty light.

Where do people usually kite in the bay area? Does anyone ride foils? Are there any good spots which you guys know of ? I checked the pager at times - and it said the wind was 8-22. That's an extremely big range. Please help me out if anyone knows anything.

[Pip]

Well I don't know about foils but I've seen a couple people kiting up near Larkspur, whihc is on the marine side, u go from sausalito and stay on the same path until there are a bunch of exits right after a mall, take the far right exit then turn right and there will be a pretty good inlet where the ferry comes in and out, be sure to do it when the tide is in it is very very marshy when it's out, The place to launch from is about a quarter mile before San Quentin prison(no escaped prisoners ) good luck

[theflyingtinman]

Crissy is often much gustier than other Bay Area spots.

I mostly use 3rd Ave and Alameda. Alameda's a much nicer
beach, but it gets too crowded with beach-goers for my
liking in summer. Third Ave has better winds at this time
of year too, but the kitebeach is tiny, launch is in the lee
of a driving range so can be funky, and at low tide you
have a calf-deep hike through muddy ooze to get in and
out. The mud-flat launch has much more room and is much
"cleaner" at low tide but it is one of the few places where
we deliberately break Rick's "keep it low and go" safety rule.
Here you'd be much safer taking a vertical lofting than
a horizontal drag toward the water ...

3rd Ave mudflat launch

(BTW - if you do turn up at 3rd or Alameda I'm the only other
G-Arc flier there so far, that I know of.

Steve T.

[bobbybill]

http://www.sfkitesurfing.com/

There's also a huge pile of info, anything you wanna know re:Bay area, in iKitesurf.com Community Forum. Do forum search

[WildThang]

...The next day i went to Sherman island, but the launch was extremely hairy and it seemed to be pretty light.

Where do people usually kite in the bay area? Does anyone ride foils? Are there any good spots which you guys know of ? ... Please help me out if anyone knows anything.

Sherman can be the windiest spot in the SF Bay Area. It can also be mellow and perfect for kites. Problem is the launches are narrow, levees are mostly rocks, blackberry bushes will eat you and your kites and the wind is side-on. Not a lot of room for error. Generally, you should know what you are doing when you kite there. You just happened to pick a light day. Trust me, it's got lots of kite days in the summer.

You must have been the one my buddy was helping launch. He told me I should have been there because it got kinda messy? You were there with a Guerilla and your dad?

I had a great day kiting there yesterday. Winds were great for my 14. Next time you come down, look for me and I'll dial you in on the launch and landing. I fly an F-Arc most of the time.

-Eric

p.s. I love flat, fresh water!

[Pinocchio]

How is Half Moon Bay in July/August?
I've read the info on the sf site and ikitesurf but I was wondering if you had any other info.

[Kolahi]

You must have been the one my buddy was helping launch. He told me I should have been there because it got kinda messy? You were there with a Guerilla and your dad?

yeps that was me, it got really messy but i managed to get both my 13 up and my 18 after trying different methods. Yea i know i just had bad timing with the wind and all, but im just curious what people do when its too light to stay upwind? A couple people launched their kites.. and just disappeared..? I dont know if you know Traig Trumbo, but he told me to look for you up there.

[WildThang]

Let me guess...

Spinning propellor bowtie? Downwind tip sand-dive? Collapse and Taco?

hehe

As for lite wind, we usually just sit on the beach and bullshit if it's too light. Or I make sandcastles with my kids.

You may have gone out when the tide was flooding, so it may feel windy enough, but with the tide, you'll get flushed. If you do get flushed, make sure you don't come in at the kiddie pool (where the beginning windsurfers are uphauling or the kids are splashing around).

It's a little ways down, but get out at Lil Baja launch, self land your kite and hike back into the access.

Yesterday was the perfect Sherman day. Warm fresh water, ebb tide, warm wind, swells if you wanted or butter flat water, lit up riding and phat air!

Yeah, I got my F-Arc from Traig. He's a good guy and I can second everything he has said about the Arcs. I also ride inflatables, but spend most my time on the F.

Look me up next time you're out. I get out usually 2x a week. Once in the middle and once on the weekend. I'll help you with launching and landing.

Eric

p.s. My kitebuddies are cool, they don't discriminate against me just because my kite looks funky!

[bobbybill]

How is Half Moon Bay in July/August?

You can ride just south of the jetty, but it's gusty on the beach, you can't self-launch at high tide, and if you blow it, your kite's skidding across Highway 1. Also, there's the state beach just south of 92 (i can't remember name), little better wind, but pretty narrow beach, and self-landing is interesting.

[loco4viento]

How is Half Moon Bay in July/August?
I've read the info on the sf site and ikitesurf but I was wondering if you had any other info.

Hey Pinicchio,

I've ridden Half Moon in the summer, but from a beautiful beach a mile or so south of the beach with the jetty. Near some condos and B&B's. Easy kite launching. Plenty of room. NASTY walled off shore break though, not what appear to be any easily ridden waves, just jump over or tuck and punch through...one of those places where a downed kite on the inside could be a real danger. But good sideshore and side-on winds.

John