Grom headed to Holland, Needs advice?

[Hurricam]

Hey people, I am headed to Holland April 15-30. I am not very good in the water but have been shreading the snow quite a bit, I live in Montana, USA. I quess I am looking for some flat water and also a good spot on the beach with smaller waves good for a "grom" like me. We are renting a canal boat so I don't have a car but I will have a boat and a bike! Oh yea what size kite's do you use most? Thanks for any help.-Hurricam

[Janus]

Hi Hurricam,
Were are you staying in Holland?
There are some really good flat water spots, you can take a look at kitebeaches but i recommend Mirns and Workum (ijssel lake)
Well it al depends were you are staying, let me / us know and we give you the right spot!

Arjan

[Hurricam]

Hey Janus, Thanks for the reply, I am not really sure about our schedule but we pick up the boat in Sneek, in the middle of april, and go south from there, we will be staying on the boat. I will be with my family so I have to keep them happy too. So we we will hopefully be in lots of parts of Holland. Sorry but I am kind of clueless about Holland. I would like to find ijssel lake, where is it? Thanks for any info--Hurricam

[Janus]

Hi,
Sneek is in the provence Friesland (Fryslan they call it there)
It is a very good place to be, a lot of lakes but... officially it is forbidden to kitesurf anywhere in holland except for aproved places.
So in Fryslan you have to go to Mirns (E-Z-W winds) or Workum (Z-W-N winds) both very good places to learn to kitesurf, flat water, knee deep, sweat water (ijsselmeer / ijssel lake)
Workum has also a harbour near the kite spot so direct your crew to this spot, you won't regret it (you will if you won't go there)
You can also cross the ijssellake to Enkhuizen (N-E-Z winds) (definatly go there) and a lot of other places (Amsterdam, well you just have to there i guess as a tourist)
The ijssel lake is the biggest lake in Holland, can't mis it.. it was called the Zuiderzee (southernsea) before they closed it with the "afsluitdijk".
Search for a good map and look at Kitebeaches.com, the spots are all there.
Have a nice trip, let me know if you want to know more.

Arjan

[Hurricam]

Arjan, Thanks much for all the advice. I am not sure how many kites I will be able to bring? I might only be able to bring one kite and was thinking of bringing my 13m. Is that going to be a good size to have? -Cam

[Janus]

My experience is that you need the kite you left at home...
So take all you can..

Depends on your weight, skills and what kites you got. (and how long you'll stay)
I think the 13 is a good choice, do you have bigger and smaller kites?

Arjan

[Hurricam]

I have 10m kite that I might be able to fit in my bag but that is it for now. Do you think it would be better to bring a bigger kite than a smaller kite?

[Janus]

Take the 10m also if you can.
If you're not a light weight a bigger kite would be nice too, 17-20 m for example. But if you're a real beginner or a light weight keep away from those big kites in the beginning.
So when the wind is light you can enjoy the family and Holland, then the family understands that when the wind blows you got to go... (and they let you)
What's your weight and board?

Don't forget your wetsuit, the water is still cold in April. (full wetsuit and booties)

Arjan

[Hurricam]

Yea I figured I would need a wetsuit, thanks for the tip. I am going to do my best to bring my 10m. My board is a 148cm and I weigh 175#. So tell me what you think? Is there any kite shops in Holland?? I guess there has to be. There is probably one in Noordwijk huh?

[Janus]

Hi,
A 13 and 10 and your board will do fine.
Don't know if there are kiteshops in Noordwijk, never been there but there are a lot of shops in Holland, do a search on internet and you'll find out.
still freezing cold here...
Arjan