Jeza said...
Lostinlondon - I'm heading to the UK in a couple of months, will probably be staying in london for a few months to work and travel in europe. Whats the kiting like over there, are there any spots near london you can kite? I'm not sure if i should have my gear sent over or buy 2nd while im in the UK - whats the 2nd hand market like over there?
Jeza, if you haven't bought your airfare yet try to get one that flies via LA, as you get to take two bags in check in, of 20kg each, so you could check in a kitebag along with your backpack. If you have one of those Naish Golf bags they are excellent! Also Malaysian Airlines counts a Golf bag as 5kg of your allowance as long as it weighs up to 25kg.
The 2nd hand market exists, but I reckon unless your own gear is due for replacement bring it anyway. You are going to have enough to spend your money on when you get here without having to worry about kite equipment. In Whitstable there is a shop called Whitstable Windsurfing that sells second hand gear for reasonable prices. www.whitstablewindsurfing.com
Kiting in London: You are at least an hour and a half away from a suitable location. The two spots I go to the most are Hayling Island and Whitstable. Its pretty much impossible to do without a car, so when you get here, feel free to get hold of me and I'll give you a lift whenever I am going. Once you have been to a place a few times, you get to know a few guys, people are reall friendly, and you'll be swapping numbers for liftshare within no time.
However, this is the good bit. Flights are rediculously cheap here. If you do it right, you can get £30 return flights to Spain and Portugal, add £20 for the kitebag.
The places I have kited (I have only been doing it for a year) are:
Beauduc in France: Its on the Med, so no tide, warm water and the Mistral is mean! You need a car to get there and you will be camping on the beach. Its about 45 min drive from the nearest town on an evil unsealed road. The kiteable area is massive, and you drive out through old salt pans with flamingos! Apparently wild horses run around the area as well.
Gokova in Turkey: Massive long mountain edged bay that gets a really nice seabreeze and once again the water is warm.
Stagnone in Sicily (Italy): I had only just started at the time, but it was a cool spot.
In London, its always a bit of a mission: Usually involving leaving early on Saturday or Sunday morning to get to the beach. Most locations are very tide dependant. You can't ride at most places at high tide, but when the tide goes out you can have massive shallow areas for hundreds of metres. You need a full length wetsuit most of the year. I went out on the weekend in 9 degree water, 12 degree air temp in a 3/2 with a thermal rashie on, boots and gloves and I was OK, but not toasty.
If you aren't set on living in London and have a profession/trade that lets you live anywhere, I would leg it down to Newquay, buy a £500 car and ride Cornwall. The best money is in London but its also a hard city to get out of unless you get away early before the traffic.
Even better, if you don't need to work, go and hang out in Spain or Portugal until the summer is over, come back to London and work hard over the winter to pay for your next trip, oh, and to get to the European skifields!
Whew, thats a lot. I might start a thread on Europe travel advice since summer is just starting here and I know a lot of people will be upset about the prospect of not being able to kite until October/November!
