Sometimes I can't be bothered dealing with people and just want to kite alone, so i've got two options:

1: Park and walk up the beach with my kite-backpack, board and pump. Then wear the backpack with the pump inside it the whole way back to the car. Effectively neutralizing any need to drive back to the launch point. (question: any harm in getting your aluminium pump wet?)

2: Park car and ride my e-bike up to launching spot. Once finished, drive back and pick up bicycle, backpack and pump.

Why not just ride back upwind? Or start off riding upwind then do a downwinder? That's what we do all the time.

How far are you planning on riding on your downwinder? We can usually get upwind in the same time it takes the other guys to load up and do the car shuffle.

Gorgo said..
Why not just ride back upwind? Or start off riding upwind then do a downwinder? That's what we do all the time.

How far are you planning on riding on your downwinder? We can usually get upwind in the same time it takes the other guys to load up and do the car shuffle.

I was talking about 2-3 kilometers and plus I am not comfortable with deep water/sharks and visually i feel it is nicer to hug the shore and try and ride the waves.

I wish there was some sort of flying fox with an elevator, that would be boss.

Another idea is to leave the pump somewhere secret there ALWAYS. Like dig a hole and put a box in there in the sand dunes. Then you can walk up wind 2 kilometres, pump it up and not worry about anything.

Aluminium pump. LOL

all i want for Christmas is a red thumb

unless on a foilboard I don't agree that its more fun upwinding on a standard board. Its just a grind and takes 5 to 10 times as long as the down wind section. Downwinders are sweet things to do.

I do like the public transport idea. Not that we have any thing usefull locally.

Isn't there a guy in perth who does an upwinder driving service?

What Gorgo describes isn't very realistic. A run of 4km upwind in optimal conditions (i.e. 30° upwind angle) with crosshore winds will mean that you are 2km from the shore while covering 3.5km. That's not shore hugging.

drewpweiner said..
I'd love to know how you can travel up wind above 1 kilometer without having to go 100m out in to the ocean in straight cross-shore winds. Sounds impossible.

Tacking will slow down upwind progress, but you should be able to go upwind even with <20m tacks. Some beaches have a reverse sweep just outside the wave zone that makes shorter tacks (<50m) even better than longer ones for upwind speed. In general you should be able to upwind in straight cross-shore at walking pace (keep up with someone walking upwind on the beach) or better.

drewpweiner said..
2: Park car and ride my e-bike up to launching spot. Once finished, drive back and pick up bicycle, backpack and pump.

You could try this in reverse: drop off the bike at the end zone, then drive up to the launch spot. That way you can stow your bag & pump in the car and only expose the bike to theft.

Personally I'm with Gorgo. Going upwind solves the majority of your problems. Even tacking hard upwind between sets should extend your session significantly, or limit the amount of downwind that needs to be recouped.

For one way downwinder I take a 30 litre waterproof backpack with kitebag, phone, money, travel card & thongs. Catching the tram/train back in Melbourne is no problem. You could add clothes if you don't want to travel back in your wetsuit.



More info and photos of recent Hampton to Port Melbourne/St Kilda downwinder www.peterskiteboarding.com/2016/12/strong-wind-bay-surf-and-downwinder-to.html