I expect to get some critism, but ah well, I'm new to kiting, i can fly ok but i've no board time at all, I got my self a nice big twin tip 146, i'm 6"3 and 86kg so it seems like a good learner board, however at this time i have a strong onshore wind and choppy swell with a lot of varying current. it means i need to go upwind straight away in swell, I just cant seem to get my head around it, it's frustrating as hell, each time i get on the board a wave grabs it as its tilted into the surf and i just have no time to adjust. I can drag myself along the beach, jump off the ground several meters and land softly and i was very dilligent in my learning on kite control- obviously this is a never ending process and i do not claim to be awesome, but this seems to be what is have to learn in and the process is becoming rather annoying. Any tips would be great. I know that i have lake macquarie but with all the boats, fisherman lining the edges and trees everywhere i'm struggling to find a safe place to launch. Any help would be awesome as i'm new to both kites and the newcastle area.

Hi Jhesh, I think you might be referring to Nobby's Beach in Newcastle East. I've been around there myself a couple of years ago when I was not as experienced and decided to give it a miss given the conditions that you described. Basically, if you take any lessons, your instructor should teach you in the first 10 minutes or your first lesson that you should always stay away from shore breaks and On-Shore winds, at least until you develop some strong skills... so the best advice if you want to progress and stay safe is to take lessons and stay away from that location. Good luck.

The main thing is, kite to your skill level when learning. If the conditions don't suit, all you can do is wait I'm afraid. Having said that, I'm sure most kiters have put themselves in unsafe situations when learning as they're so keen to get out. Maybe you need to jump in the car and go to a better area?

Thanks to all you have all been very helpful, i got going nicely upwind with that advice and only had 1 or 2 mishaps. was out for all of about an hour when i messed up a bit and had the kite in a powered dive, all good i thought turning the bar to loop the kite, I knew it was gonna graze the beach but hey it happens, what i did not expect was for the lines to go suddenly limp. WTF i said when i noticed what appeared to be the remains of my kite lying on the beach. Some one had hammered a star picket into the middle of the beach. about 50 meters from the sea, it just sat up out of the sand about 150mm. Now i have no problems about destroying my own gear if it's through my own fault and i do tend to be of above average intelligence as far as most things are concerned but i cannot understand why anyone would hammer half a star picket into the sand other than they were an utter C#@T, so my kite is a right off, one strut the leading edge and 3 panels are ripped to utter shreds. I just opened and closed my mouth a few times in confusion. No idea what to do now just amazed at this afternoons outcome.

Too many sharks in Stocko, to hell with kiting there!

there are much better ways to self launch and land than that, and i must say that if anyone else kites in this area they are not there very often

dusta said...

jhesh said...

Thanks to all you have all been very helpful, i got going nicely upwind with that advice and only had 1 or 2 mishaps. was out for all of about an hour when i messed up a bit and had the kite in a powered dive, all good i thought turning the bar to loop the kite, I knew it was gonna graze the beach but hey it happens, what i did not expect was for the lines to go suddenly limp. WTF i said when i noticed what appeared to be the remains of my kite lying on the beach. Some one had hammered a star picket into the middle of the beach. about 50 meters from the sea, it just sat up out of the sand about 150mm. Now i have no problems about destroying my own gear if it's through my own fault and i do tend to be of above average intelligence as far as most things are concerned but i cannot understand why anyone would hammer half a star picket into the sand other than they were an utter C#@T, so my kite is a right off, one strut the leading edge and 3 panels are ripped to utter shreds. I just opened and closed my mouth a few times in confusion. No idea what to do now just amazed at this afternoons outcome.

more than likely someone uses it for self launching / landing ?