Guys,

The forecast for the Perth metro area this morning looked great so a friend and I went out to Point Walter at 6am to go and practice the fine art of kiting. Upon arriving there was one guy out there (good to meet you Ryan!) but he was a newbie like us. There was no wind at all. I would have thought there'd be heaps of kiters out there, especially after a week of dismal wind. Is there some common knowledge about wind conditions in Perth that everyone else apart from me knows?! Why the awesome forecast and why no wind? Please help!!

Mike

Can I also suggest that most would have woken up, checked the wind, seen it was very light, and gone back to sleep.

You didn't bother checking before heading down to the river?

take every piece of information, especially weather info, with a pinch of salt. sometimes the forecasts are accurate and sometimes way off.

always check, good idea to just walk outside and have a look for yourself.

Thanks for the responses, especially Ausome's! I did step outside and see that the wind was light but I guess I was hoping it would be blowing harder down at point walter. I live a fair way away from there. I hadn't been kiting for a week prior to that so was insanely keen...didn't even mind the early morning for the slight chance of wind.

Lesson learned!

Mike

live to fly and juicerider are right. you need easterlies (not south east, or north east), at pt walter.

I find when going to a new spot, or trying a different wind direction at your local, it can be very handy to check google earth.

look for the distance the wind has to blow over the water (called fetch) before it hits the spot you want to go kiting

you really want a fetch length of over 1 km or so, so the wind can settle. Otherwise it'll be mega gusty. generally. the more fetch, the less gusty.


as to working out how windy it'll be.... im lazy. check seabreeze forecast the day before. if the forecast is good, check seabreeze live wind graphs prior to leaving the house. if the live graph matches the forecast, its probably going to be worth the drive.