Friday, November 30, 2007

Howling Wind

The wind is howling. The only problem is that it is 9 at night. We've been waiting weeks for a good blow so when the forecast called for a storm to move through here with 25 to 40 knot winds we got excited. Christian drove down from Phoenix this morning but there was very little wind all day. Finally about 3:30 it started to pick up. I went over to Chris' house to tell him it was starting and he said let's go. So off we went to the beach by Pilar Condos and set up our equipment. The wind would pick up a little and then die off. It still hadn't picked up enough and we were running out of daylight. Finally I said it was now or never and we got out for a few short runs. Apart from a gust here or there, there really wasn't enough wind. We stayed as late as we could and it was dark by the time we got packed up and headed back to town. Right about then the wind came in. And it kept building. Right now it is blowing 25 - 30 knots with stronger gusts and the surf is breaking way out. Too bad it is 9 o'clock at night.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Video

Okay, here is another attempt at using the blogspot's built in video feature.



Weekend Wind

Not much wind this week until Friday, which was light. Saturday was good. Strong winds, gusting to 25 knots or more. The wind was coming out of the north a little too much which results in it passing over and around obstructions on land instead of blowing in clean from the sea. That gives us wind that is gusty and swirly. Even though conditions were not ideal, we had a lot of kiters out. At times there were seven or eight kiters in a fairly small area, but most people find a slot to kite in and can avoid crowding anyone. I tried taking some videos with my still camera to see how it does and to have something to post now that this blog supports video. I didn't get anything really good, but I am posting one anyway, just to see how this works. Hoping for wind all of this week but the forecast keeps changing. We'll see what happens.

Well, the video failed to upload all the way and I got an error message. I'll try again later.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

20+

Finally we had a windy day. The forecast was for light winds and it started out that way but it kept building and soon we had winds over 20 knots. First time I've been able to use my 12M kite in a while. I had forgotten just how much I like that kite. Too bad they don't still make a "C" shaped Rhino anymore; they switched to a bow hybrid design. Anyway, we are hoping for a repeat today and then more strong wind for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a few boats in the bay yesterday and thankfully they stayed out past our windy area.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Disappearing Wind

We haven't had much wind for a while now. The forecasts from Wind Guru and Buoy Weather keep promising strong winds in the near future and then change the forecast when the time gets closer. Once in a while a few of us get out for an hour or two but usually a bit underpowered. Yesterday there wasn't a breath of air. It was so still it was a bit spooky at the beach. Today the wind couldn't get much over 10 knots. Tomorrow should be better according to the predictions. They have been calling for a few days of really strong winds next week and then this morning they changed the forecast to almost no wind for the whole week. The only chance looks like tomorrow and Sunday. Water is still fairly warm and it is almost Thanksgiving - what's going on?

Saturday, November 10, 2007

PARTY

Every year a group of kids from the University of Arizona come down for a weekend party. They stay at the Plaza San Carlos and spend a couple of afternoons enjoying themselves at the Soggy Peso Bar.



Friday, November 09, 2007

Not Much Wind

Haven't had much wind this week and doesn't look good until Monday. Luque and I have gotten out a few days but the wind has been light and often lasts only a couple of hours. The good news is that the water is still warm, still in the low 70's.

With no wind, thoughts turn to alternative activities and toys. New on my list of things that I've got to get is a Grinch Winch. Just like the name says, it is a winch. But no ordinary winch. Check this video out: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=14284391

And the winch is available at: http://www.buywake.com/catalog/detail/hFEdF

Pretty cool, huh?

Friday, November 02, 2007

Into the Sunset


The wind has been okay the last couple of days and I am optimistic for the near future. Not expecting a lot of wind but yesterday it was gusting over 20 knots. Only Luque and myself have been getting out to take advantage of the weather. The water is still nice, around 73 degrees. The water has been fairly flat and nobody else out there. At the end of the day Jeff and Scott showed up for a nice sunset session.