The 05' Season

[Northerner]

Woke up and saw pancake ice on the lake this morning up here with water temps at 33 and the air a -4. I guess that’s it for the season, with Nov. 28th being the last ride for me. Last year I made it a little later to the 8th of December, I believe, but I won't be going out with these ice-cold waters to top it. With this being the first season I could really enjoy the great aspects of kiting like: jumping big air and riding in big waves and just cursing around with zero worries, I tried to ride as much as I could when home.
Looking back on the seasons riding opportunities I would say the following: Couldn't ride early spring because of eye surgery. Late spring and early summer were good, with many days of S.E. thermals in a row, got in 8 days straight in early July, riding mostly 20 and 15-meter kites. I was gone mid summer, rode mid August and September, which were also good, but the winds seemed to be a gustier south.. Though, I had my best day of the year was at this time. It was a super clean northeaster 20-25mph, which allowed for amazing flat water riding behind the pier, big jumps, clean swell and surf 6-8 ft, and warm water. Rode my 12 and 15 a lot during this period. This Fall Oct. Nov was poor a best. With a steady string of northern and southern westerly winds kiting was limited. Did not get the big Northeasters I was hoping for and kind of expected, just a few days of O.K. 12-15 meter riding. Over all though had a great season, rode almost entirely out of Sheboygan, enjoyed meeting and hanging with some great people and getting into a sport that allows me to make the most of lake Michigan. Now I guess we should talk Snow.
Andrew

[V]

Andy, although the summer for us on the south half was fairly windless, we did discover some great downwinders Z2W and W2Z that have really opened up the kiting for us this season. So although it wasn't the best season, I learned a bunch of new things and the downwinders are where its at.

[Northerner]

Yea a downwinder was one of my goals this summer but never took the effort to plan one out. Which is sad because we have beaches that run for 10-15 miles up here and many drop off pts. I need to make that a priority next year. They would diffenently the way to go for wave riding and just cursing the lake shore.