Sunday 5/30

[kitenick]

Guys,

Was anyone at Sheboygen today??? Check out the wind meter it looked like it was good from 1:00 on....

Is there some kind of "thermal explanation" for this???

[Misfit]

No but I did hit LSP. Great day. I was on my 11m. Most were on 9m for the entire day.

Thanks for the advice IVO, wouldn't have hit it without your nudging.


Cory

[kitenick]

Awesome. glad you had a great time. I am always up for a road trip to kite. let me know if you would like to carpool next time.

[Northerner]

Cory lets hear some details on LSP please.

Sheboygan yesterday did get its bump, though a few bands of clouds came through and stopped the wind for really filling in on the inside so we had the classic outside wind line situation. About 15-20 riders out on 10-14 meter kites. For the most part everyone was very respectful of the spot and made good decisions that made for nice safe riding.

Here’s something I dug up from an old post I made in 07 to help explain Sheboygan better to people: “Hey all, Wanted to share a few things on our spot in the north country as thermal season begins. Last week Sheboygan had its first large group of the season which was cool. Everyone was great about staying south of the parking lot for the most part and not walking kites over or riding in swimming beach area.

Saw a classic situation though that needs to be pointed out as newbie kiters started to learn and come out with the warmer weather. Sheboygan wind is almost ALWAYS GUSTY and WEAK on the inside, Fact. The thermal line is out far. To prevent people from drifting down wind in the no kite area, Body drag out a few hundreds yards or so through the weak wind then ride in smooth clean wind.

If a person is not willing to go where the wind is good you simply will not have a good session learning or kiting. The wind in close must be respected. This weekend my kite 07 ion 2 fell out sky at the beach and almost landed on a little girl that was in the kiting area. Jens one of the best riders in the area, as written about earlier, destroyed his kite on the beach as it fell from the poor wind conditions.
Myself and others have worked hard to make sure the beach (our front yard) is kite friendly. We stopped it from becoming the city dog beach and just prevented a 10 ft wide asphalt lighted path from being built on the beach and dune. So in Sheboygan go out far, set up south of the parking lot, don't kite in the swim beach and drink beer.â€

[Bob]

yo sheriff...thanks for the pulled pork and great food last night. fun day for sure.

[Eric A.]

Sherriff, I'm not Cory, but I do spend alot of time at the point.
Cory looked pretty happy yesterday. That session was healing for him.
West came up too and scored the magic along with a few other chicago riders.

LSP is magic on South Wind.
Getting it good can be tricky though.

A few degrees offshore S, SE will result in satanic gusts and unstable wind on the inside. This is where accidents can happen. Once offshore a 100 yards the wind smooths out and is big fun.
S, SE is when we get the crazy 20-40 gust days near shore. Not so nice.

If it is a true South like yesterday, the wind will be strong and steady inside and out with nice sheep grazing out in the field. Steady as a fan.

A little S, SW and you get smooth medium winds for bigger kites.

It's too bad that you guys have to go so far offshore to ride in Sheboygen.....any breakdowns with coast guard boat rides?

Honestly I don't like to go any furthur out then I like to swim in...how do you guys deal with the long swim?

I don't know if this helps but that is my take on how the point kinda works.

I agree with you. Lake crossing Forget about it....It's been done by windsurfers and SUP'ers, big boat sailors etc... and it is brutal...save your energy for a nice 8 hour day at the point or Sheboygen.

Plus how do you rig for 6m LSP and then 16m middle of the lake and then 6m Sheboygen....?

If you want to do a lake crossing...take the USS badger across the lake to Manitowoc...there done now go out and ride....right?

[Misfit]

Eric has waaaaaaayyyy more experience than me @ LSP so i'm glad he chimed in.
Yesterday was magical. I haven't ridden since the beginning of april so it was great! I was way off yesterday. I seriously felt like I was off balance the entire day but it was ok, I still had a fantastic time! Also, I stopped at the New Holland Brewery on the way home and picked up a growler of Dragon's Milk. Yum! Was a great day and well worth the 500 miles I had to drive!

Cory

[noabacca]

Hmmm, I only had to drive for 10 minutes, then hop on my "green" bike for another 15 minutes to get to the Big Sable Point.



Guess I'm saving the planet (environmentally speaking) better than even that long hair hippie WEST, these days.

[IVO]

Sheboygan was good,"classic sunday" as some saying:)Big thanks to Andrew for BBQ,bear and hospitality.It was very nice to recharged batteries before heading back to Chicago!Somehow I traveled 21/2h on the way back so you guys from Madison beat me to it;)

Cory-wind obey THOSE ROCKS and they were traveling to LSP ..Happy that you had good sesion!

[West]

Geat post Eric.....complete and informative about the Point, LSP, dune madness, the wind magnet.....

Great to see Cory make the trek, always a pleasure to kite with "surfer boy"!!!

Had an incredible time up there with Eroc, Jimbo, Bob and his family. Saw some folks I met last year, and made some new friends. All in all another classic day in Michigan!! Finished it off with a jam session at Capt Lous in South Haven....watching Eroc slap some skins.

9's and 12's were flying strong. Busted out a couple of Shiner Gold BROKITE boards for Eric and Jimbo. Eric go a 130 Freeride and was hittin' his patented front rolls with a down loop transition right out of the box. Jimbo got a 120 POP and had his one-handed jumps with a super pump rail-grab working on the inside. Stoked to see my buddies ripping it on the new boards. If you are ever in Michigan and want to give 'em a spin just ask, and offer 'em a beer of course.

We kited until the wind backed off around 6, and then hung out and drank a few beers and soaked in little bit of the magic day!!! Wind was like a fan, smooth and steady at about 22!!

NOAH.....you are da man. Can't wait to throw up a kite with you buddy. Beer's on me!!! Was looking at your post this morning when my wife looked over my shoulder and said "hey, that's your face on that fish", didn't notice that when I saw the fish on your last post. Good stuff Bularoo!! Laughing my arse off.........

Glad to see that the wind was good in Shesablowin'. Gettin me one of those pork sammys next time up Sherriff. I will bring the secret BBQ sauce.....Uncle Bud's special stuff.

[noabacca]

WEST if you come up to the next hump, Margarita pitchers and all the free chips and salsa you can eat, on me.

You and KWK, need to get up here, mi casa su

My buddy and I are getting bike trailers in the next week or so, to haul our stuff, I'm now gonna be a permanent BSP resident, when conditions are right.

6 miles from driveway to parking lot, another 1.8 to bike the rest. (doesn't feel that bad on the way out) but around 5-6 riding back with the wind working hard against you, is a killer.

haha, hippy long hair, I can say it.

[kwk]

Gonna be awhile before I make it to BSP. Got to get the knee scoped before I can ride. Hopefully will be back on the water by end of August