Saturday October 15 2011

[Like To Kite]

Jeff texted and told me it's a little off shore at Lake St so Michigan City it is. I'll be there early afternoon. See you soon!

[adseguy]

Alright I'm heading out. Should be there around 12:00 or 12:30 @ Lake st.

[Like To Kite]

The plan has changed and we're headed to Lake St Beach which I am happy about because it's closer to home and hopefully smaller waves. Apparently Jeff didn't check out Lake St earlier, he heard that it was off shore. He did just check out MC and he said that it's almost tending towards on shore with pretty big waves that are irregular and sometimes converging together. There are many kiters there getting set up with 2 on the water. Ivo ripping up some waves right now!

Lake St should be side shore now it seems from the live wind readings which are due W (24knots gusting to 35) and I've heard that it may turn more N around noon. Yesterday the waves were much better at Lake St so hopefully they will be better again there today .

When Jeff gets to Lake St he'll give me a report and I'll post again here to confirm.

Sure am glad I slept in and missed all this leg work

Happy Kiting!

[xwindsurf]

.............PLEASE CHECK NEW THREAD IN LOST AND FOUND I JUST POSTED. THIS IS PRETTY SERIOUS................. COAST GUARD IS LOOKING FOR A DEAD BODY OF A KITER

[WaWaZat]

Insane day at Beverly!

Firing up the wood oven for pizzas tonight. All kiters & friends welcome! It's on the way home for most of you! Text for the address; 708.341.0003

[Axelle and Antoine]

Hi guys,
Thank you for helping us out with location for today.
It was pretty rough for us we ll train on smaller waves and come back later for the big ones.
We enjoyed watching you jump. Great stuff
See you around!
Axelle and Antoine

[xwindsurf]

Dead body turned up to be very much alive, someone just lost the kit

[Rorke]

Dead body turned up to be very much alive, someone just lost the kit

Was there a search? Did the person notify the USCG or police?

Yesterday was the biggest we have ever ridden on Lake Michigan. All the guys agreed; lots of years of experience coming to that consensus.
20+ swells. Huge, massive wave faces.

[xwindsurf]

I got a phone call from Ben asking ma to post. He knows more
T

[ironben]

Kite was found in Burn harbor marina late on Saturday afternoon. Police came to ask around but most kiter were gone, just West and John got back from downwinder and they did not know if someone let the kite go or is there a body somewhere in Lake Michigan.

So next time PLEASE let others know, specially Coast Guard if you need to abandon your kite.

Here is the useful link about situations like this.
http://www.chicagokitesurfing.com/kiteboarding_messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10121&p=48831&hilit=coast#p48831

Lets be safe up there and keep the beaches open!

[anderson]

Yesterday was the biggest we have ever ridden on Lake Michigan. All the guys agreed; lots of years of experience coming to that consensus.
20+ swells. Huge, massive wave faces.

Just make sure not to go out somewhere else like Hawaii or Fiji when high surfing advisory says 20+. It won't be the size you kited in MC, rather much bigger than that. I think the 20+ here in the Midwest is face measure and not the actual wave size which is in reality the measurement of the back of the wave. Nevertheless 20+ face is a considerable size normally found in 10 foot waves somewhere else. Still, props for you guys who kited in those conditions since it takes skill and balls

[West]

Great to hear that it was EPIC up north Rorke........give us a little insight into who and where and just how much damn fun you had...... hell its still cranking up there in the land of perpetual wind and waves.......

What a frontal push.....4 to 5 days of crankin' Westerlies.......always such a joy to see FALL come roarin' in like that!!!!!! Getting it from Michigan City to Muskegon up to the Platte and all the way up to Grand Marais for the Lake Michigan crew.

Dont have enough time to detail it yet, but will do when I get a chance, it was simply an epic couple of days for the BROS.............

Glad to see everyone enjoying themselves, just don't lose sight of the dangers involved in those type of conditions on the BIG LAKE....always recognize your limits, kite with friends you can depend on in a crunch, and know your equipment inside and out!!!!!!!!! KITE SAFE..................

[Rorke]

It's been fabulous.
4 downwinders in 4 days. All West wind. All Pt. Betsie to Platte. 9m every day. Strapless.
Big Saturday was ShoppingCart, Farly, Sunset, and me. Those guys have windsurfed for 20 to 30 years each. So when they said it was THE biggest day they had ridden, it confirmed what I thought.
Massive, massive waves. When the Three Sisters would meet, a void was in front of the wave that added to the overall height. These things were the size of my house. HUGE. Maybe I'd back off of 20+ , but maybe not

Ocean swell is usually measured differently. Anderson, I agree. 100%

In 2001, I sailed through Hurricane Olga in the mid Atlantic. Waves were 18'-20'. This meant that when we were sailing our 44' Ketch, there was 20' of wave behind us and 20' ahead of us to the peak. They were nearly the height of the main mast. It was 40kts, yet silent in between the beasts.

In the Great Lakes, we measure differently. At least, I do. Every sailor I know does. My pals who are mates on Great Lakes freighters do. NOAA does.

But what do I know? I am just a guy weighing 16 stone, whose house sits on .2 hectares approximately 54 kilometers from my favorite launch.

By the way, today was only head high.... I am 183cm tall.

[Rorke]

Just saw the kiteforum post, I assume "bortolo" posted about this thread.

Not sure there is "conflicting information". Here we measure from trough to crest.

That is a sick photo. I wish there were video of the cutback that followed!

[Artem]

Huge day!!!! The waves were gigantic on Saturday even bigger then Friday and maybe a bit cleaner. All in all an epic couple of days.

[anderson]

Just saw the kiteforum post, I assume "bortolo" posted about this thread.

Not sure there is "conflicting information". Here we measure from trough to crest.

That is a sick photo. I wish there were video of the cutback that followed!

Hey Rorke, I am bortola who posted in the kiteforum. What I mean by conflicting info is with regards to the way the wave is measured here in the great lakes.
I remember 25 years ago while leaving in southern Brazil I heard the surfing report that the waves were 2m in the set (~6ft) and than I thought I could do it, not a big deal. I paddled out and when the set came I couldn't believe the size of the face (~20ft). Needless to say that I got the first, the second and the 3rd wave on the head. My board tombstoned for while before my leash broke. I almost drowned and ended up on the beach like a castaway. After that day when it was 1,5m ( ~4ft) I would get my biggest board (6'6") and wait for about 45min in the line up before dropping the first face. So when I hear reports that the waves are breaking at 20+ in the lake I become a bit skeptical. That is the reason I started the discussion more on the grounding of putting everyone in the same page as far as wave size. Please, I don't want to discredit anyone. Chicago riders are hardcore and I have seen you guys kiting in the gnarliest conditions. I have nothing but the great respect for those who pump up the 4m's - 7m's and go out there in the lake right where the fetch is the longest (i.e, miller, MC, St Joe, South Bend). As prove of that ear the comments I hear in OBX about the great lake riders.

I also want to mention that 10ft swell in the great lakes is wayyyyy harder than 15ft swell in the ocean just because of the wave period. There's no such thing as canals, point breaks, etc. Pure washing machine.

So please, do not get offended by my comments. I am looking forward to riding the waves with you this fall and share some brews later.

[adseguy]

Nice picture Artem. That's HUGE!

[IVO]

Glad everyone had amazing day.Just to be clear MC was head high,head and half top,not gigantic.What did lack on size sure delivered on power,.Never saw that many kites without riders,boards,riders swimming,broken gear in one day like this Saturday...Remember guys,once it'll be you swimming back to the shore thinking where's somebody!

Very powerful barreling waves,impossible to go through at some spots.Lots of North in the wind cause not so clean conditions,but around 3-4pm it started switching to W and waves were getting smoother. Have to give big props to Roman and Pavel who went out on windsurfing gear,what a pleasure to ride next to you guys!

Also Pier,you took your riding to next level buddy,didnt thought you gonna go strapless,very impressive!!!!!!!!!!


West,Greg and John we ate and drink your portion of salmon and beer..



ahhhh almost forgot,I did stop on the way back at Mike place and hands down he made one of the best pizza I ate in my life,thanks buddy for invitation!

[Pier]

Also Pier,you took your riding to next level buddy,didnt thought you gonna go strapless,very impressive!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks IVO, the truth is that I forgot my straps at home...

[FSP]

Did anyone feel comfortable squaring off at the lip on the set waves? i know for myself i am just working out the ole roundhouse to acid drop in waves just half that size and getting whooped when late. Thats a whole lot new power to eat if your just testing a new top turn-wow!