I'm definitely not that skilled of a kiteboarder yet. I haven't even
tried any rolls yet, or even a transition. I just started in October
of last year, but outside of US summer, I live 5 blocks from a real
nice lake (Chascomus, Argentina) for kiteboarding. It's pretty much 5
miles by 3 miles in size, and with the drought that's going on down
there, you can walk across it. Normally it's max is 9 feet in the
middle. It's pretty ugly because there are basically no trees around
it, just flat cow and farm land. Bad for the view, but good for the
wind. It gets about 3 days per week of wind, so I was able to get a
fair amount of hours out there. One week I got out 5 days in a row! I
don't see how anyone would be able to learn here. It's like any of
these technical sports, you need to put in the time and take your
lumps.
Sunday looks like the fan might be turned on. We'll see...
On Jun
22, 10:24 am, "Hossfeld, Tim W" <
tim.w.hossf...@boeing.com>
wrote:
> J.D.,
>
> I'm jealous ! Having a boat is definitely a fun thing for families. I'm already working on the wife for a future pontoon boat purchase (would love a wakeboard boat, but don't wanna pour money into its fuel tank !!!). We just had our first kid 9 months ago, so I am planning ahead. M (daughter) loves water already, so I think this is going to be fun. Hopefully the wife will get into it.
>
> Totally cool your wife is willing to pull you !!!
>
> Sounds like you're a pretty skilled kiteboarder, where did you learn?
>
> Tim
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: J.D. Herdlick [mailto:
jdherdl...@gmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:23 AM
> To: Wind Fun St. Louis
> Subject: Re: Rich was right!
>
> Hi Tim,
>
> My family has a nice towered boat at the St. Louis Yacht Club, in St.
> Charles. We used to be at Lake Ozark, but I (my wife) couldn't take the sunrise wake-ups that lake requires of its water-sports enthusiasts. Plus a few close calls with wave runners and drunk off shore raceboats made us sell our place. It's too bad, because that lake is really beautiful, and we had been down there since '77.
> Anyhow, I love it on the river. I ride right in slough, because it's close, and I don't usually go when there are people. The Illinois is awesome, but the time and gas is usually not worth my investment. The first 2 weeks here, I got out 4 times, but over the last
2 weeks, only once. Damn work.
>
> I too had a crew that rode with me, but they went off as well. I don't get it. I'm married with a 4 and 5 year old boy. I taught my wife how to pull me. She is really solid now. My kids love the boat. They used to sleep on the floor when they were infants. It's really not that big of a deal. IMO it's the best sport a family can do together. If I go play softball or football, where's the fun in that for my family? I guess it boils down to your commitment level.
>
> I've seen those wake-kites in the magazines. Seems weird, and I don't feel the need for it...yet. I've been kiteboard jumping about my last
> 8 sessions or so, and it still feels like I'm cheating with the amount of time I'm in the air. Not that I'm going huge or anything, but I've got enough time for two independent grabs. That's weird for me.
>
> J.D. (that's what I go by!)
>
> On Jun 20, 10:35 am,
Tim Hossfeld <
tim.hossf...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hey JD (is that what you go by?) where do you wakeboard at? Back in
> > the day, I used to hit the Illinois river on a regular basis. Until
> > my boat-owning friends got married, got kids, sold the boats, and
> > retired the couch! If you have access to a boat might wanna try
> > kiteboarding from it !!!!
>
> > Are you in the club based out the Alton area? Can't recall their
> > name, but had a pretty good setup. Private dock/launch right there a
> > bit west of the bridge on the IL side of the river.
>
> > Tim
>
> > On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 11:56 PM, J.D. Herdlick <
jdherdl...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > > Good to meet you too, Wes. Sorry I couldn't make it out on the water.
> > > I was jealous watching you. Took two wrong turns, had a nice tour of
> > > Alton, and finally found it. Wound up with a nice evening wakeboard
> > > session, so I can't complain too much. Actually, I think with the
> > > right wind direction, that little bay could be real, real nice.
> > > Granted your stretches were shorter than ideal, but a slight change
> > > in theat direction, and you've got a sweet run.
>
> > > Wes launched from the North side of the bay, on a pretty tight beach.
> > > On the south side, right in front of the office, there is a real
> > > nice looking sand bar jutty that theoretically could provide a great
> > > launch site regardless
of the wind direction. No obstacles, big,
> > > etc. just perfect. Of course it's hard to predict wind shadows, but
> > > even with the direction today, it would have been good. I'm
> > > definitely going out there next time Creve Coeur is bad. And I'm up
> > > for Carlyle if our resident wind gurus are confident in a good day
> > > (and work doesn't interfere).
>
> > > On Jun 19, 9:00 pm, Tim Hossfeld <
tim.hossf...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > where did you guys launch from? the northwest corner or the same
> > > > beach from last time I was there?
>
> > > > At least you got on the water...I suffered through 3 hours of
> > > > really lame meetings at work.
>
> > >
> :o)
>
> > > > Tim
>
> > > > On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 6:52 PM, wes <
wes.brown...@noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> > > > > All,
>
> > > > > Had several very short runs today at Ellis Bay (Alton). The
> > > > > wind was such that after about 20 seconds or so I was rapidly
> > > > > approaching the other bank, and with no skill at turning had to
> > > > > ditch each time. Fun, but I agree with Rich's earlier
> > > > > assessment of the limitations of Ellis Bay.
>
> > > > > Great meeting J. D. today...thanks for the launch and the tips
> > > > > on staying upwind. Hope to see you at Carlyle sometime in the
> > >
> > near future.
>
> > > > > Wes- Hide quoted text -
>
> > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
