Matt, Chris, and Carson, I hope Carlyle treated you right today. I
just couldn't invest the 3 hours on the road.

Peace, J.D.

Very good day at Carlyle.  Sailed a 6.5 for 2 solid hours (Matt and Rich were on 14 meter kites) Kees was also there riding a 6.5 as well.   Matt was doing some insane backwards 360 flips....something I haven't seen at Carlyle before.  Wind dropped around 3:30 so we decided to come in....came back up as we were unrigging, but we were all pretty tired from the afternoon.    One downside..... Coles Creek bay has now been filled with rocks and access via car has been blocked.  This will now mean you'll have to rig on the parking lot and walk your gear 75 yards or so to the launch.  Since the lake was high, the windsurfers rigged on the grass and launched from the high water boat ramp.  Matt & Rich successfully launched from the rock pier a hundred yards downwind.
 
If it blows again tomorrow, Matt and I should be back.
 
Chris

--- On Sun, 6/28/09, J.D. Herdlick <jdherdl...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: J.D. Herdlick <jdherdl...@gmail.com>
Subject: The Wrong Choice
To: "Wind Fun St. Louis" <windfunstl@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 2:26 PM

Well, went to CC lake from about 1:15 to 1:45 pm on Sunday. It is NOT
blowing 18mph there. In hindsight I should have gone to Ellis Bay.
Sorry I missed Tim and any other kiters. It's a nice day for
windsurfing however, but my family opted out of it. Sorry Diana! I'll
just have to work ahead now and try tomorrow. Maybe Ellis Bay? I'm
free after 1:15 pm. Wes, you said you might be interested.

Matt, Chris, and Carson, I hope Carlyle treated you right today. I
just couldn't invest the 3 hours on the road.

Peace, J.D.

There is some sort of shield over that lake which disrupts and/or
completely blocks any and all wind.

We so need a NEW large lake north of 70 in the flatness zone for good
smooth wind.

Tim

Went to Coles Creek around 9 a.m.  Had never been there before and couldn't
find a good place where I could self launch.  Is the launch area toward the
north or south end of the Coles Creek area?

Had to leave around 11 for a sailboat race over at CSA.  We raced right by
Coles Creek and I saw you guys.  Was totally jealous - although it was a
pretty fun day on the boat too.  Good luck today!

hmmm..maybe I should just get a house by Carlyle; seems to be the only
place around with action !

Sailboating is way cool.

Tim

  _____  

From: Carson Menges [mailto:carsonmen...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 8:42 AM
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Went to Coles Creek around 9 a.m.  Had never been there before and
couldn't find a good place where I could self launch.  Is the launch
area toward the north or south end of the Coles Creek area?

Had to leave around 11 for a sailboat race over at CSA.  We raced right
by Coles Creek and I saw you guys.  Was totally jealous - although it
was a pretty fun day on the boat too.  Good luck today!

On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 6:34 PM, Chris Mihill <cmih...@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

Very good day at Carlyle.  Sailed a 6.5 for 2 solid hours (Matt and Rich
were on 14 meter kites) Kees was also there riding a 6.5 as well.   Matt
was doing some insane backwards 360 flips....something I haven't seen at
Carlyle before.  Wind dropped around 3:30 so we decided to come
in....came back up as we were unrigging, but we were all pretty tired
from the afternoon.    One downside..... Coles Creek bay has now been
filled with rocks and access via car has been blocked.  This will now
mean you'll have to rig on the parking lot and walk your gear 75 yards
or so to the launch.  Since the lake was high, the windsurfers rigged on
the grass and launched from the high water boat ramp.  Matt & Rich
successfully launched from the rock pier a hundred yards downwind.

If it blows again tomorrow, Matt and I should be back.

Chris

--- On Sun, 6/28/09, J.D. Herdlick <jdherdl...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: J.D. Herdlick <jdherdl...@gmail.com>
Subject: The Wrong Choice
To: "Wind Fun St. Louis" <windfunstl@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 2:26 PM

Well, went to CC lake from about 1:15 to 1:45 pm on Sunday. It is NOT
blowing 18mph there. In hindsight I should have gone to Ellis Bay.
Sorry I missed Tim and any other kiters. It's a nice day for
windsurfing however, but my family opted out of it. Sorry Diana! I'll
just have to work ahead now and try tomorrow. Maybe Ellis Bay? I'm
free after 1:15 pm. Wes, you said you might be interested.

Matt, Chris, and Carson, I hope Carlyle treated you right today. I
just couldn't invest the 3 hours on the road.

Peace, J.D.

The launch is to the north, but during high water the kiters launch off the rock jetty to the south.  Self launching at either location could be tricky.

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 8:42 AM

Went to Coles Creek around 9 a.m.  Had never been there before and couldn't find a good place where I could self launch.  Is the launch area toward the north or south end of the Coles Creek area?
 
Had to leave around 11 for a sailboat race over at CSA.  We raced right by Coles Creek and I saw you guys.  Was totally jealous - although it was a pretty fun day on the boat too.  Good luck today!

--- On Sun, 6/28/09, J.D. Herdlick <jdherdl...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: J.D. Herdlick <jdherdl...@gmail.com>
Subject: The Wrong Choice
To: "Wind Fun St. Louis" <windfunstl@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 2:26 PM

Well, went to CC lake from about 1:15 to 1:45 pm on Sunday. It is NOT
blowing 18mph there. In hindsight I should have gone to Ellis Bay.
Sorry I missed Tim and any other kiters. It's a nice day for
windsurfing however, but my family opted out of it. Sorry Diana! I'll
just have to work ahead now and try tomorrow. Maybe Ellis Bay? I'm
free after 1:15 pm. Wes, you said you might be interested.

Matt, Chris, and Carson, I hope Carlyle treated you right today. I
just couldn't invest the 3 hours on the road.

Peace, J.D.

Have some friends from Honolulu in town today, so am tied up :( !  It
looks like you might be able to get some good short runs in at Ellis
Bay.

Wes

On Jun 28, 2:26 pm, "J.D. Herdlick" <jdherdl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Carson, I saw your post yesterday and wondered why you weren't there. We didn't get there until about noon. Dennis, another kiter from O'fallon stopped by and introduced himself.
 
It would have been extremely difficult to self launch at Coles Creek Sunday. As Chris noted, the Coles Creek Bay just north of the smaller parking lot is no longer accessable by vehicle. Also, the water was quite high, so the beach was submerged, and only knarly rock covered the available launch area. The upside was that the wind came cleanly into that area. We would have launched there, but it was impractical for windsurfers to carry their equipment in and the last kiter to launch would not have had anyone nearby to assist. By the way, I would be the last kiter, as Matt has a single connection pump system and can pump up his kite in a fraction of the time it takes me with my six connection system requiring several pump efforts on some struts before the valves hold.
 
 
The area we did launch from was wind shadowed even at water's edge. It made kite launching quite risky for kites large enough to generate enough power to drive smaller boards. I thank Chris for his patience holding the kite for quite some time waiting for enough wind to swirl into the parking lot. At one point I suggested we give up, so Chris could go windsurfing. Fortunately he graciously hung in there. If he hadn't, I would not have kited that day. When a gust finally came, it was so strong, it tugged me all the way off the parking lot, across the rip rap, past Chris and out into the water, and Chris had to bring my board out into the water to me. I think I am about to face the fact that kiting at Carlyle is not worth the risks, until the next time I need a wind fix.
 
Even with a 14 kite, only the strongest gusts created enough wind to enjoy my 136 Misfit bidirectional board. So, I went upwind in the gusts, maintained position at the average wind speed, and lost ground the other 50 percent of the time with lots of kite sweeping. My directional was not ready for use, due to my procrastination re-installing footstaps after having new footstrap plugs installed last summer in Oregon.
 
Rich

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 8:42 AM

Went to Coles Creek around 9 a.m.  Had never been there before and couldn't find a good place where I could self launch.  Is the launch area toward the north or south end of the Coles Creek area?
 
Had to leave around 11 for a sailboat race over at CSA.  We raced right by Coles Creek and I saw you guys.  Was totally jealous - although it was a pretty fun day on the boat too.  Good luck today!

Thanks for the info Rich.  It's unfortunate that the launch areas are not
better.

Although it may not have been ideal it did look like you guys were having
fun when we sailed by.  Hope to get out there with you guys sometime soon.

On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:16 AM, Richard Hunter
<richshun...@sbcglobal.net>wrote:

we so need a pontoon boat.

Tim

  _____  

From: Carson Menges [mailto:carsonmen...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 11:05 AM
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Thanks for the info Rich.  It's unfortunate that the launch areas are
not better.  

Although it may not have been ideal it did look like you guys were
having fun when we sailed by.  Hope to get out there with you guys
sometime soon.

On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:16 AM, Richard Hunter

It would have been extremely difficult to self launch at Coles Creek
Sunday. As Chris noted, the Coles Creek Bay just north of the smaller
parking lot is no longer accessable by vehicle. Also, the water was
quite high, so the beach was submerged, and only knarly rock covered the
available launch area. The upside was that the wind came cleanly into
that area. We would have launched there, but it was impractical for
windsurfers to carry their equipment in and the last kiter to launch
would not have had anyone nearby to assist. By the way, I would be the
last kiter, as Matt has a single connection pump system and can pump up
his kite in a fraction of the time it takes me with my six connection
system requiring several pump efforts on some struts before the valves
hold.

The area we did launch from was wind shadowed even at water's edge. It
made kite launching quite risky for kites large enough to generate
enough power to drive smaller boards. I thank Chris for his patience
holding the kite for quite some time waiting for enough wind to swirl
into the parking lot. At one point I suggested we give up, so Chris
could go windsurfing. Fortunately he graciously hung in there. If he
hadn't, I would not have kited that day. When a gust finally came, it
was so strong, it tugged me all the way off the parking lot, across the
rip rap, past Chris and out into the water, and Chris had to bring my
board out into the water to me. I think I am about to face the fact that
kiting at Carlyle is not worth the risks, until the next time I need a
wind fix.

Even with a 14 kite, only the strongest gusts created enough wind to
enjoy my 136 Misfit bidirectional board. So, I went upwind in the gusts,
maintained position at the average wind speed, and lost ground the other
50 percent of the time with lots of kite sweeping. My directional was
not ready for use, due to my procrastination re-installing footstaps
after having new footstrap plugs installed last summer in Oregon.

Rich

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 8:42 AM

Went to Coles Creek around 9 a.m.  Had never been there before and
couldn't find a good place where I could self launch.  Is the launch
area toward the north or south end of the Coles Creek area?

Had to leave around 11 for a sailboat race over at CSA.  We raced right
by Coles Creek and I saw you guys.  Was totally jealous - although it
was a pretty fun day on the boat too.  Good luck today!

Reading all these desperate kiters post it seems that they are always looking for a better place to sail at.

    I used to fly single engine planes out of Smart Field in Northern St.Charles County, and as I  climbed out in a southern direction I would come over a place called Swann Lake.
It lies on the south side of the Illinois River, just up from where it meets the Mississippi river. As the crow flies it is directly across the Illinois River from Piere Marquette Park. I think it might be a river slough, or even man-made.
Flying over it I always thought about how good it looked to windsurf at because of it's size and layout. This was before I got back into windsurfing.
The wind range could be from straight North clock wise through South into South Westerly.
It does not look very deep and there is a open road on the western side of it where you kiters might be able to launch from.
I have never been there in person to check it out, just saw it from the air, and from there it looked good. On Yahoo "maps" it looks green, but that might be just the color of the water when the pic  was taken. Flying over it, it never looked green. It always looked like a lake w/ water in it.

Road wise it lies on the Illinois River Road between the Golden Eagle ferry out of St.Charles County and the Illinois River Road ferry just north of Grafton ILL (this is a free ferry I believe).  

Also, when the Miss. level drops there is a huge sandbar at the junction of the Illinois and Miss.
On the week-ends it fills up w/ boaters but during the week it's empty, but you would need a boat to get there.

Maybe Swann Lake is a place to check out on a windless day to see if it's possible to use.

Yesterday at Carlyle I watched Matt tear it up on the water in my oppinion and watched him do some cool 360 jumps and great gybes and turns. On two occasions people walked up asking questions on what they were doing and what it was called etc. and were impressed at the skills and jumps. One couple actually beached their boat where we usually launch AT Coles creek and walked over to watch them kite back and forth.  
Rich was sailing back and forth and it was fun to watch. Too bad they need so much room to get going.

Have fun out there today while some of us have to keep the fort down and actually have to work......

Kees

________________________________
From: Richard Hunter <richshun...@sbcglobal.net>
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 10:16:17 AM
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Carson, I saw your post yesterday and wondered why you weren't there. We didn't get there until about noon. Dennis, another kiter from O'fallon stopped by and introduced himself.

It would have been extremely difficult to self launch at Coles Creek Sunday. As Chris noted, the Coles Creek Bay just north of the smaller parking lot is no longer accessable by vehicle. Also, the water was quite high, so the beach was submerged, and only knarly rock covered the available launch area. The upside was that the wind came cleanly into that area. We would have launched there, but it was impractical for windsurfers to carry their equipment in and the last kiter to launch would not have had anyone nearby to assist. By the way, I would be the last kiter, as Matt has a single connection pump system and can pump up his kite in a fraction of the time it takes me with my six connection system requiring several pump efforts on some struts before the valves hold.

The area we did launch from was wind shadowed even at water's edge. It made kite launching quite risky for kites large enough to generate enough power to drive smaller boards. I thank Chris for his patience holding the kite for quite some time waiting for enough wind to swirl into the parking lot. At one point I suggested we give up, so Chris could go windsurfing. Fortunately he graciously hung in there. If he hadn't, I would not have kited that day. When a gust finally came, it was so strong, it tugged me all the way off the parking lot, across the rip rap, past Chris and out into the water, and Chris had to bring my board out into the water to me. I think I am about to face the fact that kiting at Carlyle is not worth the risks, until the next time I need a wind fix.

Even with a 14 kite, only the strongest gusts created enough wind to enjoy my 136 Misfit bidirectional board. So, I went upwind in the gusts, maintained position at the average wind speed, and lost ground the other 50 percent of the time with lots of kite sweeping. My directional was not ready for use, due to my procrastination re-installing footstaps after having new footstrap plugs installed last summer in Oregon.

Rich

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com> wrote:

Kees,

I know the areas you are talking about, and checked out using my kayak a
while back (couple years).  There are two "lakes" used for bird habitat.
It is PERFECT for kiteboarding, nice and open and plenty of wind.  BUT,
the bottom is a bog.  I had a jacket on, and stepped out from shore.
Sunk up to my knees or so, and only because the jacket kept me floating!
This was close to the boat ramp long the southwest part.  There is a
berm along the northeast edge which separate from main channel, but I
did not attempt to walk off from that area.  An experienced kiter could
make this area work.

I investigated the south-most lake, there are a couple of them connected
as you work towards the north.  Probably worth more recon.  I took the
ferry over to the "island" and then drove up to the lake.  Great area;
hardly any people around at all.

As far as the sandbar, I am all about that also.  Used to hang out on it
during my boating days.  But, you need a boat for access.  Would be a
PERFECT kiteboard base, working from any wind direction.  BUT you gotta
be able to stay upwind, or else face a non-ideal takeout on the
gravel/rock IL side (great river road) or muddy MO side.  with no way to
get back to your launch point.

Again, having a pontoon boat (or any decent sized boat) would be IDEAL
for this area, as then you could access these areas and use the boat for
rescue if needed.

Smartt Field is awesome; Boeing owes property up there and I've done
several range tests.  Never flown out of it though.  But looks like fun.
Great hamburgers !

And Swan Lake is almost due West of Smartt, so maybe you found another
lake ??????  (said you went south)

And I've never met Matt before but he sounds like the man !!!!!!  I've
only seen kiting like you describe he is doing in magazines and
uber-kite spots like CA and NC.

Tim

  _____  

From: kees dejong [mailto:keesdejon...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 11:49 AM
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Reading all these desperate kiters post it seems that they are always
looking for a better place to sail at.

    I used to fly single engine planes out of Smart Field in Northern
St.Charles County, and as I  climbed out in a southern direction I would
come over a place called Swann Lake.
It lies on the south side of the Illinois River, just up from where it
meets the Mississippi river. As the crow flies it is directly across the
Illinois River from Piere Marquette Park. I think it might be a river
slough, or even man-made.
Flying over it I always thought about how good it looked to windsurf at
because of it's size and layout. This was before I got back into
windsurfing.
The wind range could be from straight North clock wise through South
into South Westerly.
It does not look very deep and there is a open road on the western side
of it where you kiters might be able to launch from.
I have never been there in person to check it out, just saw it from the
air, and from there it looked good. On Yahoo "maps" it looks green, but
that might be just the color of the water when the pic  was taken.
Flying over it, it never looked green. It always looked like a lake w/
water in it.

Road wise it lies on the Illinois River Road between the Golden Eagle
ferry out of St.Charles County and the Illinois River Road ferry just
north of Grafton ILL (this is a free ferry I believe).  

Also, when the Miss. level drops there is a huge sandbar at the junction
of the Illinois and Miss.
On the week-ends it fills up w/ boaters but during the week it's empty,
but you would need a boat to get there.

Maybe Swann Lake is a place to check out on a windless day to see if
it's possible to use.

Yesterday at Carlyle I watched Matt tear it up on the water in my
oppinion and watched him do some cool 360 jumps and great gybes and
turns. On two occasions people walked up asking questions on what they
were doing and what it was called etc. and were impressed at the skills
and jumps. One couple actually beached their boat where we usually
launch AT Coles creek and walked over to watch them kite back and forth.

Rich was sailing back and forth and it was fun to watch. Too bad they
need so much room to get going.

Have fun out there today while some of us have to keep the fort down and
actually have to work.....

Kees

  _____  

From: Richard Hunter <richshun...@sbcglobal.net>
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 10:16:17 AM
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Carson, I saw your post yesterday and wondered why you weren't there. We
didn't get there until about noon. Dennis, another kiter from O'fallon
stopped by and introduced himself.

It would have been extremely difficult to self launch at Coles Creek
Sunday. As Chris noted, the Coles Creek Bay just north of the smaller
parking lot is no longer accessable by vehicle. Also, the water was
quite high, so the beach was submerged, and only knarly rock covered the
available launch area. The upside was that the wind came cleanly into
that area. We would have launched there, but it was impractical for
windsurfers to carry their equipment in and the last kiter to launch
would not have had anyone nearby to assist. By the way, I would be the
last kiter, as Matt has a single connection pump system and can pump up
his kite in a fraction of the time it takes me with my six connection
system requiring several pump efforts on some struts before the valves
hold.

The area we did launch from was wind shadowed even at water's edge. It
made kite launching quite risky for kites large enough to generate
enough power to drive smaller boards. I thank Chris for his patience
holding the kite for quite some time waiting for enough wind to swirl
into the parking lot. At one point I suggested we give up, so Chris
could go windsurfing. Fortunately he graciously hung in there. If he
hadn't, I would not have kited that day. When a gust finally came, it
was so strong, it tugged me all the way off the parking lot, across the
rip rap, past Chris and out into the water, and Chris had to bring my
board out into the water to me. I think I am about to face the fact that
kiting at Carlyle is not worth the risks, until the next time I need a
wind fix.

Even with a 14 kite, only the strongest gusts created enough wind to
enjoy my 136 Misfit bidirectional board. So, I went upwind in the gusts,
maintained position at the average wind speed, and lost ground the other
50 percent of the time with lots of kite sweeping. My directional was
not ready for use, due to my procrastination re-installing footstaps
after having new footstrap plugs installed last summer in Oregon.

Rich

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 8:42 AM

Went to Coles Creek around 9 a.m.  Had never been there before and
couldn't find a good place where I could self launch.  Is the launch
area toward the north or south end of the Coles Creek area?

Had to leave around 11 for a sailboat race over at CSA.  We raced right
by Coles Creek and I saw you guys.  Was totally jealous - although it
was a pretty fun day on the boat too.  Good luck today!

Runways @ Smart are 360-180 and 9-270. Taking off on 360 Swann Lake lies due West' not South as I mentioned, so I stand corrected. as the Miss runs more or less East/West there north of Smart Field, and it sounds like the place you described.
That road on the northern edge looks like the best place to try anything.
As I am writting this I can see the trees moving outside my office, knowing Chris and Matt are having fun at Carlyle.

by the way I did see some evidence of Chris's trip to the Gorge by way of video. He looks like the guy on the vid, and they were cooking it up on the water.  (I bow my head and go back to my work that is piling up as I am looking at the trees swaying in the wind, day dreaming.....)

Hope you guys have a great day on the water.

Kees

________________________________
From: "Hossfeld, Tim W" <tim.w.hossf...@boeing.com>
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 12:24:33 PM
Subject: RE: The Wrong Choice

Kees,
 
I know the areas you are talking about, and checked out using my kayak a while back (couple years).  There are two "lakes" used for bird habitat.  It is PERFECT for kiteboarding, nice and open and plenty of wind.  BUT, the bottom is a bog..  I had a jacket on, and stepped out from shore.  Sunk up to my knees or so, and only because the jacket kept me floating!  This was close to the boat ramp long the southwest part.  There is a berm along the northeast edge which separate from main channel, but I did not attempt to walk off from that area.  An experienced kiter could make this area work. 
 
I investigated the south-most lake, there are a couple of them connected as you work towards the north.  Probably worth more recon.  I took the ferry over to the "island" and then drove up to the lake.  Great area; hardly any people around at all.
 
As far as the sandbar, I am all about that also.  Used to hang out on it during my boating days.  But, you need a boat for access.  Would be a PERFECT kiteboard base, working from any wind direction.  BUT you gotta be able to stay upwind, or else face a non-ideal takeout on the gravel/rock IL side (great river road) or muddy MO side.  with no way to get back to your launch point.
 
Again, having a pontoon boat (or any decent sized boat) would be IDEAL for this area, as then you could access these areas and use the boat for rescue if needed.
 
Smartt Field is awesome; Boeing owes property up there and I've done several range tests.  Never flown out of it though.  But looks like fun.  Great hamburgers !
 
And Swan Lake is almost due West of Smartt, so maybe you found another lake ??????  (said you went south)
 
And I've never met Matt before but he sounds like the man !!!!!!  I've only seen kiting like you describe he is doing in magazines and uber-kite spots like CA and NC.
 
Tim
 

________________________________
From: kees dejong [mailto:keesdejon...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 11:49 AM
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Reading all these desperate kiters post it seems that they are always looking for a better place to sail at.

    I used to fly single engine planes out of Smart Field in Northern St.Charles County, and as I  climbed out in a southern direction I would come over a place called Swann Lake.
It lies on the south side of the Illinois River, just up from where it meets the Mississippi river. As the crow flies it is directly across the Illinois River from Piere Marquette Park. I think it might be a river slough, or even man-made.
Flying over it I always thought about how good it looked to windsurf at because of it's size and layout. This was before I got back into windsurfing.
The wind range could be from straight North clock wise through South into South Westerly..
It does not look very deep and there is a open road on the western side of it where you kiters might be able to launch from.
I have never been there in person to check it out, just saw it from the air, and from there it looked good. On Yahoo "maps" it looks green, but that might be just the color of the water when the pic  was taken. Flying over it, it never looked green. It always looked like a lake w/ water in it.

Road wise it lies on the Illinois River Road between the Golden Eagle ferry out of St.Charles County and the Illinois River Road ferry just north of Grafton ILL (this is a free ferry I believe).  

Also, when the Miss. level drops there is a huge sandbar at the junction of the Illinois and Miss.
On the week-ends it fills up w/ boaters but during the week it's empty, but you would need a boat to get there.

Maybe Swann Lake is a place to check out on a windless day to see if it's possible to use.

Yesterday at Carlyle I watched Matt tear it up on the water in my oppinion and watched him do some cool 360 jumps and great gybes and turns. On two occasions people walked up asking questions on what they were doing and what it was called etc.. and were impressed at the skills and jumps. One couple actually beached their boat where we usually launch AT Coles creek and walked over to watch them kite back and forth.  
Rich was sailing back and forth and it was fun to watch. Too bad they need so much room to get going.

Have fun out there today while some of us have to keep the fort down and actually have to work.....

Kees

________________________________
From: Richard Hunter <richshun...@sbcglobal.net>
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 10:16:17 AM
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Carson, I saw your post yesterday and wondered why you weren't there. We didn't get there until about noon. Dennis, another kiter from O'fallon stopped by and introduced himself.

It would have been extremely difficult to self launch at Coles Creek Sunday. As Chris noted, the Coles Creek Bay just north of the smaller parking lot is no longer accessable by vehicle. Also, the water was quite high, so the beach was submerged, and only knarly rock covered the available launch area. The upside was that the wind came cleanly into that area. We would have launched there, but it was impractical for windsurfers to carry their equipment in and the last kiter to launch would not have had anyone nearby to assist. By the way, I would be the last kiter, as Matt has a single connection pump system and can pump up his kite in a fraction of the time it takes me with my six connection system requiring several pump efforts on some struts before the valves hold.

The area we did launch from was wind shadowed even at water's edge. It made kite launching quite risky for kites large enough to generate enough power to drive smaller boards. I thank Chris for his patience holding the kite for quite some time waiting for enough wind to swirl into the parking lot. At one point I suggested we give up, so Chris could go windsurfing. Fortunately he graciously hung in there. If he hadn't, I would not have kited that day. When a gust finally came, it was so strong, it tugged me all the way off the parking lot, across the rip rap, past Chris and out into the water, and Chris had to bring my board out into the water to me. I think I am about to face the fact that kiting at Carlyle is not worth the risks, until the next time I need a wind fix.

Even with a 14 kite, only the strongest gusts created enough wind to enjoy my 136 Misfit bidirectional board. So, I went upwind in the gusts, maintained position at the average wind speed, and lost ground the other 50 percent of the time with lots of kite sweeping. My directional was not ready for use, due to my procrastination re-installing footstaps after having new footstrap plugs installed last summer in Oregon.

Rich

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com> wrote:

Kees, one of the best in a LONG TIME!
 
Hope you had fun at work!   :)
 
CM

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, kees dejong <keesdejon...@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: kees dejong <keesdejon...@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 1:18 PM

Runways @ Smart are 360-180 and 9-270. Taking off on 360 Swann Lake lies due West' not South as I mentioned, so I stand corrected. as the Miss runs more or less East/West there north of Smart Field, and it sounds like the place you described.
That road on the northern edge looks like the best place to try anything.
As I am writting this I can see the trees moving outside my office, knowing Chris and Matt are having fun at Carlyle.
 
by the way I did see some evidence of Chris's trip to the Gorge by way of video. He looks like the guy on the vid, and they were cooking it up on the water.  (I bow my head and go back to my work that is piling up as I am looking at the trees swaying in the wind, day dreaming.....)
 
Hope you guys have a great day on the water.
 
Kees

From: "Hossfeld, Tim W" <tim.w.hossf...@boeing.com>
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 12:24:33 PM
Subject: RE: The Wrong Choice

#yiv1193955602 DIV {
MARGIN:0px;}

Kees,
 
I know the areas you are talking about, and checked out using my kayak a while back (couple years).  There are two "lakes" used for bird habitat.  It is PERFECT for kiteboarding, nice and open and plenty of wind.  BUT, the bottom is a bog..  I had a jacket on, and stepped out from shore.  Sunk up to my knees or so, and only because the jacket kept me floating!  This was close to the boat ramp long the southwest part.  There is a berm along the northeast edge which separate from main channel, but I did not attempt to walk off from that area.  An experienced kiter could make this area work. 
 
I investigated the south-most lake, there are a couple of them connected as you work towards the north.  Probably worth more recon.  I took the ferry over to the "island" and then drove up to the lake.  Great area; hardly any people around at all.
 
As far as the sandbar, I am all about that also.  Used to hang out on it during my boating days..  But, you need a boat for access.  Would be a PERFECT kiteboard base, working from any wind direction.  BUT you gotta be able to stay upwind, or else face a non-ideal takeout on the gravel/rock IL side (great river road) or muddy MO side.  with no way to get back to your launch point.
 
Again, having a pontoon boat (or any decent sized boat) would be IDEAL for this area, as then you could access these areas and use the boat for rescue if needed.
 
Smartt Field is awesome; Boeing owes property up there and I've done several range tests.  Never flown out of it though.  But looks like fun.  Great hamburgers !
 
And Swan Lake is almost due West of Smartt, so maybe you found another lake ??????  (said you went south)
 
And I've never met Matt before but he sounds like the man !!!!!!  I've only seen kiting like you describe he is doing in magazines and uber-kite spots like CA and NC.
 
Tim
 

From: kees dejong [mailto:keesdejon...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 11:49 AM
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Reading all these desperate kiters post it seems that they are always looking for a better place to sail at.
 
    I used to fly single engine planes out of Smart Field in Northern St.Charles County, and as I  climbed out in a southern direction I would come over a place called Swann Lake.
It lies on the south side of the Illinois River, just up from where it meets the Mississippi river. As the crow flies it is directly across the Illinois River from Piere Marquette Park. I think it might be a river slough, or even man-made.
Flying over it I always thought about how good it looked to windsurf at because of it's size and layout. This was before I got back into windsurfing.
The wind range could be from straight North clock wise through South into South Westerly.
It does not look very deep and there is a open road on the western side of it where you kiters might be able to launch from.
I have never been there in person to check it out, just saw it from the air, and from there it looked good. On Yahoo "maps" it looks green, but that might be just the color of the water when the pic  was taken. Flying over it, it never looked green. It always looked like a lake w/ water in it.
 
Road wise it lies on the Illinois River Road between the Golden Eagle ferry out of St.Charles County and the Illinois River Road ferry just north of Grafton ILL (this is a free ferry I believe).  
 
Also, when the Miss. level drops there is a huge sandbar at the junction of the Illinois and Miss.
On the week-ends it fills up w/ boaters but during the week it's empty, but you would need a boat to get there.
 
Maybe Swann Lake is a place to check out on a windless day to see if it's possible to use.

Yesterday at Carlyle I watched Matt tear it up on the water in my oppinion and watched him do some cool 360 jumps and great gybes and turns. On two occasions people walked up asking questions on what they were doing and what it was called etc. and were impressed at the skills and jumps. One couple actually beached their boat where we usually launch AT Coles creek and walked over to watch them kite back and forth.  
Rich was sailing back and forth and it was fun to watch. Too bad they need so much room to get going.
 
Have fun out there today while some of us have to keep the fort down and actually have to work.....
 
Kees
 
 
 
 

From: Richard Hunter <richshun...@sbcglobal.net>
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 10:16:17 AM
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice

Carson, I saw your post yesterday and wondered why you weren't there. We didn't get there until about noon. Dennis, another kiter from O'fallon stopped by and introduced himself.
 
It would have been extremely difficult to self launch at Coles Creek Sunday. As Chris noted, the Coles Creek Bay just north of the smaller parking lot is no longer accessable by vehicle. Also, the water was quite high, so the beach was submerged, and only knarly rock covered the available launch area. The upside was that the wind came cleanly into that area. We would have launched there, but it was impractical for windsurfers to carry their equipment in and the last kiter to launch would not have had anyone nearby to assist. By the way, I would be the last kiter, as Matt has a single connection pump system and can pump up his kite in a fraction of the time it takes me with my six connection system requiring several pump efforts on some struts before the valves hold.
 
 
The area we did launch from was wind shadowed even at water's edge. It made kite launching quite risky for kites large enough to generate enough power to drive smaller boards. I thank Chris for his patience holding the kite for quite some time waiting for enough wind to swirl into the parking lot. At one point I suggested we give up, so Chris could go windsurfing. Fortunately he graciously hung in there. If he hadn't, I would not have kited that day. When a gust finally came, it was so strong, it tugged me all the way off the parking lot, across the rip rap, past Chris and out into the water, and Chris had to bring my board out into the water to me. I think I am about to face the fact that kiting at Carlyle is not worth the risks, until the next time I need a wind fix.
 
Even with a 14 kite, only the strongest gusts created enough wind to enjoy my 136 Misfit bidirectional board. So, I went upwind in the gusts, maintained position at the average wind speed, and lost ground the other 50 percent of the time with lots of kite sweeping. My directional was not ready for use, due to my procrastination re-installing footstaps after having new footstrap plugs installed last summer in Oregon.
 
Rich

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Carson Menges <carsonmen...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: The Wrong Choice
To: windfunstl@googlegroups.com
Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 8:42 AM

Went to Coles Creek around 9 a.m.  Had never been there before and couldn't find a good place where I could self launch..  Is the launch area toward the north or south end of the Coles Creek area?
 
Had to leave around 11 for a sailboat race over at CSA.  We raced right by Coles Creek and I saw you guys..  Was totally jealous - although it was a pretty fun day on the boat too.  Good luck today!