Sep 7-10, San Francisco
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:09 pmWas planning a trip to the gorge for last week, but the forecast there wasn't looking great. i decided last minute to head to San Francisco instead. roughly the same drive as to the gorge. left monday afternoon, slept in the middle of nevada that night and arrived at Sherman Island in time to kite tuesday. Kited there tuesday and wednesday, used the 10m and 14m both days. Water there is fresh, situated where two rivers come together, and this eventually runs into SF bay. It's close enough to the bay that it is effected by tides, and on the flood tide you have to work to stay upwind. Small chop, but no real waves. camping is right at the launch.
On thursday morning, i headed to SF bay, and this was probably the coolest place i've ever kited. I arrived around 2 to find the golden gate bridge still partially obscured by fog, and it was just a wall of fog beyond the bridge. Hung around a while as other kiters started to arrive and the fog retreated. Almost everyone has a race board or surfboard, very few twintips on the water. Rigged the 10m. just before i launched, i was standing at the water as another kiter headed out. about 20 ft out a seal pops up right in that kiter's wake and has a look around. Launched and headed out. The bridge is probably just over a mile upwind of the launch. There are strong currents thru the channel, and i was fortunate that it was an ebb tide (current heading upwind) both afternoons i was there. The current can be up to 5 knots, and on the ebb tide you just fly upwind without trying and you really have to work to get back downwind. Really easy to cover the mile plus upwind to the bridge. There are weird currents everywhere, some places it looks like it's bubbling like hot tub, other places crazy chop, nice rolling ramps here, and perfectly flat there. You also need to keep an eye out for ships. not boats, ships. Cruise ships, cargo container ships, tankers. Throw in the ferries and fishing boats for good measure. Really odd feeling kiting right under the bridge. I figured there was no way the kite could hit the bridge, but i was still pretty antsy about it as i passed underneath (i looked it up today and the roadway is 220 ft above the water). Still, pretty unsettling as i passed under the first time. Past the bridge, it's more like ocean conditions with big rolling waves. At one point, i look over and see a fin beak the surface. well i never heard of a shark attack there, so i chose to believe it was a dolphin (that's what i told myself, anyway). Had a few break the surface as close as 15 feet away. Getting back to the launch, which is downwind, but going against a 5 knot current, was a little tougher than i would have thought. you have to ride the board really flat and work the kite or progress is really slow. once back near the launch, though, its nice to be able to jump all you want and still be heading upwind. East (downwind) of the launch, you’ve got views of the city and alcatraz. Also, coming in that first night, the "local" races were going on. Had about 35 people doing a course race near the launch. When I arrived again on Friday, the fog was still thick a half a mile or so inside the bridge. Wind was still pretty light and I didn’t know if the fog would clear, so I rigged the 14 and just played around by the launch for an hour until the fog started to pull back. Came in switched to the 10 and had another great trip out to the bridge. When I got back to near the launch, the wind came up a bit stronger and I finally got to have a lit 10m session to close out the trip. Kited 4+ hours each day. Not a bad trip.
On thursday morning, i headed to SF bay, and this was probably the coolest place i've ever kited. I arrived around 2 to find the golden gate bridge still partially obscured by fog, and it was just a wall of fog beyond the bridge. Hung around a while as other kiters started to arrive and the fog retreated. Almost everyone has a race board or surfboard, very few twintips on the water. Rigged the 10m. just before i launched, i was standing at the water as another kiter headed out. about 20 ft out a seal pops up right in that kiter's wake and has a look around. Launched and headed out. The bridge is probably just over a mile upwind of the launch. There are strong currents thru the channel, and i was fortunate that it was an ebb tide (current heading upwind) both afternoons i was there. The current can be up to 5 knots, and on the ebb tide you just fly upwind without trying and you really have to work to get back downwind. Really easy to cover the mile plus upwind to the bridge. There are weird currents everywhere, some places it looks like it's bubbling like hot tub, other places crazy chop, nice rolling ramps here, and perfectly flat there. You also need to keep an eye out for ships. not boats, ships. Cruise ships, cargo container ships, tankers. Throw in the ferries and fishing boats for good measure. Really odd feeling kiting right under the bridge. I figured there was no way the kite could hit the bridge, but i was still pretty antsy about it as i passed underneath (i looked it up today and the roadway is 220 ft above the water). Still, pretty unsettling as i passed under the first time. Past the bridge, it's more like ocean conditions with big rolling waves. At one point, i look over and see a fin beak the surface. well i never heard of a shark attack there, so i chose to believe it was a dolphin (that's what i told myself, anyway). Had a few break the surface as close as 15 feet away. Getting back to the launch, which is downwind, but going against a 5 knot current, was a little tougher than i would have thought. you have to ride the board really flat and work the kite or progress is really slow. once back near the launch, though, its nice to be able to jump all you want and still be heading upwind. East (downwind) of the launch, you’ve got views of the city and alcatraz. Also, coming in that first night, the "local" races were going on. Had about 35 people doing a course race near the launch. When I arrived again on Friday, the fog was still thick a half a mile or so inside the bridge. Wind was still pretty light and I didn’t know if the fog would clear, so I rigged the 14 and just played around by the launch for an hour until the fog started to pull back. Came in switched to the 10 and had another great trip out to the bridge. When I got back to near the launch, the wind came up a bit stronger and I finally got to have a lit 10m session to close out the trip. Kited 4+ hours each day. Not a bad trip.