Re: Newbie here
Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:50 pm
It's best to avoid floating into the rocks at 3rd. I did that too and lost a set of lines when they got tangled in the rocks. Getting in at low tide isn't fun, but it's much better to slog through mud than to get pounded into the rocks by the swell. It's just too easy to damage your equipment or yourself that way. The wind shadow at the lower launch doesn't matter because you would have had to self rescue at Alameda if you went downwind, so self rescuing into the lower launch means at least you maybe had some actual wind before you had to hit the beach.
I totally agree with Nick. I spent way too much time at Alameda with just enough wind to fly the kite but not enough to go upwind or learn much of anything except self rescue, over and over again. So go to Alameda, do some body dragging, learn to get up and ride, self rescue a few times when you end up downwind, and then hit 3rd Ave at low tide.
Also, for the Go Joe haters that might chime in - there's no substitute for being able to body drag to your board. You have to learn that skill right away. But the Go Joe allows you to locate it visually much easier and that alone saves huge amounts of time that you could be using more productively than dragging back and forth in a search pattern.
I totally agree with Nick. I spent way too much time at Alameda with just enough wind to fly the kite but not enough to go upwind or learn much of anything except self rescue, over and over again. So go to Alameda, do some body dragging, learn to get up and ride, self rescue a few times when you end up downwind, and then hit 3rd Ave at low tide.
Also, for the Go Joe haters that might chime in - there's no substitute for being able to body drag to your board. You have to learn that skill right away. But the Go Joe allows you to locate it visually much easier and that alone saves huge amounts of time that you could be using more productively than dragging back and forth in a search pattern.