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San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:04 pm
by Cali_Rider
Today my brother and I took a trip out to San Luis Reservoir, so I thought I would share our adventure. We had heard about this spot and had found a little bit of information on it here:

http://locations.splocs.com/kitesurf/lo ... rvoir.html

We first stopped at the Romero Visitors center and the wind was ripping. We headed back on 152 about a mile or so to the more north end of the lake. We found a good parking spot with a trail head and went for it.

All in all, it was awesome! When we launched the kites on shore, it was a light, but as soon as we got about 50 yards off shore the wind really picked up and was a lot of fun. It was a little bit gusty at times, but overall the wind was solid, strong, and great for some big airs. Here are some pictures!

We left the bay area around 9am and were walking down to the water around 1030. We parked here:
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And our walking path, rigging, and tacking direction:
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Pano from the romero visitors center... we ended up riding to the right of the picture:
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more pictures coming...

Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:08 pm
by Cali_Rider
Parked...
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Walking down... it was no more than a 10 minute walk.
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Riggin up...
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My brother going for it.
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And the obligatory instagram picture:
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Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:15 pm
by Cali_Rider
And last, the wind reading for the day: We were on the water from about 11-1. I was on a 10m (~170lb) and my brother was on a 9M (~150lb). I was perfect (and a little lit with the gusts) until it started to ramp up, which is when we decided to call it.
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If you ever are able to make it out there when it is cycled up, I highly recommend it.

-peter

Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:25 pm
by kitenaked
Nice info. Thanks.

Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:26 pm
by kitenaked
Nice info. Thanks.

Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:28 pm
by kitenaked
Nice info. Thanks.

Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:30 pm
by kitewing
Wow, sounds like an epic adventure! Every time I've driven past the reservoir on a trip to LA or the Sierras, I've always thought to myself, "man this would be the sickest kiting spot ever!" Flat water, always windy.

Looks like you guys scored it big time.

Any idea about the legality of kiting there? Any areas that are known to be explicitly off limits?

Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:52 am
by troybo13
Thanks for the great info. I definitely wanna hit that place!

Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:18 am
by Cali_Rider
From what we read on the link I posted above (not sure the source of the information) it sounds like it is NOT OK to kite on the forebay due to the powerlines (common sense here). But didn't seem like there were any restrictions on the reservoir.

I think if you explored more you could find flat water but where we were was similar to 3rd with less amplitude in the waves/rollers. We tried going up into the bay (most northerly part of the lake) but the wind got really spotty the deeper we went in.

The wind pattern kind of follows Sherman -- turns on for a few days at a time, ripping in the morning, mid day lulls and ripping again in the afternoon -- I always kept the San Luis wind sensor on my windalert app so I could get a feel for the wind pattern.

I definitely plan to make it out there again this season. Maybe even camp somewhere out there??

-Peter

Re: San Luis Reservoir

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:14 am
by godddard
Glad you had a good time! Kitesurfing is now allowed ar the O'Neil Forebay, it is allowed on the east end of the lake east of the power lines only, the prevailing winds are westerly , so kiting is not permitted in the no wake/ ski zone , west of the lines, As you may know ,from mid June onwards the weeds are prevalent, but winter and spring should be good at this location. There is overnight camping at the waterside . Have fun and happy kiting.