North Tower

[firstfishon]

I was kiting just outside the north tower on saturday @5:00 with two other kiters and was wondering if they saw something big trashing about.

[Loscocco]

Great White Trash?

[Aloha]

The bridge always feels so creepy to me maybe even sharky but then again you are riding over a ~400 ft deep channel...

[tgautier]

Whale

[victor]

i heard a kiter launched from the marina near no. tower last week. my source did not wait around to see him land.

i'm wondering how that went.

[Loscocco]

i heard a kiter launched from the marina near no. tower last week. my source did not wait around to see him land.

i'm wondering how that went.

It would be possible to launch from the Presido Marina area but its all rocks and cliffs. with nasty wind shear rotors coming off the headlands and the North Tower make it extremely dangerous. I have heard of windsurfers launching from their and saying it was sketchy even for them. Pay a few bucks and drive over to Crissy.

[victor]

i windsurfed off that jetty many times. it isn't quite as sketchy as it looks...for a windsurfer, anyway. during a heatwave with any kind of SW push it can be the only sailable launch in the bay and very windy. many marin residents know it's the place to go for cool weather during those spells.

if it's filled in to the rocks i can see launching with a kite but landing has got to be tough.

[Aloha]

On a NW day that marina is the "Sirens"

The Siren Song of buttery smooth rolling hills of water draw you in - the binary on & off gusts of the Loscocco mentioned turbulence rotors finish you off

[jjm]

On a related note, has anyone landed successfully at Kirby Cove? I scouted it out last week and it looked doable. I'm camping there Saturday and was thinking of kiting there and having friends take my gear.

[y2kbug]

I got pretty close to Kirby Cove’s beach (maybe about 500 feet away) just out of curiosity while kiting under Golden Gate Bridge a week ago. The wind had almost shut down on me at that point and I had to turn back. I was kiting with Captain John’s support, so was not worried too much. But I would not do it if I was on my own. It might still be feasible to get to the beach if you have enough speed and ready for a short swim in the end. Though, launching from there would probably be much more difficult if not impossible.