3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

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tegirinenashi
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3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by tegirinenashi » Tue Sep 15, 2015 8:24 pm

Today's incident at the upper launch triggered me to send couple emails.

Dear [Foster City] Council Members,

The city did great job improving 3rd Ave kiteboarding&windsurfing
recreation area. However, today's accident on 3rd Ave upper launch
presents a convenient opportunity to raise an issue why both upper and
lower launch are in such sorry condition. Across the bay at Alameda,
they have nice sandy beach and annual bulldozer festival helping with
erosion, so the question is why can't we have the same at 3rd?

It would take couple of trucks of sand and both launches would become
much nicer. Most of lower cove can be filled with sand giving ample
room to launch, and avoid those low tide mud carnivals and wind shadow
from the golf course. On upper launch, the sand might hide levy rocks
and raise the beach above high tide (because when night tide is above
8 feet the launch is slippery and dangerous).

With Foster City properties cost shooting through the roof I don't
think the money is an issue. The major obstacle is that the area
outside the levy belongs to Bay Authority. However, do we need a
fatality for officials to give this issue some thought?

Sincerely,

P.S. Attached please find the map which marks two areas which would benefit
from sand filling.
Image

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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by tegirinenashi » Tue Sep 15, 2015 8:25 pm

Dear San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority,

I understand that the portion of the bay outside Foster City levy is
in your jurisdiction. My proposal includes filling with sand two coves
near the golf course (please see the enclosed map). There are two
reasons why it makes sence. The low cove is a large mud field on low
tide. filling it with sand would not only improve aesthetics but would
provide larger area for kiteboarding enthusiasts to launch their
kites. It is located in the wind shadow, so erosion of new material
here is unlikely.

The upper launch area is also popular with kiteboarding enthusiasts.
It is eroding slowly and if nothing is done then this area would be
lost. On high tide it is flooded making launch area slippery which is
a recipy for future incident. Filling this area with sand would
improve both aesthetics and safety.

Thank you,

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Kyle
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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by Kyle » Tue Sep 15, 2015 8:48 pm

There are a number of posts on this topic, below is one example.
https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/for ... it=erosion

I know SFBA has looked into it as well.

What is the accident you are referring to in your post?

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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by knyfe » Tue Sep 15, 2015 9:30 pm

funny that my original graph still holds true that we will get an upper launch cut off probably throughout the winter storms 2015-2016.

At the same time I am surprised how well the other area holds up with the old logs have been placed. No movement since they have been anchored together.

So now what happened today? I only see that the wind went from 20 to 30, probably with some gusts and shifting winds. yes, a call for trouble if you dont know what you are up to.

Georg

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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by tegirinenashi » Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:09 am

Yes, logs are doing remarkable job, so there was no erosion last winter. Still, raising the beach 18", as proposed in the earlier thread, would eliminate hide tide flooding problem.

Also, why we are at it, why not fill in lower cove as well? There is tiny beach, wind shadow, mud, and always somebody in your way drifting/winding up the lines in the water. The cove filling would give much much larger area to launch, move launch position closer to the deep water. Unlike upper launch it would be unlikely effected by erosion.

P.S. Yesterday, a fellow kiter has been dragged/lifted over submerged rocks, then across the beach, and, disoriented, crushed up on the levy. Chased by another kiter, who released his kite. Ended up in ambulance ride.

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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by tegirinenashi » Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:46 am

Herb Perez agreed to discuss the issue on the phone. However, I don't want to hijack the issue, plus getting SFBA involved would certainly give it more weight. Please advice.

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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by Kyle » Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:56 am

I would definitely work with SFBA if you're actually getting involved with the city. They have done really amazing work, from removing the pilings at Coyote Point to preventing launches from getting shut down. While they have some financial resources (thanks to donations), the real benefit are the lawyers, environmentalists, and volunteers that serve their board to help navigate these types of projects. We need to be methodical about this, and not play victim (not saying anyone is). But if we just flood the city with requests from different orgs it may overwhelm them.

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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by knyfe » Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:21 pm

tegirinenashi wrote:P.S. Yesterday, a fellow kiter has been dragged/lifted over submerged rocks, then across the beach, and, disoriented, crushed up on the levy. Chased by another kiter, who released his kite. Ended up in ambulance ride.
Over the last 12 years I kite form the upper launch I saw 4 kiters going through this - independent on the size of the beach ( and I kite there prob once a week max). I come home with a heavy stomach every time...

Its independent on the beach size but depends on the kiter to release ASAP. Hope he/she is fine.

G

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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by tegirinenashi » Wed Sep 16, 2015 3:36 pm

knyfe wrote:Over the last 12 years I kite form the upper launch I saw 4 kiters going through this - independent on the size of the beach ( and I kite there prob once a week max). I come home with a heavy stomach every time...

Its independent on the beach size but depends on the kiter to release ASAP. Hope he/she is fine
This is risky sport indeed, and some things (like drowning) can't be prevented by beach improvements alone. In this particular instance, I'm not sure about the details: was he dragged/hit against levy rock, or concrete-filled ramp made a difference. There is orange net installed this year, and the post close to concrete ramp is broken -- maybe we should give a credit to this life saving improvement. Anyway, the ideal fix would be sandy gradually sloping beach covering levy rocks completely. Please also note, that the high night tide slippery surface days -- when launching is two-man's job (the second person holding the kiter) -- would be over.

And what about filling in the lover cove, anybody (except slightly inconvenienced jumpers) dislikes it for any reason? I would likely to move there if we have expansive beach at lower cove.

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Re: 3rd Ave lower and upper coves fill

Post by dontfeedthenerd » Wed Sep 16, 2015 6:29 pm

Yea.. let's not fill in the lower cove. I mean at least not that much.

It's some of the flattest water a lot of us have access to in the Bay. Filling it in kills a spot that a lot of people use for progression.

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