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Lake Berryessa Kiting?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2004 7:08 am
by OliverG
Anyone kite Lake Berryessa? I used to go wakeboarding and boating there and recall it often getting fairly windy in the afternoon, shutting us down as far as wakeboarding went. It's a huge lake with warm water and warm winds. Launch areas would not be a problem as there are many areas of open shore to access. Might make a good day trip.

Anyone have the scoop?

Hmmmm....

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2004 4:11 pm
by jstjohn3
Very Interesting.....

Berryessa

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:27 pm
by Pablito2
Hi,
I'm not yet a kiteboarder, just starting to learn about the sport. I live just a few miles from Berryessa, and can attest to the fact that it is frequently a windy place, esp. in the afternoon. If the Delta breeze is reaching Fairfield, it's windy at the Lake. This is actually a big reason for my interest in the sport (location, location, location).

Also, the water is quite warm at the surface.

The problem you might have is beach size. I was wondering what the limitations would be on kitingboarding on the lake, for this reason. It seems that water-relaunchable kites are considered beginner kites, but if the site was good otherwise (wind, watertemp), what would be the pros and cons are actually needing to water launch -- like if trees at lake edge made it too risky to launch off the beach.

The website is great. Thanks.

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:53 am
by fearlu
Beginners launching on a tight beach with trees sounds perilous at best. Take lessons, get comfortable and then decide. I have launched in challenging terrain with a friend by swimming the kite out (or the bar out) while the friend assists the launch. Find a local kiting partner and you're good to go, otherwise beware the gnarly launches at this point in your career.

Re: Lake Berryessa Kiting?

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 1:28 am
by swoleKEN
Ollie wrote:Anyone kite Lake Berryessa? I used to go wakeboarding and boating there and recall it often getting fairly windy in the afternoon, shutting us down as far as wakeboarding went. It's a huge lake with warm water and warm winds. Launch areas would not be a problem as there are many areas of open shore to access. Might make a good day trip.

Anyone have the scoop?
really enjoyed kiting lake berryessa as long as its not a weekend...i liked black butte lake alot better ( a little further up near corning after 505)

Kiteboarding Lake Berryessa

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 10:13 am
by Ted Baggin
I've been Kiteboarding since last May and I live in Woodland. I'm interested in Lake Berryessa so I would be willing to meet there to investigate launch spots and assist others.

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 10:58 am
by Pablito
I live in Winters and scoped out the possibilities this winter. Here's the scoop:

The only really kiteable wind is N, which comes across the lake for about 30 miles and gets smoothed out a bit. Monday, for example, it's supposed to be blowing 15-25 N here. Probably a good day to try it (too bad it's a Monday).

The only public beach that is launchable is on the west side of the lake, which from my house (5 miles away as the crow flies) is 45 minutes away on a very, very windy mountain road. More if you get stuck behind a convoy of wakeboard boats and RVs. Same driving time as SI. So if you were thinking that you might save some driving time over going down to the Delta, you might want to reconsider.

The "beaches" are rather steep and trees are always a little too close by for comfort, but as long as you picked a site where the wind was blowing side shore, you'd be okay. The "beaches" are rocks and dirt. You wouldn't want to try a self-launch.

The water is butter flat, which is pretty sweet.

I would be up for trying to kite there on N wind day in the fall, but right now I've got too much to do to waste a trip up there instead of waiting for a good Sherman session.

Re: Lake Berryessa Kiting?

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 1:22 pm
by paramz
Is this thread dead? I too would like to know about the possibility of kiteboarding at Berryessa (and other warm water opportunities in the Bay Area). Any updates?