BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Is ikitesurf worth it? $8/mo ($100/year!) to get the useful reports seems pretty steep, but I can see how a couple of missed days or wasted trips would make the cost of an FX membership not seem so bad.

Have you guys found it to be accurate? Useful? Worth it? I read some previous threads about their forum censorship policies -- too bad, but I have you guys and Toby for that. I'm mostly interested in the forecast quality.

forecast quality in the bay is pretty decent. Southern california's is horrible. I think it's worth the money just to have access to the sensors personally.

I'm not sold on it on account of the forecasts, but the wind readings. I'm away all day at work with no computer access, so the wind pager is essential. At least I know when and where to go rather than taking a chance and watsing time to get skunked.

the (almost) real-time wind reports are ESSENTIAL for me. I get them on my Treo phone and obviously on my computer. I use them every day, year round. Also, the forecasts are fairly useful.

kite-o-matik, if you do decide to sign up for the fx membership at ikitesurf, let me know... i can refer you to get $20 off the subscription fee (and i get $20 off my subscription renewal as well)...

I find the forcast for 3rd Ave worthless but I use the wind reading frequently everyday, it is definitely worth the cost.

I personally am not sold on fx membership, but do like the website. Thankfully there are a lot of free sensors in the bay area. I find that using the free sensors is just as effective (port chicago, port alameda, sfo, sf buoy). But if you only have one kite and one board so that your wind range is limited, I can see the fx membership being worthwhile for saving gas. But if your wind range is limited, picking up a wind meter is probably a good investment too, being that the wind can go dramatically up and/or down since the last time you had access to the fx wind readings.
Read the discussion on the senators bill to ban free weather data, i.e. free sensors on bak (bad idea).
As far as 3rd ave, I find the free sfo sensor or 3rd ave channel sensor to be a more accurate description of the wind conditions.
The alameda sensor can be off if the wind is coming from the south (abnormal).
I like the marine forecast at weatherunderground, gives you a big range but is usually pretty accurate. Let's me know which size kites to throw in my car.
I also like the vector drawing of the bay winds at:
http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/wind/windbin.cgi
Gives you an idea of where the winds are shifting though sometimes has a lag between current readings.

feixaq wrote:kite-o-matik, if you do decide to sign up for the fx membership at ikitesurf, let me know... i can refer you to get $20 off the subscription fee (and i get $20 off my subscription renewal as well)...

Actually, if you could go to:

http://www.ikitesurf.com/bayareakiteboarding

It'd be a help to the site here. We haven't had any referrals yet (because I haven't published this info), but every bit helps.

Thanks,
Ollie

If you have access to a computer all day. You can get by with buoy readings for certain areas. If you are remote, then the wind pager system is definitely worth it.
The forecasts are hit or miss, but they do give a general idea of the trend and a good opportunity to learn some meteorolgy.
One helpful site is Ken Poultons "Bay Area Windspeed Report". Also use the Ocean Prediction Center in NOAA.
Between the three, you will have the Bay Area pretty dialed.

You cannot survive without a pager.