You will progress much faster in flat shallow water. Once you can stay up wind without too much effort and do quick slide transitions and small jumps you will be ready to test your skills in the waves and that is when it gets fun! See yah out there.

Long point in 12-15knt winds may be a good option for you too. Def not flat water, but it's a nice wide long beach, great for endurance session walk of shames....

That was the first place I went after learning in Cabarete..... not shallow either so make sure you are wearing some sort of floatation device and the current can be quite strong too when the wind is out of the west and blowing hard......

Oliphant is def a great place, cause if you fall and loose your board you can just stand up and walk back to it...... Body dragging and finding your board in the surf can be challenging even for intermediate kiters.

yeah they take away your board when you lose it.. the current actually carries the board away from the shore towards the northwest, in spite of the waves.. kp is one of the worst spot for that imo. Once, I've actually had to go to shore walk half a mile up with the kite and then drag to the board in order to get it. Don't lose sight of your board. Body dragging against the waves won't work (or at least I can't do it effectively at this spot).

Everyone talking about learning to kite in these optimal locations makes me jealous.

I went to the school of hard knocks and learned primarily in deep water. Not recommended. Many walks of shame. That being said it does help to make you better at body dragging. Wind tends to be pretty flakey in some locations, specifically in Toronto which also makes it challenging to learn. (sorry that is a huge generalization but hopefully others agree)

The best location in Onterrible for learning by far is Oliphant although I have only been there twice. The key to accelerating the learning curve is consistent wind in the optimal zone of the kites range you are flying, having relatively flat water, and being able to stand on the bottom. Your learning curve will likely double otherwise.

Locations like Kettlepoint (deep water) with waves and current or even Wasaga (waves as well, but shallow to a point) are going to be a lot tougher to learn at. Be warned that downing your kite in waves as a beginner can be dangerous especially in onshore winds...when your kite starts catching waves because you don't get it off the water quick enough be prepared to be dragged. Being dragged by water in your kite is not fun. (been there done that) Its completely different from being dragged with your kite in the air. Be prepared to hold your breath or release.

Not trying to scare anyone, just trying to share the reality and risks. The extra drive to Oli sucks but it will pay off huge to getting you up on the water. A few solid days at a good location and you should be in good shape.

Be safe!

Oliphant looks great, and a completely agree learning progression is all about the best choice of conditions (weather + terrain), gear, and some common sense. I am not new to board sports at all and the same thing applies to almost anything in that realm. Start on the bunny hill and not the summit.

I would rather not deal with currents right now. I spent most of my childhood summers out in Nova Scotia learning the hard way about undertows, tidal currents, and break walls (few near death stories to tell). They are very easy to overlook or disregard until you are in the mids of a bad situation.

If anyone is headed out there and feels kind enough to meet and point out the need to knows about the spot(s) feel free to PM.

So true James, my recipe is no spot is far as long as you can get the same ratio of quality water time (to total driving time). If you have a good session the stoke dissipates the drive back anyways. Just get a 2.0 diesel to reduce your costs. And don't do the drive for borderline conditions.

Finnkc
if you see a jacked up silver tacoma with a big jellyfishboard sticker on it come and say hi.. I'll help you if you need it at KP.. live there , grew up there I know the water here better then most the people on the loop...

Just email me if you are thinking about heading out this way or call me on my cell.. terrie@jellyfishboards.ca or 519-521-8554cell

terrie

Terrie Jellyfishboards wrote:

QUOTE:
Finnkc
if you see a jacked up silver tacoma with a big jellyfishboard sticker on it come and say hi.. I'll help you if you need it at KP.. live there , grew up there I know the water here better then most the people on the loop...

Just email me if you are thinking about heading out this way or call me on my cell..
terrie@jellyfishboards.ca or 519-521-8554cell

terrie

Cool man. I will take you up on that sometime for sure. Cheers.

Ok so it looks like I may try KP again tomorrow. Booked tomorrow off work when it was looking windy at lake erie. Of course I jinxed myself and now KP looks like the best option. I could always just go into work but really don't want too.

Hope to see some others out!

Hi Braden, if you're doing a long drive I'd advise against it unless you have a flysurfer/big kite/big board combo or can see something that I'm not seeing. Onshore + waves/current is usually a frustrating experience with borderline conditions. In my experience KP has to be 15kn or better with the usual wind directions there. Hopefully the conditions will improve for the end of the day.

Yeah seeing 14 knots most of the afternoon. But I'm going to wait till the morn to make a game day decision. And yeah I have a 13m and 6f SB. Wasaga may be doable too but there about the same distance for me.

Plus I really don't want to go to work