LAKAWA

I don't think anyone answered your question, but the word on the street is that spectra deteriorates over time in sunlight. The sailors I know who use it replace it annually for this reason (I have seen spectra lines snap at inopportune times). For me the tradeoff doesn't work - 3/8" polyester ...

The report notes that the groundwater depletion increases dramatically in the summer, and it's not because people are thirsty. A city council friend of mine (in an unnamed metro city) told me that city water use increases 30% in her city in the summer. That's the price of a green lawn. Just FYI - ci...

Apologies if this is old news, but I just ran across this through my day job... Ever wonder why White Bear Lake water levels have been so low lately? Sounds like they figured it out - the presentation really gets in depth with the analysis: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/02/21/whi...

I won't be sticking around this weekend, but I did take a snow day on Wednesday and went out to Waconia. It was about three inches of snow on top of three inches of slush. I was the only one out there, but the conditions were super buttery at the time - you just don't want to spend too much time sit...

FYI - I was out on Calhoun yesterday. In the southeast corner, the snow has blown off to about 50% coverage. Doesn't look like the blast of snow that we got today will change the conditions that much. It might be ride-able in light winds, but the forecast I saw showed that it would be nukin on the t...

Tried to launch at Cottagewood yesterday, but was disappointed to find a temporary parking ban on the two spots that they have at the beach. I ended up over at WYC which ended up being a bit of a bust - played a lot of hopscotch in between the patches of snow. With the gusty breeze and patchy snow, ...

Went and kicked the snow around on Calhoun this morning - seems marginally bounded to the ice, but do-able.

Anyone have a Tonka update? I'm thinking Wayzata Bay or Spring Park Bay would be good with a S-SE wind.

I picked up a flexifoil board a few years ago and have had a lot of fun with it. I will say that the learning curve on it is pretty steep. You don't have the freedom of movement with turning the board like you do on the snow or the water and the impacts from falls are much more painful, for obvious ...

In a quest to actually find some ride-able snow, here's my new favorite tool: http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/earth/ NOAA has developed an application that will allow you to download a .kmz file which can be viewed in Google Earth. It has coverage over the entire continental US and is updated DAILY. Scou...

As of today, Calhoun still has open water off of the north beach. South side of the lake has been frozen for some time but I'd let some cold weather set in before I went out on it (but that's just me). I've seen people walking around on it, but everyone is sticking pretty close to shore.

Took a drive out to Swede Lake today... When I got there, there were two guys with questionable judgment fishing out on the ice already, about 50 yards from the launch area. I walked out about 10-15 yards and heard the ice crack beneath my feet. I thought better of it and got the ice depth from them...

Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis froze over last night - not that you'd want to kite there, but I take it as a sign of things to come (Calhoun is still WIDE open). I'll be doing a check of Swede this weekend and will issue a full report (unless someone in the neighborhood gets out there first). Cold...

Dillon Reservoir (Dillon, CO) is a hot-spot - about 45 minutes from Vail, closer to Breck and Keystone. They have a couple of events out there every year:

http://www.coloradokiteforce.com/home/events.php

Winds sure get gusty in the valley. Have fun!

I just read your post out of curiosity, so take this for what it's worth. There's a lot of stuff out there on the interweb - not all of it is good advice (including mine). Whatever you do, DON'T remove the backs from your bindings. As a beginner, you're going to spend 100% of your time riding heelsi...

Slingshot actually makes a relaunch system for the B3: http://ride.slingshotsports.com/s.nl/it.A/id.339/.f It attaches to the black tails on the trailing edge of your kite. You'll need an old bar (standard kite bar with a hole in it) to rig it right. It's not a "real" chicken loop, but att...

Believe it or not, it will be winter soon...

You can use these to pan on over to Kite Island and see if the kites are flying on Tonka:
http://www.minnetonkayachtclub.org/Webcam.aspx
http://www.wyc.org/Community/WebCam/tab ... fault.aspx

Anyone know anything about this? I just read an article in the Southwest Journal which says it's been approved by the Minneapolis Park Board: http://www.swjournal.com/index.php?&story=17019&page=152&category=63&viewComments=viewComments Wondering if anyone has looked at the impact on...

FYI There's a small hole at the access at Sailor's World. I got out early on Monday and it looked as though the hole was fresh so I parked at the post office and walked out. By the time I left it was about three feet long (from the other cars that drove over it). It's right at the shore and only in ...

Tonka - probably Sailor's World. Don't think that you're going to do much better on Harriet with the strong and gusty winds. If you're the guy I saw on Calhoun yesterday afternoon, you got some cojones! It was nukin! My general rule of thumb is that if it's blowing over 15 knots, I tend to stay off ...

Thanks for the update - good to know that good times are near at Kite Island!