Marcell,Mn~Turtle lake

[dave12341234]

So my were heading up to Marcell this memorial weekend, and Ive always wanted to try turtle lake, I grew up on it and I believe there is only one decent spot on the whole lake. If you pull up a map on google, you'll see that the north bay that connects to sagers bay is about a mile in diameter. Do you guys think thats enough room for the wind to kinda even out? I expect gusty conditions, but im thinking it should be managable. If sunday holds true, than it will be a WNW at 14 to 18mph. We have a 16' fishing boat with no center console so its pretty spacious. I may boat launch the kite or find a shallow point and launch. Depends how the wind is. What are your thoughts for a succesful sesh?

[peterrib]

Dave, I'm interested in your boat launch technique. Do you motor upwind while paying out
the lines or use a pail?
Peter

[Denis]

Is this the spot?
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=47.6 ... 2&t=h&z=15

How's the tree and topo situation over there? Back when we did the North Dakota trip, we rode pretty small ponds but there were no trees and it was pretty flat around us. Not gonna lie though, it was a gusty ride.

When I launched from a jet ski, I let the lines out gradually, let them drift downwind and did a drift launch from there. I had to make sure that the kite was drifting in a nice and stable manner, getting ready to eject if a wave flipped it into hot launch position. I'd watch out for the propeller and the wash that can suck lines in like pasta.

[Hightower]

Childhood dreams. I would love to kite the lake I grew up on... nice.

Here are a couple of thoughts for you:

Clean Wind - A rule of thumb that I have heard and that has been true in my experience is that an obstruction will cause wind turbulence for a downwind distance roughly 10 times that of its height. This goes for a tree line, hill or escarpment, etc. As you know, too gusty is not fun, so the further out you can go the better.

Boat Launch – Like a drift launch I would consider this a last resort… and maybe not even then. The only method that I would consider trying is one I saw described in the ‘REAL 5 DVD Instructional Box Set’ (can be found on Amazon). In this method you:
1) Do your complete line set-up onshore
2) Wrap your lines carefully and tightly on bar making sure not to pass the bar through the lines or cross your lines (CRITICAL)
3) Pack your lines and kite in boat. If you deflate your kite, make sure you pack your bar in a way that you are certain you do not pass the bar through the lines when unpacking
4) Have a spotter hold your inflated kite in the boat while you get in the water and swim away from the boat. This is safer than the boat driving away from you. Carefully unwrap the lines from your bar. Keep tension on the lines and make sure the lines do not unspool accidentally.
5) Swim out in a direction that is side-wind from the boat, getting you into a good position for the spotter to be able to launch the kite.
6) Double check your lines as best you can from the water
7) Use a clear signal for the spotter to launch the kite
Body drag back towards the boat to pick up your board

I wouldn’t consider drift launching safe. This might be safer, but it is not easy and requires 2 or 3 people to complete successfully. That said, how many people have kited from a boat?

Let us know what you do and how it turns out. Rock on.

[Tighe]

very good description.

I think it really depends on the type of boat as well.

If you have a boat with a rear deck and/or a hidden prop, you can do the drift launch similar to a jetski. If not I have done the following pretty successfully even in big water.
-set up as previous described.
- anchor the boat with minimal length to the anchor line
-Have the launcher hold your kite (smiling) off the rear of the boat
- rider hops in water and swims to the side and a bit downwind of the boat, undoing the lines as they go.
- When fully extended you check your lines and put minimal tension on the lines. Since the boat is still upwind of you, the launcher won't be fighting the kite.
- Then have the captain, let the anchor line out. This moves the launcher downwind and into launch position.
- as soon as the you see the canopy fill and stop fluttering and you give the thumbs up and the launcher releases the kite (walking down the leading edge)

If you are in significant wind and waves, it can be difficult to swim into the wind to position yourself. Having the boat move downwind helps. The key is to check your lines with the boat upwind of you so the launcher isn't fighting the kite.

One time, there was a boat with a lot of sharp things all over the boat so I tied a line about 6 feet long onto the pump leash loop. The launcher held the line as the kite hovered off the end of the boat, till launch. The line dangled off the LE as I rode but didn't effect anything.

Another way I've done it is to have the boat anchored and put the kite in the water behind the boat LE down but having someone hold 1 of the center kite lines so the kite is wingtip to wingtip downwind. The rider swims out to the side undoing their lines. When all the way out, the person in the boat lets go of the kite and it swings downwind for a standard launch. This method does not allow the checking of lines before launch. Also probably not recommended for really windy conditions as the kite may want to flip around downwind in the turbulence behind the boat.

good luck.

[dave12341234]

This is gonna be my first attempt launching from a boat, so ill take all your tips to consideration. I plan on drift launching from a shallow area as my first option. My brother knows how to launch a kite so ill have him in the boat if I decide to boat launch. Ill let you all know how it goes!