Cannon again...

[Pete]

Looking for another blaster Tuesday!!! Who's in?

[xrdave]

I'm interested in a kite session at about 5pm. Any other kiters planning on going to Cannon?

Dave

[Bill S.]

I'll have my kite gear but if it's blowing 30+ I'm going windsurfing. This makes FIVE 4.0m sessions in less than two weeks!

Wind Advisory for South Central: look for possible smoke-on-the-water nuclear conditions at Cannon today concurrent with peak heating, about 5:00 p.m. Unless you are fully dialed with a 5.0m kite and small board I wouldn't recommend kiting if it really goes off. A tight gradient and hot south winds down here often generate mega-gusts in the late afternoon. Once the peak heat has passed and evening cooling begins about 7:00 p.m., south winds at Cannon generally subside and can be fan-steady till dark, perfect for kiting. Ride safe.

Bill

[xrdave]

Bill, thanks for the reply. I have a 5 and a 7 kite, so should be OK if the wind goes nuclear. My smallest windssurfing sail is a 5, so it looks like kiting or nothing for me.
Not sure if you will be back online, but let me know later in the day if you plan to kite, and I will head on out. Will you be using the launch on the east side, near the fishing dock and the boat ramp?
Dave

[Mike W]

I think I might shoot down there for a kite session in the early afternoon. The "launch" on the NW side of the lake, W of the bridge should work well today with the wind direction.

[xrdave]

Mike

how far west of the bridge is that launch spot? Is it shallow far enough out that you can come in and do a self landing and be able to touch bottom?

[Mike W]

Wow, Cannon really delivered today! Just what the doctor ordered. I was getting some white-knuckle rides on my smallest gear. Great to see the local crew. Bill S. was looking buttery smooth on his sailboard as we played in a few swells together.

I launched my kite from the spot where the fisherman usually go because nobody was there. The launch I mentioned above is a few hundred yards past the bridge just before the first house. You will see a clearing spot where you can enter the water. It is shallow enough there for a drift launch, but only when the wind is S or S/SW like it was today. It is harder to get out into the wind on straight SW. An experienced kiter should be able to manage just fine from that spot getting in and coming out.

[xrdave]

MIke

I didn't see you out there, but I did not get on the water until 6, and you had probably packed up by then. I launched from a spot past the bridge, at the last big break in the trees. I would have had trouble doing a drift launch there I think; perhaps I needed to be a bit further along to get more shallow. Luckily for me, Hightower stopped by and kindly launched me (which involved him swimming out into the deep with my kite). I was overpowered in the gusts on my 7m; although around 7.30 the wind eased a bit and the 7 was just right. It was a great evening!

Dave

[Randy]

Sounds classic. Mike, when you're white-knuckle I know it's going off. Wish I could have been there, but would have followed Bill's approach. Sorry to say I haven't made it there this year for one of those 4M days. Seems Tuesday's the day this year. Anybody take any pictures?

[Bill S.]

It was classic, capping off my fifth 4.2m windsurfing session in a couple of weeks . . . in Minnesota! Go figure.

Mike, that was a blast riding together, kite and sail boards playing in the swell zone. I was hitting some pretty big floaters, even a ten-footer that went up-and-up-again. And then I would see you send it and . . . at one point I think you were airborne for eight seconds. Big Air has a different meaning in kiting.

A great crew showed up and road long and hard all afternoon. I was too whupped by 7:00 p.m. to shift over to kiting, but glad others enjoyed some sweet 7m at the sun set.

Bill