Wanted to say hello and introduce my self. I am from Tacoma, WA. I have had a stunt kite for 10+ years (The same one) but only use it once a year. Flew it 2 weeks ago and whatching other kites @ Ocean shores realised I was missing out.
I ended up buying a Symphony beach 1.7 as 1st experiment into "traction foils" I know it is not a traction rig, but needed an inexpensive 1st rig to try my hand at the whole foil thing.

LOVED IT. super easy to fly, more agile than my old kit and solid pull o Sat @ Ocean shores(Anyone know what wind speed was on 8/27/11?) Of course now I am looking for something bigger, something that can drag me down the beach a bit if I fly in the window. (6'4", 220#) I am not looking for somethign ot use with board or buggy, jut on foot.

In my early research I had narrowed down to Rush Pro350 and Hydra 350. Both being set-up with a bar, reverse relaunchable. The Hydra was very interesting as I travel east every year and am on the water (3ft deep) and no beach so I need water launch. That said I have also seen and been told the Beamer's are great units and they do offer a much bigger size, but are quad line with no bar. Watching videos on them, they also have the ability to reserse relaunch, but not in water.

Now the questions for you WA folks famililar with the area.
Do any local shops in Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia offer demos?Worst case at least carry them and be knowledgable?
Any thoughts on a good "next size", having flown kites for a while I am thinkin I could maybe jump to a 4m beamer without an issue, maybe even the 5m? That I am sure will be dependant on wind speeds.
How much wind do we normally see in the flying areas close by, Chambers creek, ocean shores, Magnuson park?
Anyone planning to go to the "up your wind" festival in Pacific beach a few weeks out?

Thanks in advance!
Larry:wee:

Larry, Welcome! My first foil was a symphony and I still fly it with my kids. I have a hydra and really like the kite. I have gotten a regular foil wet before and it didn't fly well until it was dry. The hydra flies well. There is a festival at Sunset beach from the 3rd to the 11th and there should be a lot of flyers there. Powerzonekitesports.com might have some hydra's but I am not sure who else carries HQ up there. Maybe bigkidkites.com too. Search here for a list of retailers and you will get some good info. You will find there is a good group here that will help you grow in the sport.

Hello Larry,

I'm here in Spanaway and fly at Chambers Bay when the wind is up. I would second mentioning SOBB this weekend, bunch of folks going to be there with tips and tricks. I have been to Ocean Shores and met Andy of Ocean Shores Kites; I have a call into Rich of East Coast Kites to see what we have in line for demos. Hope to see you out there.

Sidenote. Todd, When did you move to Washington? or am I just dense.

Larry come join us. If you show up the first weekend you can fly my Hydra.

Quote:

Originally posted by lamrith LOVED IT. super easy to fly, more agile than my old kit and solid pull o Sat @ Ocean shores(Anyone know what wind speed was on 8/27/11?) Thanks in advance! Larry:wee:

Ocean Shores Wind Data for 8/27/2011

Wind Speed: 5 mph (West)
Max Wind Speed: 14 mph
Max Gust Speed: 20 mph

ATB,
Sam

Thanks for the welcome guys! Where can I find info on this SOBB festival?

1. Stetson, carefull what you say, I'll take you up on it! Your right about the symphony for sure, I had my 15yr old flying the 1.7 for a while and he loved it, definitely was a great choise for a 1st kite. knowing he can fly it in those kind of winds is great, this oen if a keeper!

2. Todd, welcome to the left coast, where were you located back east? Are the places you mentioned going to be at this festival?

3. Indigo, where were you able to find past day data? I have been trying to find a good site even for "live" data and not having luck..

I think the 14-20mph was when the one dark cloud cell came blasting thru late in the afternoon. Got very cool, grey/purple clouds . Good news is I had the 1.7 up during it and it was rippin along real good.

Thanks,
Larry

SOBB Info here

I just moved out here less than a month ago from Southern Maryland. SOBB is located at Seaside Oregon. Pull up Chambers Bay and look for the video links in my signature. You'll find a good look at the field.

Placed a call into Andy of Ocean Shore Kites and plan on taking a run down there in a couple weeks to have Tomie's kite repaired. Maybe meet you there with some gear.

Quote:

Originally posted by lamrith 3. Indigo, where were you able to find past day data? I have been trying to find a good site even for "live" data and not having luck.. Thanks, Larry

Almost all the weather sites keep historical data, sometimes it's just a pain to find on a given site due to the website layout. Depending on how far back you go, some sites charge for it.

Weather Underground is free and the interface is dead simple. Punch in the date and area of interest and click the "Submit" button.

Weather Underground Historical Weather Data

ATB,
Sam

Welcome to the forum. It is wonderful to hear about another Washingtonian Kite flyer.

Quote:

Originally posted by Todd SOBB Info here I just moved out here less than a month ago from Southern Maryland. SOBB is located at Seaside Oregon. Pull up Chambers Bay and look for the video links in my signature. You'll find a good look at the field. Placed a call into Andy of Ocean Shore Kites and plan on taking a run down there in a couple weeks to have Tomie's kite repaired. Maybe meet you there with some gear.

I am really up in he air between bar with 3 lines(rush/hydra) and the quad(beamer). Bars looks easier, but seems like limited foil size. Quad much more agile and adaptable, with no limit foil size, but not many water foils? I appreciate you both offering to let me try your gear to see what they are like!

Todd:
Very cool, welcome to WA! Nice to see a fellow East coaster out here. I grew up in NJ near Princeton, dad is now living on Kent Island, MD and we visit every year.(Hence me wanting a water compatible rig to drag myself in the bay behind the house while there..)
I am actually between you and Puyallup if you have learned the area much. I have emailed with Chris @ HQ about the hydra/rushpro/beamer and he also highly recommended Ocean shores shop as the place to go. Just let me know when you are thinking of heading that way. The "up your wind" is up in pacific beach I think Sept9, may hit that, if not be open to meet you @ ocean shores on a weekend you head that way.

Stetson,
I am trying to work it out to hit Seaside this weekend, bit of a trip, but might package in a Portland zoo trip for the kids on Sat. ;-) Are there many non buggy folks that go? I will keep you all updated. Any ideas if there are hotel rooms left in seaside for Sat night or is this SOBB a big event and fill the place?:roll:

Seaside has a lot of hotels/motels I heard motel6 is cheap but I am camping.

stetson: Yeah looked when I got home. :-/ overpriced and overfull by the looks of it. Almost nobody had rooms for me and fam. (2 adult, 2 kids) really? The one place that did was $178/night, that's almost enough a new foil like a Rush Pro 2.5!
:eekdrull:

Might stay in portland and drive over, still lot to figure out. :-p

Hey new WA kiter .... I also got my first kite 3wks ago ... PL VibeII 1.9 ... awesome .... already wanting something bigger... (and can feel wallet getting smaller ... LOL) Kinda looking at Prism Tensor 4.1 ... like the idea of two line convertable to quad when my skills improve.... man! how did I miss this kinda fun in my first 46 years on this earth

Welcome Bigbear97e.

Welcome bigbear! It's been 41yrs and I am just finding this myself :-p Kites were always for the nerdy kids when I was growing up!

How much wind does it really usually take to get these kites up flying? I understand they would not have as much power, but they all seem to claim 4mph, are they really flyable that low? I am assuming lighter wind, larger foil to a certain extent?

Indigo, thanks for the link!!

Alright! Who's breeding the WA kiters?

And who gave stetson directions?

Welcome guys. Hope to see all of the "New" WA crew at SOBB. :wee:

Larry- were you there at the fun fly? cause that was me with all the fun HQ stuff letting everyone fly! If not .... WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE!??!?! lol. No, i am glad to see another wa flier and if you need anything let me know.

I have not been to any kite/buggy/traction events before :-p this will be my 1st if I can persuade the fam on the trip.

Any ideas on expected turn out this 1st weekend? It looks like we would roll into town Sunday, gonna stay the night in portland as the hotel rates in seaside are insane and there are no rooms left to fit the family this weekend.

Lamrith, you might check hotel rooms in the Astoria area, it's a long shot. Labor day weekend fills up pretty fast on the coast and then the weekend after is a Seaside to Ocean Shores Wa. Rod Run so rooms are pretty full then as well. But worth a check, since the drive to sunset would be better then from Portland. Get ahold of Jeff, at" Big Kid Kites" he usually has stuff to try out and he is in your area.

Rooms are completely full everywhere near the coast. and the 1-2 rooms I found say I can't have me and kids and they want $165/night NOT.

I just made a reservation in Portland! Take the fam to the Zoo Sat, stay the night and hit road Sunday morning heading to SOBB!! mapquest/google show it as a 1.5hr drive on hwy26, that's no big deal, specially as early ad my kids wake up..

Next thing is which beach entrance is best, I saw someplace the entry to beach might be compromised right now? Is there a single best thread here to follow, I have noticed a few different ones

Lamrith ... thanks for the welcome ... your right for the most part ... softer the wind, bigger the sail ... small trainer like a PL Vibe is say 5 to 28mph and a larger sail say 8m might be 3 to 20 .... If you are interested, go to a site like Peter Lynn kites and pick a kite to look at .... if you pick a size and style of kite to view, they usually have a wind chart that shows the wind range for all the different kites of that style ...Just what I have gleaned so far as I too am an "old Newbie" ..... can't wait to hone my skills to the buggy stage though ... looks like a hoot ....

Lamrith,
If you go to SOBB the second week end you will have a better chance at the motel thing, just got 4 days in Seaside for 72.00 a night for 2. The wife like the nicer motels, bedbug central is not a happy place.
Besides, I have a lot of different brands of kites you are more than welcome to try out with 3 different buggies and 4 different boards. But hay, the Canadians are always a hoot.

HAHA yeah I thought about that Bigkid. I got me, the wife, two kids. This is our last trip for the year with school starting, so had to take advantage of the 3day with all the driving involved.

We will hook up after this event I am sure since you are so close to home! Not sure I will end up on wheels long term, looking more at the scudding/dragging side of things right now.:Ange09:

Quote:

Not sure I will end up on wheels long term, looking more at the scudding/dragging side of things right now.

Good luck with that, once I started to move it was only a matter of time. Gee if I put wheels under me I could really move.

Hope to meet up sometime.

I hear yah Fletcht!! Glad I own a suburban so I have room to haul gear!

Anyone by chance bringing a HQ Beamer(or similar from another mfg) to the event this 1st weekend?
I have traded some emails with Chris @ HQ and he mentioned it as a good next kite option as well as the Hydra. Whatching his video, the quad line does really look like a great option, and allot of fun to fly.

I have sort of had my mind set on a Hydra350 for large size and water launch. Chances are my next kite will be my last for quite a while due to budget, so I am trying to find a "one kite for all occaisons" to carry me thru the next year or so along with my symphony1.7.