Is anyone active in the Rochester NY area? The lack of ice has me searching for alternatives. We have been using the Cmac parking in Canandaigua but it is not good in south winds. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Have you looked at Fairhaven Beach State Park? I've wondered about that, but never been there. There looks to be a nice stretch that could be workable in a N or S wind.

I have not been to Fairhaven, we have concentrated our activity in the Finger lakes on the ice in the winter and athletic fields and parking lots in the summer. There are also some huge hay fields we can use close by.

Fairhaven is slightly closer to you, but close enough to halfway, I'd be willing to make the drive to check it out. Maybe snowspider has been there, or might want to meet up, also what about BEC? Anyone??

Yeah, I believe that's Bec's neck of the woods.

Hey Stillflyin.. Welcome to the forum. I spoke with BEC, you should hit him up with a U2U. He's a few minutes away... Maybe you guys can carpool to the wildwood buggy bash next month. I know he is going...

Unfortunately I have prior commitments that will keep me from Wildwood this spring, maybe in the fall I will make it. I will U2U BEC, thanks.

Well, the weekend forecast isn't looking too promising, with possible rain and light wind, but I have Friday off, and the weather is looking like ptly cldy, around 50 deg.F, with wind from the NE at 10-15. I may make the drive to Fairhaven and check it out.

The weather is not looking very good at all for the weekend, probably will forgo the road trip. Today looks like the best chance, to bad I have to work. Bobalooie if you get to Fairhaven let me know what you think.

Made a trip to Fairhaven today, the beach at the park would work but is fairly small. The beach near Sandy Shores campground is all stones. Didn't stay. Headed for Cmac parking lot in Canandaigua and had a riot.
I will keep watch for a good westerly and head for Southwick soon I hope.

Great to hear about Fairhaven, I never did get there. Fri. 4/6 (Good Friday) is a holiday for us, so I plan on going to Southwick. Right now forecast is for wind starting NW then switching to W at 10 to 15mph, sunny and 50 deg. Sat looks ok with NW wind around 10.

What is your timing for Fri.? I have to use up some vacation time I might make a trip up. It is 2.5 hrs away so I don't think I will be there real early. Looks like the direction gets better as the day goes on though.

There is a nice field off of 390...on Martin Rd. I believe it's called Martin Rd Park...Its about 6 soccer fields ganged together. I have a couple other fields like this, however when weather gets nice....all the HS kids are out practicing sports on them. I have a bunch of other fields that I fly in...some as big as 300 acre lots but they are private property. If you were with me that probably would be OK but it took me years for them to say yes and I don't want to freak them out. I will U2U my cell phone number...give me a call.
I would also be happy to meet you, have a beer, and get a game plan to go bang on some doors together for more field access.

sounds like some of the fields we have around here. The best one is 2400'w x 3700'L and it is a hay field, but they just plowed and replanted it last fall with a different kind of hay so it will be to thin and easily damaged to use this season. Other than that it is athletic fields, Victor High School is fun, it is terraced with grass slopes between the different fields. But we use the event parking at CMac the most. It wears tires quick due to the blacktop but you sure can fly. I got 1.5hrs after work tonight on a friends land sailor. I will give you a call.

I plan on being at Southwick by noon tomorrow, and buggy until I can't anymore. The forecast (NOAA - NW to WNW at about 11) has modified slightly, but still should be rideable. I'll park at the Beach Parking area, and set up on the beach, unless the water is real high, then I'll be at the end of the beach camping area, heading S into the Lakeview WMA.

Works for me, I should be there by noonish, unless the forcast goes to crap. See you on the beach.

Dredging up an old thread, I plan to spend this afternoon at Southwick Beach, forecast is for west wind about 10mph, so might get to use the Quadrifoil XXXL!

Have a blast, moving my daughter this weekend so I can't make it up. Rats!!!

Don't feel too bad, Rick, you didn't miss much. Wind averaged about 8mph, and varied from SW to NW and back over the course of the afternoon. I tried several different set-ups, and ended up on the 7.6M NPW9, my best speed of the day a mere 15 mph, but I put on 11 miles, poking around at an average 5 mph. I never even turned on the camera. Highlight of the day was when a small,(maybe 3 seater?)helicopter came screaming up the coastline from the south about 100 feet off the deck. I was eating a sandwich at the time, and had to jump out to where I had the kite staked out, to hold it down and keep it from blowing up into a knot from the prop-wash!

I'm headed to Southwick again this afternoon for a much needed session. Weather is sunny and high 60's, with wind from the west at 15-20! :wee:

Woke up this morning , looked out side , "damn wish I had checked the weather yesterday" I would have called in sick. Enjoy the day, it looks spectacular!

So I went to Southwick Beach yesterday, when I got there wind was right on shore about 15mph, and I immediately put up the 4.8M NPW, which I have on a 2-line bar. I got some excellent runs up and down the state beach area, before stopping to hook up my camera and gps. I rode for about an hour, then the wind dropped off a bit, and switched to SW. I took out the 7.6M NPW9, built by km4, and acquired recently from airin. I had to work my way in both directions, going upwind(S) tacking back and forth, and to the north, working the kite to keep from catching up to it. After about an hour of this, I took a break for some rest and sandwiches, and when I went back out the wind had picked up again, and went back to W. I took a couple of runs with the 7.6 and was powered enough that I decided to go back to the 4.8. I took a few runs that extended south into the WMA. There are signs there, every 50' or so, warning people that "Dunes are fragile, please stay out of the dunes". Well, I guess my attention lapsed for a sec., this is the result!

Oh no Bob... That sucks !!! What happened... Sign got hungry ?:dunno:

Anyway, I got 4 good years out of her, so not so hard to lay her to rest. Oh, I covered just under 30 miles in about 4 hrs of riding time, with a top speed of 19.5mph. I had a great day!

Yeah, the sign had evidently fallen over, and someone had propped it against another one, and wrapped some wire around it. It stuck up above the other signs by about a foot and a half. Bottom line snagged it going by, and before I could react, rrrrrip! I certainly got my money's worth out of it, though.

Of course, I didn't have the helmet cam on when it happened. I felt the line snag, and turned my head to watch, almost as in slow motion, the kite get pulled into the sign, even as I was trying to slide the buggy to a stop, and the kite just going "POP"! Ripped the bridle/outside reinforcement line right out of the kite. Then I had the 1/2 mile walk of shame. Got about 2 hrs of video to go through, and I'll post some of the ride.

Major bummer bobalooie, don't chuck it, NPW's are easily fixable. Hang on to it I will see what I can do with it.

I'll hang on to it, and you can try, but this kite is no where near crispy any more, I flew all that out over two years ago! Tell you what, I'll hang on to it for you, and if you can get it flying again, it's yours. I keep looking at today's forcast, looks about as good as yesterday! Darn, do I stay home and do yardwork, or go fly again???

Hi guys. My name is seth, and im from just west a couple miles from the city of syracuse. So i figured i'd introduce myself here. I have just started into kiting, when i recently purchased a peter lynn viper 2.6 from dakitez. I mainly use it currently for doing stunts, and having it drag me around. Brought it out this afternoon around 4ish to Oneida shores county park, wasn't much wind so it was hard to keep it in the air with the winds coming and going but boy are these things fun to play with.

I got the foil really dirty while trying to re-position it on the ground for the ever changing wind direction, what is the best way to clean these? I have heard just some warm water and paper towels will do the trick, but what do you guys think?

Welcome to the fun, Seth. snowspider is close to you, also in the Syr. area. I am about 70 mi. north of you, near Lowville, and the Tug Hill. We normally have good snow-kiting up here, but not so good this past winter. I also spend a lot of time at Southwick Beach, on Lake Ontario.(buggying right now, but maybe on the water this summer) As for your kite, if you can hang it up and give it a good rinse with the hose, or a shower head, unless the dirt is really ground in, it should rinse right off. Then leave it hanging to dry. Stay safe and have fun! Bob


nice to see she fly's, too!