Hey everyone
I can't seem to find a forum for people mostly in Iowa so I thought I would try here. I also tried kiteforum.com but it seems no one is from the area on there either. I am new to Kiteboarding (never riden, only wakeboarded before) and unfortunatly know very little about it other than what I have read, which isn't much yet. I would like to find anyone that is either in the area (Waterloo to be exact) or even remotly close by to maybe help me in starting to learn how to fly.
If there is anyone out there that would be willing to help out a beginner or steer me in the right direction, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! My kite needs to get some air!
Thanks Ben
New to Kiteboarding in Iowa
Moderator: MK
contact Casey(casey_j_powers@hotmail.com) or Jesse (jessekroese@yahoo.com). They are great guys and awesome kiters in the Okoboji/Spirit lake area.
Tighe
Tighe,
I think you've got the wrong Jesse. Jesse Leiss's (the boji kiteboarder) email is leissj at homail.com.
Jesse and I have not started the Kiteboardiowa forum yet, because a two person forum is kind of pointless don't you think? Especially since we just drive to the lake everyday and if it's windy, we go. Same plan, everyday. I did hear rumors of someone body dragging with a kite on Saylorville, but have yet to confirm that. I think all the kiters on Clear Lake are Minnesotans, right? It would be nice to have another. Ben, I'll shoot you an email and let you know what's up.
Casey
I think you've got the wrong Jesse. Jesse Leiss's (the boji kiteboarder) email is leissj at homail.com.
Jesse and I have not started the Kiteboardiowa forum yet, because a two person forum is kind of pointless don't you think? Especially since we just drive to the lake everyday and if it's windy, we go. Same plan, everyday. I did hear rumors of someone body dragging with a kite on Saylorville, but have yet to confirm that. I think all the kiters on Clear Lake are Minnesotans, right? It would be nice to have another. Ben, I'll shoot you an email and let you know what's up.
Casey
Ben,
I decided to post here so someone can correct me if I'm wrong about anything.
You're more than welcome to come over to Okoboji and ride with us. We would be happy to help you rig your gear, and show you where the launches are around Okoboji and Spirit Lake, and arrange a ride back upwind when possible. However, 75% of the areas we ride from are onshore or side-on wind conditions, which require upwind ability. We generally don’t have a boat either. I’m not sure what your ability is. Have you body dragged before? How much have you flown the trainer? I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending you out on the lakes here without a boat if you have not had a lesson. We can arrange a lesson if you would like, which is highly recommend. Tighe can set up a lesson also. He is an excellent PASA certified instructor, although the winds are less reliable in The Cities. Although wakeboarding is probably the best sport to crossover from, kite skills are essential to safe riding.
If you have never went and want to learn quickly and safely, take a week, go to South Padre or Cape Hattaras take a day of lessons and then go out the rest of the week, all day until you hurt. You generally can learn as much in one week there as you can in half a summer in the midwest. If you have limited kite skills, you also may want to wait until we get some snow and get out on the in the winter. The learning curve is much less steep, but again I would recommend a lesson. Let me know if we can help you get going.
Casey
I decided to post here so someone can correct me if I'm wrong about anything.
You're more than welcome to come over to Okoboji and ride with us. We would be happy to help you rig your gear, and show you where the launches are around Okoboji and Spirit Lake, and arrange a ride back upwind when possible. However, 75% of the areas we ride from are onshore or side-on wind conditions, which require upwind ability. We generally don’t have a boat either. I’m not sure what your ability is. Have you body dragged before? How much have you flown the trainer? I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending you out on the lakes here without a boat if you have not had a lesson. We can arrange a lesson if you would like, which is highly recommend. Tighe can set up a lesson also. He is an excellent PASA certified instructor, although the winds are less reliable in The Cities. Although wakeboarding is probably the best sport to crossover from, kite skills are essential to safe riding.
If you have never went and want to learn quickly and safely, take a week, go to South Padre or Cape Hattaras take a day of lessons and then go out the rest of the week, all day until you hurt. You generally can learn as much in one week there as you can in half a summer in the midwest. If you have limited kite skills, you also may want to wait until we get some snow and get out on the in the winter. The learning curve is much less steep, but again I would recommend a lesson. Let me know if we can help you get going.
Casey
Go to Pleasant Creek
Ben,
There are a bunch of windsurfers down in the Cedar Rapids area (about 6 diehards or so) that sail a lot out at pleasant creek lake near Palo which is only about a 1/2 hour from Waterloo. One of the guys does some kiteboarding - his name is Robin Shaw. You might also contact Jon Okerstrom in Cedar Rapids as well.
There is also a windsurfing shop now in Cedar Rapids called SeataSea - their website is http://www.seatasea.com - go there and you can follow the links to Jon Okerstrom's windsurfing
webpage ,
http://homepage.mac.com/jokerstrom1/win ... enu12.html
- I think you can contact him via that. Otherwise, I know that both of the fellas are in the Cedar Rapids phonebook. They would be more than happy to help out - I began my windsurfing at Pleasant Creek and they were of great help to me learning.
On a sidenote, I just moved to Davenport, Iowa and am looking for windsurfers who sail the Mississippi. I'm finding that with the right wind direction, big rollers can develop up the channel making for big fun. Anyone who has insight to windsurfers in the area please email me at
clambi@shive-hattery.com
Good luck!
Chad
There are a bunch of windsurfers down in the Cedar Rapids area (about 6 diehards or so) that sail a lot out at pleasant creek lake near Palo which is only about a 1/2 hour from Waterloo. One of the guys does some kiteboarding - his name is Robin Shaw. You might also contact Jon Okerstrom in Cedar Rapids as well.
There is also a windsurfing shop now in Cedar Rapids called SeataSea - their website is http://www.seatasea.com - go there and you can follow the links to Jon Okerstrom's windsurfing
webpage ,
http://homepage.mac.com/jokerstrom1/win ... enu12.html
- I think you can contact him via that. Otherwise, I know that both of the fellas are in the Cedar Rapids phonebook. They would be more than happy to help out - I began my windsurfing at Pleasant Creek and they were of great help to me learning.
On a sidenote, I just moved to Davenport, Iowa and am looking for windsurfers who sail the Mississippi. I'm finding that with the right wind direction, big rollers can develop up the channel making for big fun. Anyone who has insight to windsurfers in the area please email me at
clambi@shive-hattery.com
Good luck!
Chad