Session 52 of the 2019 season: Kitesurf Frankfort - very sloppy onshore waves and wind

12:22 PM on Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Kitesurf Frankfort - very sloppy onshore waves and wind
Session 1 of today: Frankfort
Onshore sloppy conditions with fading westerlies winds. Mostly rode the harbor, but still ugly conditions.
Mushy, head high waves on the north side of breakwall. Hard to ride with the wind direction onshore. Harder yet to get out through them
Mostly sunny and mid-60s.
Used the 11M with the TT board.
Solo session and I can see why.
After an hour I left and headed to Platte River Pt.

Gear: 11M Naish with the TT
Weather: Mostly sunny mid-60s
Winds: WSW to 30mph

Solo session with a few surfers

Session 50 of the 2019 season: Frankfort as it should be

4:10 PM on Saturday, September 21, 2019

Finally got a decent session at FF. Although a quickie

Rigged at 3 o'clock, launched by 4 o'clock, with solid 11M conditions.
Finally had a good session in the waves, cleaned up and well spaced on the inside with decent wind to carve up a few head high waves. 

After a few carves I decided to head over to the harbor. Found nice slicks to play in and the boosting was monster sized. Before I knew it I was totally depowered - wind had picked up to 30 plus.
I headed back to the open water and ended up on the inside carving up some of the best Lake Michigan can offer. By then it was raining lightly and I was in full depower mode and I was a little concerned. Headed in to land the kite and maybe rig the 9M. Since it was raining and I already had one kite wet and sandy I decided to call it a day. Although it was brief It was one of the better days in carve mode.
SSW winds to 35 mph, slick was nice, inside waves up to head high.
Cloudy, sprinkles and mid 70s.

A short one hour session.

Session 45 of the 2019 season: Waves, surfers and 7M at Frankfort

1:10 PM on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 

Waves, surfers and 7M at Frankfort

Punchy winds....Too light for the 7M on the inside. Some epic waves but I couldn’t play without risks. Had to cut the session short due to other priorities.
Harbor was steadier 7M conditions with no slick. Waves were coming over breakwall.
Mostly cloudy, 71 degrees, SW winds to 35 miles an hour.

About a dozen kiters on 7M to 11M kites.

Gear: 7M Pivot kite with TT board

Weather: Cloudy, low 70s, SW winds to 40 mph

Day 64 of the 2017 season: Two days worth of medicore, minimal sessions at Frankfort

Day one at Frankfort Beach, Friday 10/20:
Craig and I met at Frankfort beach for a day of kiteboarding, conditions looked good so we rigged our 9s and went out. Rode for less than an hour before the wind lightened up.
We hung around, waiting, but the wind never came back up.

TOW:  1 hour 1:30-2:30
Gear:  9M Z kite and TT Board
Water conditions:  some waves, 2-4 footers, clean on the inside but also spotty winds. Further out the wind was steadier.
Wind: South 12-25 mph
Weather: Bluebird day, another mid-60s October day
Highlights: Played on the inside for awhile, not crowded but the wind was sketchy, still managed to get some rides on the clean inside swell.



Relive this session 

Day two at Frankfort Beach, Saturday 10/21: 
Identical to day one, Craig and I went with the forecast which was decent. But again the wind blew for an hour before dying off.

TOW:  1 hour  2:30-3:30
Gear:  9M Z kite and TT Board
Water conditions:  some waves, 2-4 footers, clean on the inside but also spotty winds. The harbor had stronger winds with slick conditions
Wind: South 12-25 mph
Weather: Bluebird day, another mid-60s October day
Highlights: spent most of the time riding in the harbor where it was windier

Day 58 of the 2017 season: Chill out session from yesterday's frantic water rodeo

TOB: 3:00-4:45
Gear: 13M Z kite and TT
Water conditions: Open water 1-5 footers, Harbor was a slick
Wind: 15-25 SSW with a session ending lull at 4:45
Weather:  Bluebird 70 degrees plus
Highlights: Playing in the slick, nice jumps, nice ollies, getting nearer to pulling the trigger for a rotational move.
About 5-6 kiters and the same amount of surfers

Day 57 of the 2017 season: BIG DAY at Frankfort

The absolute biggest wave day I have seen here. The massive 10-15 footers on the inside were widely spaced and clean.  

I must admit heading out through the swell sure got the intimidation factor, (scared) going.
I got crushed by one I was riding in, crash on top of me from behind, I couldn’t out run it on the inside where the wind was fluky. Didn’t know how I would recover from that, but it all happen so quick, no tumbling, no rag dolling no harm was done. It just went over me and I made sure the kite stayed in the air and I came out the back side, no problem. I could only image what would of happen if I was on my windsurf rig.
The Harbor was a wild rodeo, 1-4 foot swell in the harbor. Spray from jetty going 20-40 feet up and blowing 50 yards into the harbor. 
Many surfers were on the best waves closer to the inside and they were hard to spot. I avoided their area and stayed out of their way. You come up on them so fast and they are hard to see in the wave troughs.
Surfers probably outnumbered the kiters, about a dozed kiters at the peak time, kite sizes ranged from 7M to 12M.
An excellent day but a little bit intimidating at times 


TOB: 1:30-3:30
Gear: 9M Z 100% depowered and TT board
Water conditions: Biggest waves I've ever seen here
Wind: 30-40 mph
Weather:  warm, cloudy 70ish, still using my 3/4 wetsuit comfortable
Highlights: The absolute biggest wave day I have seen here, massive 10-15 footers. Some fantastic wave surfing in the surf and excellent jumping in the harbor

FF wind data from WA

Day 75 of the 2016 season: Frankfort with Gnarly conditions and a bad call at the end

Not to many days in November that warm up to 65-70 degrees especially in late November. Also my first session at Frankfort this season.

A quickie session due to the gnarly conditions at Frankfort beach.
Several kiters out on 9s to 17s. With 12 being the average size.
Rigged my 11 during a lull and headed out during a puff.
Enjoying the ride on the north side of the harbor, some shoulder high clean swells to play on. Had to avoid the surfers and fight the gustiness of the south winds on the inside but all was good..

Wind data from thr Frankfort Light

Suddenly out of nowhere a heavy rain squall appeared and ramped the winds up to 30-40 mph. Struggled on the wild ride out during the heavy rain squall, but the toeside rides in with excess wind were worth the effort.  Just as the swell kicked up quickly to well over head height the wind lulled. Most kiters struggled in along with myself.
Landing my kite in the rain while others went back out as the wind again ramped up.
I was either going call it quits or rig my 9M. With the rain still falling, did I want to get 2 kites wet and sandy?

So I ended up wrapping up my 11 and calling it quits.  After that I was very disappointed in my call. I missed another 1.5 hours of good 9M or 6.5M conditions - should of, could of but didn't. I watched as the winds looked steady and guys on 8-12s were ripping it up. Not happy with my decision...but oh well live and learn...

 

South entrance light

TOW:   2:45-3:45                          
Gear:  11M Z1 and TT
Water Conditions:    shoulder high to over head high mostly clean
Weather:   65-70 degrees partly cloudy to heavy rain squalls
Wind:  20-40 mph S to SW to S
Highlights: head high clean swells inside - gnarly conditions during a rain squall

Day 68 of the 2015 season: Nearly a repeat at Frankfort

Topping the Frankfort Lighthouse

Carving hard in the harbor

Met up with Jerry and on the water by 11 with the 11M for me and 12M for Jerry.
I rigged the Rally for the light winds, first knot on the inside lines and last knot on the outside.
I did notice a slight difference on the lighter side of the wind and a big difference with the heavy wind, overpowered much sooner then I expected. Where as yesterday with the middle knot rigged I could handle much higher winds.
Jerry was tearing it up, all kinds of jumps, rolls, ollies and other maneuvers I can't  even describe.
We headed to the harbor and rode there for a while until the wind got to be to much for me  - so headed in wanting to rig my 9. As I derigged my 11M and took a lunch break the wind dropped off and was no longer good.
Although it worked perfect for Jerry. Here it was about 2:30 and he had to leave by 3. So he got the maximum out of it from 11:00 - 2:30  just as he planned.
Some board foils went out in the lighter wind and they had them going well. Another group took off for a down winder to Point Betsie just before the wind dropped.
I saw some 8M kiters in the surf earlier and others on 11 to 13M kites throughout the 2.5 hour session.

Frankfort Harbor from the Elberta Dunes

Gear:    11M Rally with 140 TT an
TOW:   11:30 - 2:00
Water Conditions: Smaller 2-4 foot waves starting out and then getting bigger 4-6 feet as wind picked up in the afternoon
Weather:   sunny 70s
Wind:    SSW to 30
Highlight: Met up with Jerry and he did time it perfectly

Day 67 of the 2015 season: Frankfort Rocks and Rolls

Near Epic conditions with kite sizes ranging from 7M - 12M seen on the water.

I started out with the 11M Rally kite and finished on the 9M. 
Playing on the north side of harbor in the waves and then over to the harbor for some flat water fun.
A nice venue -  where you have the best of both harbor flat water and some of the best waves I've seen on Lake Michigan. The SUP Surfers were getting long rides on the inside.
Finally a good demo of the Rally and I liked it. I rigged it for medium winds, middle knot front lines and last knot outside lines. I was able to hold on to it at 30 mph plus. Good boost, good turning, thus good carving, good range, it does all the things the Z did with the exception of much better boost. I still don't like the higher aspect ratio versus the Z.  Nearly impossible to flip over in deep water if you need to do a self rescue.
Overview: fantastic day on the water. All aspects were coordinated; wind speed/direction, air/water temperature. A few more degrees of west might have been better yet.
 










Frankfort Airport wind data

Gear:    11M Rally and 9M Z with 140 TT and Duke Surf board
TOW:   11:30 - 6:00
Water Conditions: 8-10 footers at peak to harbor flat water
Weather:   sunny upper 70s
Wind:    SSW to estimated 40 mph
Highlight: good day in for testing  the Rally









Day 65 of the 2015 season: Another one crossed of the bucket list

We had this day all planned out and thankfully the forecasted wind cooperated although another 5-10mph would of helped.
Met up with Craig at Frankfort for a day of kiting.
Before he arrived and the winds inside were still light I blew up my inflatable SUP and SUP surfed for an hour or so. Had fun catching some 2-4 foot inside well organized surfable waves - this could be an addicting sport.
When Craig arrived we rigged our big kites on the not so crowded Frankfort beach, little did we know how crowded it would become in a few hours. We launched and kited on the north side of the breakwall for awhile in marginally light winds, at one point I actually tried to head in it was that light. When I did get to the inside it was as fluky and the kite dropped, couldn't relaunch, people in the way etc..... finally got it back up in the air and decided to head back out.  Luckily it did pick up a tad and I was able to gain upwind ground. Meanwhile Craig was still out doing good considering the conditions.
Played on the north side for awhile then decided to head to the inside of the harbor. Once in the harbor the wind was still borderline most of the time and going toeside was difficult but other times it worked. Spent a few hours playing in the harbor with some butter smoothness and some small chop for chop hops. Finally headed back out to north side due to wind getting lighter. Got to the crowded beach with fluky winds and a difficult landing.
We took a break, derigged and got out of the beach crowd.
We then headed over to the other side at Elberta. Launched in the harbor and did a evening quickie session with 45 minutes of powered conditions.
I counted 9 kiters at peak and 20 plus surfers on the waves.
Then a well earned happy hour and dinner up the road at the Cabbage Patch eatery.

For a current live view of Frankfort Harbor click here http://midawnpatrol.com/frankfort-surf-cam
and https://53b01ef256b9e.click2stream.com/

                                                

Frankfort Harbor  

TOW:  11:00 -3:30 and 5:00 - 6:00
Gear:   11M Rally, 11M Z, TT, Naish Nalu SUP board
Water Conditions:  some nice swells/voodoo swell/butter smooth flat water
Weather:  mid-80s
Wind:   12-25 SSW
Highlight:  The Frankfort Harbor, SUP surfing at Frankfort Beach, 80 degrees at midnight in Empire.

Frankfort area wind data