Session 26 of the 2020 season:

4:13 PM on Saturday, August 22, 2020

Point Betsie, marginal kiteboard session

Very marginal 13M session with Russ (12M) and Wayne (14M).

Basically mowing the lawn, took a break, it picked a tad, went back out but still very marginally.

A first time for Wayne at PB, I’m glad he got a chance to kite here.

Winds from the SSW to 12-20 mph.

Session 25 of the 2020 season: A solid Pointe Betsy session

 1:24 PM on Thursday, August 20, 2020

Kitesurfing, finally a solid session at Point Betsy.

A classic Point Betsie day with it's sketchy launch and clean inside swell spaced 4 seconds apart. (That's classic PB)

Just 5-8 kiters and beach all to ourselves.

11 and 12M kites, winds 15-25 a tad more would of been sweeter.

Vince, Mark, John and others enjoyed an all day devotion to kitesurfing. 😎 and smiles all around Stormcloud for beers and dinner.

Session 21 of the 2020 season: Carving up some swell with Jeff Lovell at Point Betsie

10:59 AM on Friday, July 17, 2020
Kitesurfing at the former notorious Point Betsie
Point Betsie Launch has gotten better, more beach area this year.
Steady SSW winds to an estimated 20mph. Sunny mid-summer conditions.
13M conditions, with the TT board.
Carving up some swell with Jeff Lovell.

Session 38 of the 2019 season: Kitesurfing with waves at Pointe Betsie

11:38 AM on Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Kitesurfing with waves at Pointe Betsie
Finally had a near epic play day with Lake Michigan. Kitesurfing with the 11M and TT.
Carving, slicing and dicing the inside mostly clean waves.
75 degrees, pure Michigan sun and winds south 15-25 mph.

Jud, Rick, Johnny Stormcloud and a few others, 6 kiters total.

Point Betsie Beach, Surprisingly better then last year at this time.

Gear:    11M kite with TT board

TOB:    11:30-1:00

Wind:    South 15-25mph

Weather:   100% sunny, air temp mid-70s, water temp mid-60s

Surface:  2-4 foot outside swells, some clean waves inside

Session 52 of the 2018 season: Pt Betsie like no place else

Gear: 11M Naish with TT

TOB:  1:30-3:30

Winds:  Gnarly SSW 15-40 mph

Weather: 80 degrees, sunny  

Surface:  Started as small swell building as the day progressed

Highlights: While all other sites had 10-15 mph winds Pt Betsie had enough for a easy 11M session.

Pt Betsie session on the 11M with TT board.
Sunny, 80 degrees with SSW winds to 25 mph.
Solid wind, with a slow steady increase in the wind.
Fun day using 20 meter lines on new bar.
2 other kiters, one on a 12 another on a 9 with a foil board.

Session 41 of the 2018 season: Repeat of yesterday's Pt Betsy session

Repeat of yesterday's Pt Betsy session.

Gear:  9M with TT

TOB:  11:00-1:00

Winds:  25-35 generally from the south 

Weather: Hot, sunny 80s near shore  

Surface conditions: 2-3 footers

Highlights: 9M right from the beginning. And right from the beginning I was overpowered. Only carried my 9 and 11 the half mile hike to the launch. Held on to the 9 while others rigged 7s.
Still a fun session with lofty conditions almost identical to yesterday.
Sunny, hot, 80 degrees and hazy with generally south winds 20-30+ mph.
Totally exhausted after this 1.5 hour session.

Session 40 of the 2018 season: Pt Betsy the only game in town

No where else had wind, FF had a light breeze, Empire had an 8-12 light breeze. Pt Betsy had 9-11M conditions. This is becoming the new normal.

Gear:  11 down to 9 with TT

TOB:  2:00-4:00

Winds:  Generally south 15-30 mph 

Weather:   Sunny and hot 80 degrees near shore and 90s inland

Surface conditions: 2-3 foot swells

Highlights:

A great day at the notorious Pt. Betsy beach.
80 degrees and sunny with south winds from 15-30 mph.
Rode my 9M when I should of been on my 11M. Rode the 11M when I should of been on the 9M. Very lofty conditions and as expected nice swell to play on.
Overall one of the better days in the waves this year. 

  

Session 32 of the 2018 season: Not your typical 3 sesssion at 2 locations summer day

Pt Betsy, Usually a horrible beach launch. 

Finally the streak is broken, first rides since May 5.
An early morning marginal session at Empire Beach and two EPIC afternoon sessions at Pt Betsie.
What a difference a site makes..Frankfort had lite air with 2 big kites out while 10 miles down the road Pt Betsy was a solid 9 M.
Kited with Jason from downstate.

TOB:  Morning session at Empire 10:30-11:30. Afternoon sessions at Pt Betsie 3:00-4:00 (11M) and 5:00-6:30 (9M)

Gear: 11M Z1 and 9M Naish Pivot   

Surface conditions:  Lake Michigan swell 

Wind:  SSW at Empire 15-20 mph and Pt Betsy SSW 15-30+ mph 

Weather:  Summer type conditions, 70-75 degrees at the beach and sunny  

Highlights:  Using the new 9M Naish kite on some Lake Michigan, Pt Betsie swell. I love it!

Day 47 if the 2017 nseason: Point Betsie only site with enough wind for a 13M session

TOB: 4:30-6:00
Gear: 13M Z kite and TT
Water conditions: small sideshore swell
Wind: 12-20 mph and higher SSW side on
Weather:  mostly hazy, upper 70s
Highlights: Fun session, boosting with the 13M in overpowered conditions made for some nice floaters. Heading upwind to do some downwind carving on the outside swell, all was fun.
4 others kiting on 12M to 14M kites, TT and surf boards.

Frankfort wind data

Day 35 of the 2017 season: Point Betsy is on again while others are lite

Pt Betsy wins again, it was the only place that was windy enough to go out. Frankfort reported 10-15, Empire was 10-15 and Esch beach was lighter yet. So that's twice now that Pt Betsy was solid 11M while other beaches were 15 mph or less.
The one thing about Pt Betsy is the south winds seem to be a little bit side off and the way the pointe shoreline wraps around and the current flows it could present s hazard if something was to break down.
Although another quickie session due to a lightning storm heading toward land. As much of a wind drought its been lately it felt good


TOB:    2:30 - 3:30 cut short due to storms in the area
Gear:   11M Z1 and Mako TT 
Water conditions:   Some nice side on swell
Weather:    mid-70s and hazy with T-storm warnings
Wind:  side shore 15-30 mph
Highlights:  Nice wave carving conditions on the inside, very lofty conditions, I got some nice long hang time, floating jumps

Day 34 of the 2017 season: Notorious Pt Bestie launch is tamed down for now

Notorious Pt Bestie launch is tamed down for now. Bigger beaches and easier launching compared to the past two years. Hope it stays this way.
Damn cold water and air...nice but shorty session.

TOB:   5;00 - 6:00 quickie session
Gear:    11M Z1 and TT
Water Conditions:  small side shore swell
Weather:   sunny, very cold water and air, low -50s 
Wind:  solid side shore 15-25
Highlights: unsuspecting session, turned out good except very cold.

Day 39 of the 2016 season: Hard Luck Pointe Betsie fires up

It was meant to be a day at Frankfort, after waiting for wind I decided to follow the locales to Pt Betsie
Hard Luck Pointe Betsy fires up - I've had more kite trouble at this site. It's a sketchy launch, strong longshore currents, cobblestone rocks, deep water right off the beach, breaking waves right on the beach and beachgoers watching.
All of this added up on this day to possibly end my 2012 11 meter 2013 Z kite era.
I rigged my favorite kite the 11 Z, launched it in the air and headed out. Tried to time the shore break so to make it out safety.  As I put the board on my feet a quick moving  head high breaking wave smashed into me plummeting me. I put the kite quickly down in the water as I was getting rolled and twisted around in the surf. Well the same thing happened to the kite as it tumbled it got plummeted, shredded by the strong current pulling it and the crashing waves that buried it in water, sand and stones.

Maybe it's salvageable

After all the excitement I quickly wrapped up the shredded 11 and quickly rigged the 9 M Z.
I launched it with only a minor incident this time. Finally I got on the water to enjoy some massive easily head plus heights swell on the outside and cleaned up waves on the inside.
It turned out to be a great day carving in between the clean inside waves at the hard luck Point Bestie launch.


TOW: 2.5 hours from 4:00-6:30
Gear:  11M - 9M and TT
Water Conditions:  clean waves on the inside, massive SW swell on the outside
Weather:  Mostly cloudy mid 70s
Wind:  SSW is my guess up to 30 mph - side on direction
Highlight: plummeting my 11M in the impact zone and enjoying a great 9M wave carving session

Day 36 of the 2016 season: Fought hard to make it work at Point Betsie

Fought hard to stay upwind, and finally gave in and landed the other side of light house. Couldn't land before lighthouse, to many tourists on beach.
SSW winds to 18 maybe. Went with forecast and the forecast never materialize.
1.5 hours of mowing lawn trying to stay upwind but slowly lost ground due to the strong current and mediocre winds.
Several Kiters on the beach waiting for decent wind.
A foil boarder did good with a 13M kite. Another 12 M kite was doing better then me, he was upwind when I got there. He was able to land his kite where he launched from.
I'm not sure I like this venue, aways had shifty wind sessions here and the current is strong so it takes you north of the lighthouse when winds are lite.

TOW:  1.5 hours
Gear:  13M and TT
Water Conditions: Nearly flat to 1foot chop
Weather: Sunny 80s
Wind: SSW to 18
Highlight: Ended up on the north side of the lighthouse

Day 64 of of the 2015 season: Kiting at Point Betsie



Another challenging day with mostly side shore to side off wind toward the end. I would call it a marginally day with some highlights of good wind. One of those days where you build some confidence in the wind only to have it let you down by lulling. Luckily I could stay up wind during the steady periods and work my way downwind during the lulls. 4 other kiters showing up at Kite Point as they call it.  All were on 14s or bigger and still they had a challenging time.
Point Betsie isn't what it use to be. The higher water levels have taken away the most of the sandy beach and left impossible stones to launch and walk on. Really tough to self launch with the deeper water and side shore winds. The one good thing about Point Betsie is the way it juts out into Lake Michigan - I suspect it gets more wind then other nearby launch sites.

Halloween colors

Gear:   11M Rally kite and TT 140 Mako
TOW:  1:30 - 4:30 with a few lulls -  waited on the beach for lulls to end
Water Conditions:  started fairly flat and as the day progressed the waves picked up 2-4 footers
Weather:  Bluebird day, near 85 degrees - wore a shorty
Wind:   S-SSW-S  - again a gusty challenging day
Highlight:  Decent lifts with the new kite. Questionable lite wind pivoting of the Rally.