Moving to SA in January 04

[Fleetboarder]

Hi all,

I will be moving to South Australia in late January and am looking for somewhere to live (rent) where I can get to the water for a kite after work. I will be knocking off around 5pm and working in the Elizabeth/Salisbury area. It's only me who will be living there because I have no friends (sob).

I don't mind travelling to work for an extra few minutes if I have to. So long as I can get on the water for a kitesurf, I am happy.

I have been told Largs bay is the spot to aim for. Is this correct? Are there any other places around that I can kitesurf within 45 minutes or so of Elizabeth/Salisbury. Is rent relatively cheap for say a 3 bedroom house/unit with lock up garage?

I am moving from Perth so I have been spoiled with the conditions for launching, cruising, boosting and access as well as the choice SW winds (gotta love the Dr.).

I would be very grateful for any info provided. Thanks, and I look forward to the replies. :wink:

[nigel]

I would try:
www.kitefactory.com.au
Anyone there will answer your questions and give you plenty to think about.
Good luck and dodge the sharks (ask Phil if you don't beleive me!!)

Nigel

[Fleetboarder]

Thanks, Nigel. That's a great start. Ummm.....sharks? I'm not sure who Phil is unless you meant Phil from The Kite Factory. Care to elaborate. I guess that just gives incentive to not crash your jumps.

[nigel]

Yes Phil from the Kite Factory.
As for the sharks, I know of several stories of shark sightings in and around the popular spots.
Best one was the fisher men putting blood in the water to attract sharks at the end of the pier at Semaphore(sp?) beach. While the boys were out kite surfing!!
The fisher men report it is not uncommon to see 6ft sharks and bigger
A very nice place to kite surf and the kite festival is held there as well.
Don't know if it is still on the flexifoil web site, but one of there photographers (i think) was attacked while out (several kms from shore) while in South Africa about a year or so ago. Rember your Jaws sound track. Well it was a great white!!!
Hope I havn't scared you too much.
I do have a few more shark stories but there would be plenty more on a kite surf forum.
Mmmmm might have to start a topic up on the subject on one group??

Nigel

[Fleetboarder]

Thanks, Nigel.

Nah, you haven't scared me off at all. Remember what happened to each shark at the end of each Jaws. (Maniacal) Hahahahahaha, I spit in the sharks general direction, ptooey. :twisted:

As for the dude in South Africa who got munched, I mean seriously, what was he thinking? He must have been on a pure adrenalin rush to think he would be okay several km's offshore without getting nibbled on. :roll:

I'll check in with Phil (or maybe it's best not to talk to him....) and have had a look on his site but it appears to be mainly stunt kites (trying saying that after a few drinks. You'll see what I mean :oops: :oops: Does he dabble in kitesurfing that you are aware of or is he mainly selling Q-Powerline??

I think there is a thread on shark attacks at kiteforum.com It's a pretty good site for information but the users don't seem to want to reply to anything that is posted unless you are 'popular'.

That's not a bad idea at all, actually. I've got a couple of little stories to deal with the odd shark as well in Western Australia. Would you like the honours??

[schultzie]

ill jump in here phil is a kite surfer and a mad buggier, he is one of the only people i have seen do six foot jumps in a buggy. yeah call him he is the person to talk to,

Justin

[Fleetboarder]

This isn't an isolate post between Nigel and myself. Anybody is free to contribute. Thanks for the tip on Phil, you guys. I'll be hooking up with him within the first week of being in SA. I hope he is a member of this forum and sees the post so he can help with maybe a spot or two to kite and also for me to live in.

The shark thread has got me intrigued. Would any people out there be interested if such a thread was started. I don't think the buggiers would really be that freaked out by one but it would make for interesting reading with a few "ooohs" and "ahhhhs" forthcoming.

[nigel]

Yeh Yeh!!!
More shark stories!!!
But first I do know that Phil is a mad kite surfer so please contact him.
I know that his web site needs a bit of work.
I don't think that he is on this forum, too busy kite surfing!!!
As for sharks, again in South Africa. In a local down wind race of 10 or so kms. One guy was going well when all of a sudden, he was thrown as his board seemed to hit something.
Checked his board and saw that he was missing a fin or two, but carried on and finished in the top ten for the race.
Only on closer inspection did he see the teeth marks under the board.
What is thought to have happened is that one sepcies of sharks food is fast moving school fish, so they think that it was one of these sharks as the smaller tooth marks seemed to match the shark.
Great animals sharks. The only two animals that have not evolved in the last million years or so are croc's and sharks. Very nice work by mother nature there. :)

Nigel

[Fleetboarder]

A Canadian friend of mine (Sam) was out at our local spot in WA at around 1730 (just before dusk). He was scooting in and out pretty much holding his ground. The wind was a steady 15kts and he was having a ball after being able to finally get upwind.

When he finally came in, he mentioned that he had cruised right over the top of an estimated 8ft Bronze Whaler shark which was just below the surface where the island ferry was parked for the night. The shark appeared to not have heard him coming at all but shat when he glided (glud??) over the top of it and pissed off real quick.

But, so elated was Sam that he was sailing upwind, he didn't let that bother him but pulled a nice carving turn and out he went again.

He would have been no more than 15 metres out from the shoreline and I guess the water would have been about 6ft deep.

Whalers are pretty common over here. A lot of them are out the back of Penguin Island and Garden Island. Like, a LOT of them!!