I know there's no wind right now, but where is the best place for a beginner at Augusta? Got a mate who has had a couple of lessons but will still be spending some time body dragging/walk-of-shame-ing and probably crashing and re-launching. I've Kited there once or twice but haven't really looked at it in terms of where a beginner should go.
Hi Ericson,
In short Augusta is not really a good place for beginners with the SE winds being off-shore and then quickly on-shore as you get to the other side of the river... SE wind is really the only direction that works there, plus at this stage you will probably have to wait for next season to get decent SE winds there.
However you may have noticed (or may notice at some stage) a guy (Simon) teaching learners there. From watching many of his lessons I can tell you he's doing an amazing job considering the challenges and dangers of such a location. If you really must bring a learner there I would strongly suggest having a chat with him first to get some advice.
You'll notice he brings students from the car park in a boat to roughly the middle of the inlet where there is flat area to setup the kite and lines and where the wind is a lot less turbulent due to the dunes being much lower and flatter there. This means if you bring a student there he must cross (swim) the channel and then walk 1km to get to that spot, which is a bit of a mission on it's own.
You'll notice Simon also uses radio helmets so he can quickly tell students what to do if things start going pear shape.
Augusta only really works when the winds are above 20 knots, and when that's the case it typically picks up well above that and regularly hits 30 knots, sometimes more 
. This means learners should be on small kites for obvious safety reasons. I don't think I've ever seen Simon put up a kite bigger than a 6m, even for big dudes. I often see him teach water starts and upwind riding with 4m kites. Small kites are a lot safer since it minimizes the risk of being overpowered and quickly ending up on the other side of the bank, where you will find either steep dunes or lots of sharp bush and dangerous dead sticks everywhere.
Once you go past the middle of the river it gets deep so you can't stand and learners will quickly end up on the other side, which means beginners must be able to release the safety system and self recover their kite quickly before hitting the bush/dunes.
Last month I taught a friend to water start and ride upwind there. She was on a 3m kite with 25-30 knots winds ( I also could ride the 3m easily). It went pretty well but she had excellent self recovery skills when things went wrong. She ended up on the other side of the river twice, but no dramas since by then she had the kite secured in her hands.
Also, you have to deal with the typically very gusty winds there and very low winds at the surface of the water which typically makes relaunching much harder.
Wind strength is very misleading there as well, it may look and feel like 15 knots but once you get a kite 24m above the ground, you quickly realize it's more like 30 knots!
So yeah a lot of things to consider before bringing a learner there. Seen my fair share of kitemares and damaged kites down there, mostly from beginners.
Christian
Its worth walking the 1km up to the open shallow spot. Yes its a mission but its worth it. As Christian said .. you got to be really good at self rescue etc. as you can quickly be heading towards the other side of the river. You need to be a strong swimmer as you may ( will) be packing up your stuff and swimming back. Good idea to get a lesson or 2 with Simon.... worth it just to get a ride in his rubber ducky boat up the river...
Regarding the wind this time of year .. I have often found the wind better at the back end of the season.. can be really nice in March - April.. not as strong and terrifying :)
