Dumb move of the day - Sunday at EB
 

kid on red 2008 11m waroo letting his friend try out his kite. I was on water watching the show.. launching from shoreline with kite towards water (only smart thing done)..

guy obviously has no idea how to fly a kite and it goes up, then down, then relaunch and it goes up to 12...then dives directly towards the road, does at least 2 complete loops, scatters people and the beach and finally flags out to safety.

i ride up and ask the kid that owns the kite (ive seen him trying to ride the last couple times i've been out.. new rider..lots of walks up the beach)..

i say something like "are you giving a lesson?" he says "no" .. i say "does he know how to fly a kite?".. he says "ya, but not one this big".. i say "do not launch him again.. very unsafe"... and i ride off and kept a watch.

if the owner of kite is reading this, you have to realize how absolutely stupid that was. if the guy you launched didnt know how to flag out the kite or if the wind came up he would have been seriously hurt. not to mention the ton of people on the beach.. stunts like that risk the beach access for all of us.

Please dont ever do that again.. if your friend took lessons and you want to have him demo your kite.. or even if you are going to be one of those hardasses that insists on not taking lessons.. you launch the kite and you both must absolutely walk out to the sandbar.. takes a few minutes, but 10000% safer for everyone..

sorry to sound like a prick, but you really could have hurt your friend or someone on the beach.

Everyone's primary concern is for safety and keep our riding areas open..

Ughh... dat don't sound two smart.

Well, smartest move of the day -- Mike Hall took his girlfriend downwind of everyone (except Ross, Adam, Bill and I who ride DW away from the crowd these days) to train her. Kudos to Mike. Mike gave his lesson where all lessons out there should be given, imo. Thanks for thinking of your girl and others and making the effort to positively avoiding a tangle up Mike (impossible to tangle with no one around). :p

I actually saw that. Unfortunately I had pre-promised my girlfriend about a week ago that I'd go on a bike ride with her at the park(of course it ended up being on one of the best kite days in a while), so I wasn't out on the water. After our ride, we took the car down to EB to check out how many people were on the water. I'm a new rider, and just finishing up my lessons, so this was her first time actually going with me and seeing kiteboarding live and in person other than the videos she sees me watch.
So we're sitting in the car and I'm explaining everything to her, and she's asking questions. We see this guy tryin to launch and as you described its not going too good, and I'm explaining launching and landing to her cause one day I'm sure she'll have to help me launch. Suddenly this kite loops a couple times uncontrollably and scatters people.
What's the end result? She's freaked out that she could screw up launching me one day, and I'm sure the first time we're at the beach together and I need a launch, that's the first memory she'll have.
At least she knows it was just a screw up and that it doesn't translate into kiting=death

Stevil Kenevil, you're my hero!!!

But seriously, Steve is right, there are WAY too many instructors in this area for kooks to be going out and learning on their own or from their friends. Seek out lessons and live to kite another day. :)

Guys in questions came to the WSW safety class and show serious signs of wanting to learn the fundamentals of the sport. I think they are in alot better shape about the sport mentally, and have really good attitudes toward learning and wanting to be safe. We can only hope the lessons I taught them they will use.

I agree that these guys need to be talked to, but lets try to keep it somewhat diplomatic as to help nurse these guys in the right direction rather than alienating them from wanting to enjoy this sport.

Good work though at recognizing and taking action Bryan and Steve-O, this is what needs to happen so thanks!

I agree Danimal.
I am really glad that so many people are involved with wanting to keep things safe. I could tell many were concerned about it at EB yesterday and most riders were being pretty cool. At the same time, I think this is an exceptionally tricky topic (use of forum to call out) and could blow up in our faces or get negative and non-productive pretty quickly if it turns into a finger pointing contest, especially towards newbies. My main concern is that we might make newbies feel like if they screw up even once, our first response will be to grill them on the forum. That makes them less likely to ask for help or maybe try to learn on their own (maybe).
I also have concerns about "who taught you anyways?" and other stuff like that. I think this rider was in the wrong, but it sounds like he could have been talked to (grilled) at the beach. I guess he was, so I am sort of not seeing the point in posting, unless he is a repeat offender and we sort of know it's gonna happen again.

Can I suggest we try to work most stuff out at the launch site, that day? If the rider becomes a "repeat offender" over time, then maybe mentioning it on here is a good idea (I don't know). I am just concerned we might start listing every bad thing we see. One concern over that is the press and anyone else can easily hop on here and throw that stuff right back in our faces, or might get a one-sided view. I know on KF a few people now think all FL riders are wankers. That's not what I think we should do, personally.
I know Jim Wilson (Ft DeSoto) reads this forum, which is in our favor. But, it could turn on us if someone wanted to paint us in the wrong light. We have PMs and phones and stuff (again, just ideas) I have real concerns over internet frenzy as opposed to face to face. There is absolutely no substitute for face to face, imo.

In addition, I still think that it's our veteran riders that will most likely always be the hardest to deal with. I can't help but think a newbie is easier to target, so we do it. I happen to think the beach (especially with downwinders) is our biggest weakness right now, if riders cruise down the beach and repeatedly stay/ get close to shore.
I have and always will think that the beach is the first place that we will lose. This is the type of thing I don't want to be right on, btw.
But it's not hard to screw up and hit a person with your board when riding close on a DW or eventually clothes-line a person walking on the shoreline if you do enough tricks close to shore and dump the kite. It's coming up on March (spring break and seabreezes), and it doesn't take a genius to see how tons of spring breakers and guys showing off right next to them might turn out.

Do we have any agreements whatsoever about staying away from shore? Or our we just blowing it off?

Anyway, glad you guys care. My thoughts are just that, I am not ever going to pretend that I know the answers on how to do this "right". I do know having some guys that are concerned along with 95% of the riders being safe is far better than most areas in the country, so we have a really good start.

Bravo!

I am the first to admit that I had a few too-close to the shore jumps yesterday.. it didnt seem like it on take off but I hit them as floaters more than boosters and I ended up way too close.. sorry if I got in anyones way.

The couple instances aside, I still think I am very conscious of riders trying to leave the beach .. we MUST give them right of way. I came in twice yesterday and each time I went out (so 3 times total) I had to wait for guys as they rode up to the shoreline, did a quick jump transition right behind me where i had to move my kite clear across the window fully onshore to avoid being tangled. Not Cool.

I should have put down my kite and said more.. but I was pretty pissed and admit that I am not that great at keeping my cool when I see stuff like this.

I like to say that I would be calm and reasonable.. but I know that when I saw it happen my blood began to boil a bit.

Next time I will put down my kite.. see if I can grab some others to help me approach him.. maybe an instructor so that if the questions of lessons come up they can jump in and see what can be worked out.

I know that I've seen stuff like this go down and Ive seen guys on the beach offer immediate help/lessons and work with getting the rider up and going that day ..free of charge.. and everyone walks away feeling better.

if anyone finds out who the guy is, hopefully they can get a hold of them and figure out a way to get the new rider on the water in the safest way possible.

here's my dumb move of the day...
back story ...
As soon as the wind started picking up i was riding up wind like a mofo...(hard to do on my french fry board) put my kite down for a while after trying a jibe w/a underhand loop kinda(not sure what to call it) and bashing the hell outa my leg.... so around 5:00 i decided to get a quick couple of tacks
but i couldnt get up on a plane...(wind had died) well not with my board. So im walking back up the beach and this woman says watch out...! your going to trip over my lines....and she goes behind me... so i look to see what shes doing for 2 seconds, I turn around and my kites wrapping up with someone else's....:eek:
he pulled the qr and fed his bar through my lines ... but damn that almost sucked bigtime ....

Cool Bryan. I am just glad you care. We have a lot of really good people here and this stuff will work out. It's my feeling that it always works better face to face, for so many reasons.
Yikes, been there, done that. Brain fart :)
Well, Billy lent me his brand new Ion3 to try out. Here I am, feeling unworthy of being on "the" kite, but just don't want to make an ass of myself, ya' know?
Okay, after I have it for all of 30 seconds and still on shore (man it was crowded) I come unhooked, one handed (board in other hand) and basically get semi worked and almost hit a car.
Yep, I sure made "the man's" kite look good. :rolleyes:

First off, I don't give a crap what any rider ANYWHERE else in the world THINKS of Florida kiters. Florida kiters, especially the ones in this area are the best bunch of people I know of and would want to be associated with, if they are insulting Florida kiters then they are insulting my second 'family' so to speak. So if some idiots think we are wankers they can kiss my white ass because I really don't care about their perception of us. Sounds like the real drama is out there on KF...think about it...who are the real wankers???

That being said, I think that people should be called out in as many ways as possible if they are exhibiting this type of dangerous behavior. I am all for "being cool" and "sharing the stoke" but I think it takes a real wake up call for people that do this kind of stuff to finally realize how stupid they are being. Steve-O obviously knows these people, it sounds like there is a pattern that has developed with these two and newbs or pros it doesn't matter, they are risking injury or death to themselves or others, everyone's beach access, negative press of our sport, etc by doing things like this.

Do I think that every last person should be called out at the beach or on the forum because they had a kitemare or made a mistake? NO. ESPECIALLY the newer riders should be given a LOT of slack and I think that after you have been up and riding proficiently for a year or so we tend to get amnesia about about how hard it was for all of us when we were just learning. And these days it is even harder with all of the crowds. So I DO think that in MOST cases we need to help and offer our support to people learning and learning the RIGHT way, by taking lessons. That is how most of us have done it and the real way to gain the respect of the other kiters is to PUT YOUR TIME IN like all of the rest of us have. But blatant stupidity deserves to be called out in and I am glad that Bryan (and Steve-O) did it.

Only a few guys on KF said that. I think it's because it was implied we don't care and not that many were posting. So some people ran with it. That phenomena does matter to me because it illustrates the kind of conclusions that can be reached by some without having all the information, especially if it's hinted that no one cares or we are stupid or whatever.
It matters because if a person with any authority to help or hurt (legally or otherwise) reads it, we look bad and that may affect their decision to work with us. This stuff isn't written in a total vacuum. Just my opinion again.

Ultimately whatever the group consensus, I am mainly hoping it be applied even handedly. If most people think naming names will guarantee I can still ride St. Pete beach next year, I will participate. Thanks for the inputs Toby (can I have my bar before....... lol :) )

I already took a jigsaw to it Scott. ;)

I don't think name-dropping is cool but letting one know that their actions won't be tolerated by posting 'the two guys on the 11M Waroo'...It gets the point across to them that what they did was dangerous but doesn't point the finger at their NAME on the forum persay. It is a learning process and learning how to kite involves learning when you did something wrong IMO.

On a side note, I DID see that F#%king idiot on the 16M Thruster make a couple of stupid moves again yesterday too... :)

Yeah, I DID appear to be a little brown in the trousers that day but Stevil had it comin' to him!!! Catch me if you can...BIATCH!!! VROOM!!! VROOM!!!

Dude where did you get wonder woman's mini bike?

wheelin' and dealin'
 

I traded 3 slices of a stale pizza with that dude from the beach with the rhinestone flip flops.

lol holy sh1t that was great

Kooks At Siesta - Anyone Got Any Steroids?
 

So I am at my usual spot at Siesta and I see this small blue RRD at the smallest (least wide) part of the north end of the beach crashing next to the water, in the water, next to walkers (most crowded weekend - we had hundreds of beach walking tourists)

Anyway, I haul my old wrinkly ass up there and here are these two kooks, look to be in their 40s, both seem schnockered and one is wearing a hillbilly straw-hat (no shit)

Apparently the one dude who owns the new hyper type has been letting people fly his LF 3m trainer and then take control of the 8 or 9m RRD - I tell him he should pack it in - he and his buddy get in my face and since I am an OG (and apparently not very threatening looking) they tell me where to shove my comments

I swear if I had a knife I would have poked his freaking kite

Anyway, I gotta run to the club, gonna get doped up and huge and then kick some ass next time

OS/SRQ/an OG who at least tried

I agree, for the most part most of us are friends. That's why I debated this post. At some point you have to put principle before being liked by everyone though. Ultimately I got into to kiting to kite, not be everyone's friend.

I know what that feels like Oldschool, trust me.
What really sucks is when you do that respectfully a few times and get blown off or have the story twisted around to the point where you are somehow the bad guy for wanting to preserve access. I and others have approached a few of the same riders regarding riding in swim zones (more importantly close to swimmers and near beach-goers) and have been blown off or just given lip service to appease us. These same riders have continued the behavior that they said they would not do.
The particular behavior that concerns me is riding close to shore in areas with swimmers. As we have seen recently, this can very easily lead to bans. If I originally didn't know this was possible (it happened at Ft. DeSoto about 4 years ago) I would have never even cared or brought up the issue. But, it's obvious that riding in swim zones full of people is a bad idea, that a few riders in particular have been talked to, PM'd etc. going back a ways, and that things are still basically the same in terms of continuing to ride close to shore within swim zones along the entire beach.

I feel that talking with them hasn't achieved much and gave up pretty much after hearing and reading their response. Because of this, I have reached out for help from some other guys I respect locally and am hoping they can talk these guys into staying a safe distance from swimmers and shore.

I and am going to wait to see if their efforts have an effect on the rider(s). In a few weeks if nothing has changed, I will make it abundantly clear who I am talking about and will be sorely disappointed if guys like Neil shy away or take sides based on "rider profile/friend status" as opposed to the facts and what's right.
Especially in light of his recent statements on KiteForum and the recent losses of access in areas like Pompano and possibly Lauderdale.

I guess we will see. I gave this approach a lot of thought before this post.
I have recently seen a conflict on Kiteforum about someone riding in swim zones and realize that he said/he said is easy to squirm out of without some sort of proof. So, as dumb as I feel doing it, I will have a video camera on me at all times when at the beach. It's not my sole intent to make a person look bad and my clip if made won't be a 2 second clip "catching someone" near shore. No, it will be many minutes long, showing a clear behavior. My goal is to have the behavior stop. I don't dislike or like those involved any more than any other rider.
Yesterday I could have made a very long tape, btw, but opted not to without prior warning.
So, if you end up on here on film, it's your fault for putting our access at risk. We clearly have several riders throughout the state saying "post it", including Neil, and I will post it in efforts to have the behavior stop. I personally am not really into naming names and consider it a last resort.
I won't however, just sit and watch as people risk access to a beach I walked as a child, especially in light of the current bans.
I still can't believe some guys have to be dealt with in this fashion, but so be it.

I am a new rider who took lessons. I was flying the green North rebel on sunday. I am not 100% sure how kiting etiquette goes so feel free to call me out if you see me doing something stupid. I rather hear it from someone who knows what they are talking about than get hurt or get someone else hurt.

Kiting etiquette rule #1:

Don't walk down the mangrove path at the backside to take a poop, you might regret it.

Just so you don't have to be calling anyone out a few weeks down the line, i'm about 95% sure your referring to myself and my fellow eckerd college kiteboarders. My number is 203 918 6637, i don't believe anymore in getting forum ****ed or doing it to anyone else, you never have called me, pm'd me or emailed me. I would very much like to talk about this situation with you in a civilized manor preferably face to face or on the phone. If its not myself or my riders I am sorely mistaken and apologize for responding.
-Matthew Sexton
sextonmg@eckerd.edu
(203) 918 6637 (Cell)
(727) 368 1069 (Home)
President/ co-founder
Eckerd College Kite Club

Just call me scott. Don't want to argue.

you responded to the last post in seconds, i'm sitting by my phone and don't have your number, but would like to talk, mine is their laid out, please contact me

or just erase your posts

... if it's waves these people wanted (whoever it was), the waves are BETTER 100yards out at John's Pass right where the rollers are coming into shallow water from the deep channel. They are generally head high with big steep faces and no surfers are gonna go out there because of the current.

Riding knee high shore break isn't any fun.

Of course no chicks watching in the channel but I am not looking for attention from beach goers so I don't care about that part anyway. :D

Based on Scott's post, sounds like if you're not riding in the swim areas and stuff it doesn't really matter what you are doing, so you would have nothing to be concerned about.

Fully understood there is always a possibility for unseen circumstances like tough to see swimmers, surfers, and bathers. I do my best to mediate between reckless riders and the safe techniques, i was riding about half way in between swim zone and shore yesterday slowly and without doing freestyle. I don't believe riders should ride near shore and i know there are better places for waves. I'll take the weight of it on my shoulders and make it a mission of mine to ensure our access is preserved and our (meaning greater tampa area) reckless/ potentially dangerous riders are called out. Simply put i will do it to their face and continue trying to help our community as i have been since I became a part of it 3 years ago.

Just wanted to say... I don't care about people riding near shore, just where they do it.

We all cruise the shoreline once in awhile, it's no lie and I'm no angel either. But cruising the shore line at big beach or shell island for example is different than doing it at PAG, T.I., or sunset. Basically if there are kids or people anywhere near the shoreline or in the water I stay the hell away from them. Bans aside, the last thing I need is a lawsuit or the lifelong feeling of guilt when my lines drown an 8yr old. I also don't want a group beat down when I tangle with a surfer. There is no stoke to share when you wrap your lines around their neck. I can't tell you how many times I've broken a line on a botched jump or kite loop and had to swim in, lines dragging, kite tumbling through the surf and been crapping my pants as I am approaching a bunch of young swimmers. Wrapping my lines as fast as I can hoping to god the kite doesn't launch and start looping before I can wrap 20 feet of one line.

When I was young I didn't give a crap about anything ... kids were a nuisance. I drove fast and didn't give a f@#$.

Then a friend of mine hit and killed an 8yr old when he was driving too fast. He had to face the parents, and the kid had a brother and sister. He still has trouble dealing with it. That was 20 years ago.

So hey use good judgment and be accountable for your actions.

Sounds like we are all working on this.

No one protecting our spots or not shredding near people should have had any cause for concern. It definitely was not my intent to FF anyone. That's exactly why I made the post as a forewarning and asked two other locals to speak with the riders in question (and express my intent) about just consistently staying a safe distance from shore. It was not my intent to catch someone off guard. Just the opposite. I think it's pretty obvious.

I am only concerned with people riding close to bathers, etc. A strictly enforced swim zone or no launching at all is what the police will end up doing, and wasn't my intent. My concern has always been about riding too close to people. For some reason, some people think that 20 feet is cool and that they are always in control. Well, it is pretty obvious that doing that can lead to bans and we actually had a ban in Ft. DeSoto due to riding in a swim zone.

After reading Neil's post and other's posts on the subject, it seemed a video tape of behavior was possibly the most impartial and "honest" way to handle self-policing. Video doesn't lie. Neil, Rick and others seemed pretty fired up about self policing and I obviously don't want to lose spots. So to me, the video seemed like the most impartial way to show behavior. It's really the only alternative to he said/he said, unless you want to listen to one guy lie and watch the other turn blue in the face.

While talking to people about this today, I realized that every time a real issue about safety or self-policing comes to the forefront here locally, people usually draw lines in the sand based on friendships, not based on issues. Either that or more likely, they just sit back, watch, and say nothing. This means it usually gets pretty twisted and nothing ever gets done. So, what's the point? We never even got a sign up at EB and we actually agreed on that one, so it's hard to believe any good is going to come out of attempting to change someone's behavior.

When it comes right down to it it doesn't matter what one says or wants to see happen, it is actions that tell the story. If you're not riding and ripping it up in the swim area to show off for the tourists and hot chicks no one is going to call you out. If spring break rolls around and someone is throwing it down twenty feet from shore and a kid gets whacked with a board or granny gets wrapped up it won't matter at all how much anyone says they are all about safety.

I sure don't want to limit the fun or kill the stoke. Lets just follow some reasonable guidelines. I'd propose something along the lines of: When kiting in the gulf and there are other non kiting beach goers present all riding other than launching and landing should take place at least two kite line lengths (150') from the waters edge. inside the 150' mark a rider should be moving perpendicular to the shore in a controlled manner.

Even near sighted hot chicks can see you 150' out. That way when you miss that handle pass you can just worry about the beating the kite is going to give you, not the one your going to take from your bros when you screw our access.

Bob

OS, I think I know who you are talking about. Is this him???

Ok, so this thread has moved towards issues along the beach. I love riding the beaches, especially in the spring. Tons of fun.

In a nutshell we need to unite as one and be a voice. An organization needs to be formed to make important decisions and be a liason between public officials. The more proactive we are now, the better off we will be. As a sport, we have issues that must be dealt with. For example, we are working with Honeymoon State Park to insure they know of our intentions and have laid out guidelines in advance that we as riders intend to follow. The guidelines will help the lifeguards educate new riders and empower them to deal with offenders that don't follow the guidelines. It is alot easier for a lifeguard to approach a kiter in question and say "these guidelines were developed by kiters for the safety of everyone". The park officials appreciate that we are taking the first step. It goes along way in building a relationship.

Furthermore, we are working to open up access again at Howard Park. It may be a certification only location, but so be it, it is better than having no access at all. We will see how that all goes, it will take time.


Finally, to get back to this original thread, I spoke with the kiter today on the phone. We had an excellent conversation and he feels a bit overwhelmed about all that goes into this sport. I offered him to sit in on my safety class at the shop. I believe he and his friend are going to attend. I apologized for being harsh, but I clearly wanted to express that we are serious about safety and we will do whatever it takes to protect our access. We all make mistakes as newbies, and that is understood, but certain actions are not acceptable. He clearly realized that passing a kite, in high winds at a crowded spot, to someone that has never flown a large kite, is now a bad idea. He learned from that mistake. Luckily, nothing bad happened, but we all know luck runs out. I hope by working with him in the safety class, that he will be able to make wiser decisions in the future and keep himself and his friend out of harms way.

I know this is long, but Chris Kenny has been in the shop all this week, and he is getting is kite fixed, and plans to be on the water in maybe 1-2 months. Full recovery. Congrats Chris and looking forward to sharing that first day back on the water with ya.

IM OUT!!!!

Take your org, develop rules for the beaches, get agreement from the city beaches and ask them to be enforced on an individual basis. If a Jet Skier is busting through the swim areas you can bet he's going to get fined. Same should happen to kiters who are the subject of complaints about riding in the swim zone. Launching and landing excluded of course.

fyi on the initial topic of discussion..
I have had a pm conversation with the owner of the kite from my post and he understands completely what he did and knows it was a very poor decision.

definitely something that we are all guilty of at one time or at many, many times.. I fall somewhere in the middle of that group.

And he let me know that he would have rather been talked to on the the beach than called out on a forum post and I agree 100% that I should have put my kite down and talked to him. That is completely my fault for not following up in that manner..and I will try to do the proper thing next time.

We can all learn a little something every day cant we?

-b

Please correct me if I am wrong Steve, but wasn't setting up this system what the organization kite-4-life is supposed to be?

I know Stevil Kenevil Sadler has been working very hard behind the scenes to set up both a regulatory system for our area as well as a non-profit organization targeting getting children (of the appropriate age of course) involved in kiting as well as other sports. I believe he was also targeting some other groups and trying to help them as well with kite-4-life and has been doing so for quite a while now. I also know he is looking for volunteers to help get this thing going and has most of the pieces in place along with some very good contacts/relationships already made. Give him a ring, his celly is 813-389-3683. I am more than willing to help but I do recall all of his efforts and ideas being shot down in the past after we had 'safety meetings', debated on the forum about it, etc. Lets put our money where our mouths are and either shut up or put up and join the cause so we can agree on a set of rules/regulations, put this forum drama to rest and go ride!!!

Well, I personally have contacted the people that I was going to call out, if it proved necessary. I have talked with a few of them over time and thought we had an agreement about maintaining a safe riding distance at the beaches. We did have an agreement. But, I now realize that without numbers in the agreement, it's possible that the term "riding safely from shore" can actually mean quite different things to different people. Some riders believe that staying 20 feet away from a bather is okay, others think we need to stay out of the marked areas entirely, and some have views in the middle. These different views appear to exist everywhere, not just here.

For now in terms of safely riding the beaches, it's basically like we have agreed in theory to a speed limit, but with no actual number tied to the limit. We just all set our own limit. It's basically pointless as a community standard. Does PASA or IKO have any recommendations in this regard (nearness to shore)?
Can we all agree to a distance from shore? Something not hinging on seeing someone? Maybe the podcast with Rick, Neil and others will give us some guidelines.

Assuming the above goes nowhere (which I hope is not the case), one thing that the local kiting community can do and is doing, regardless of agreement and participation among all, is to actively communicate with local authorities about our concerns and our intentions. This has proven very effective at Ft. DeSoto and seems like it is working out well for others, especially in the Park system where one "head guy/gal" is ultimately responsible for the park and has authority within its borders. It sounds like guys up North are making really good progress with the rangers up there. Nice.

It's my impression that most of the work at Ft. DeSoto was done a few years back by people like Jayson, Eagle and myself. Now all anyone has to do is just be polite and ask for Jim, is my take. Even when a permit is needed, I wouldn't be surprised if it's easy from info I got several years ago. With that in mind and the fact the sign got green-lighted, it'd be nice to see that sign get wrapped up. I am pretty surprised this cherry didn't get picked already. It's a photo op for you guys in to that. It's waiting.

I pretty much agree with Steve(s). I think efforts toward being pro-active with authorities as opposed to letting authorities become reactive is a good idea. I have always felt this way and acted on it with Ft.DeSoto when I felt it was necessary. It was anything but a popular move at the time, but it worked out fine.
I am going to focus my efforts down this path and leave any attempts at self-policing vets to others.

As far as I know it is illegal to be riding in the swim zones, period. Just because it's not currently being enforced does not mean it's 'ok', regardless of whatever distances we set for ourselves regarding swimmers and shore.

Those buoys are there for a reason.

Is there really a LAW against riding in the swim zones Tom? Being serious, not sarcastic here. I just have never heard of any LAWS in conjunction with kiteboarding but do not claim to be a lawyer or really knowledgable in the legality of this stuff. Interesting though for sure.

Check this out regarding swim zones.

One day at the Dunedin Causeway, southside of course, some of us were riding just off the sand. We were in the swim zone area. It was cold, no one was in the water. A cop drove up, and politely asked us to ride outside of the swimzones. We asked why no one had approached us before about this, and he wasn't sure, but again he didn't want us in the swimzones. He later came back and pulled up an ordinance on his computer. It was something to the effect of no powered watercraft inside the swimzones....it listed kayaks, windsurfers, jetskis, boats, ect. He explained that a raft was not considered powered, but anything with a powersource was considered a powered watercraft. Fine was $80+dollars. He was cool and asked us to spread the word and use the area just west of where we were.

The irony here was we could use the north side of the causeway no problemo....well that is where the powerlines are. Nuf said.

So I do not know if that ordinance stands for all swimzones, and like most it is up to the law enforcement to do just that enforce. It took years for someone to say something to us. Note here that on days the water is full of swimmers, riding was done outside the swimzones.