State Parks and Kitesurfing
 

Nice to see kitesurfing highlighted on a state website for a state park. Why only Sebastian Inlet? Why is it not highlighted in other coastal state parks? That probably a question we can answer.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/seb...3&viewphoto=25

Supercool to actually see it highlighted. I get the feel sometimes that the parks don't want us there, and with this link alone, it could help change some attitudes with officials inside the park.

The parks are there for our enjoyment, just sucks when they try to regulate it to death and take all the fun out of even being there.

A nice photoessay was done about Fort DeSoto about 6 years ago by the St. Pete Times. It probably came out before many were in the sport. Jim Wilson (park superintendent) has always enjoyed having us there. He only objects to blatant advertising flags of salespeople and/or lesson givers.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/webspeci...to/index.shtml

Click on "A day in the Life at the Beach" then click the word "continue" in the middle of page.
Then Howard (kiteboarder) is about 9 "next" clicks in. I would watch the whole thing though, it is very well done.

I noticed that other pic from Sebastian is probably from around 2004 as well, considering the North Vegas and other C-kites. I haven't personally run into a problem yet at a State Park, but I have heard of a few places where kiters have had some probs. Every time it seems it's the same story - birders putting pressure on parks to disallow people access to certain areas.

Well put Scott. North County parks are under alot of pressure right now. No question the birds win in the spring and summer months.

Reminder to all....Not much room for error in Honeymoon State Park and Howard Park. The officials there are just waiting for an opportunity to send us away for good. Not to mention the windsurfers at Howard Park simply don't want us there. I can't blame them when I see the such inexperienced riders have mishaps anytime there is wind at HP.

We lost access there for 6 years and we are on the verge of loosing it again.

Lots of discussion is taking place at the moment to really come together and save this gem of a place. The experienced ones definately play it cool, but the newbies need as much help and guidance as we can offer.

My 2 cents.

I just realized, even Ft. DeSoto prefers that we not ride North Beach certain months of the year (May thru summer I think.. but not for certain). Yep, because of birds.

It is good to see this on their website. I've been concerned about Sebastian, the part of the Park on the ICW for years. They have an out of bounds bird rookery on the western end of the land mass. Anyway, looks like we're ok there for now.

If you see larger groups of birds try not to overfly them with your kite or otherwise flush them. Some folks have used such images against us in other areas. It is a shame we've lost out in other state parks, years back often due to poor riding practices.

Not sure what you're concerned about. I've never seen anyone near there and if you are, you're in the wrong spot and aren't getting back up wind.

It is at the far western end of the land mass sticking into the ICW. If guys ride close to shore they could easily overfly it and often did during some but not all visits. I spoke to the kiters about it at the time. I don't think the birds were nesting during that visit despite the posted signs. The birds would still fly up when the kite came close by. It usually isn't hard to get away from the shoreline, birdwatchers are out there with cameras at times. This has been made an issue in some other areas and parks. It is a small thing to do to avoid potential serious problems. At any rate, I haven't heard of any complaints there a good thing given the unique qualities of the place unlike some other areas.

http://sebastian-river-marina.com/im...erialnorth.jpg
http://sebastian-river-marina.com

They could have put that pencil drawing of Howard in that A-Ha "Take on Me" video....hahaha

Scott's done a fantastic job of being an 'ambassador' to Ft. Desoto all these years. I think the positive impression he has given park officials of kiters is somewhat of a factor in our continued access there- thanks from all of us Scotty!

If you really want to make a positive impression on park officials, log a few service hours at their park. One thing those guys can always count on, is more budget cuts- free labor is quite a bonus when you have real work to do.

I was invited to sit in on a FoFD board meeting earlier this year, and one of the things they were doing was planning the volunteer recognition for their annual meeting. They had a few who individually log over 1000 hours each year (That's 20 hours a week, or a part time job.), and right on down the line. That’s basically how they look at it (on paper at least). They also see what is happening on the beach- some of them have watched this sport from the beginning and are well aware of the problems.

Tampa Bay area kiters have had a good bit of success with creating partnerships over the past few years, mainly through beach cleanups and other positive community involvement, and hope others do the same. Good deeds plant seeds.

Some examples:

With Shell Key Preserve, (best camping/ kiting around) we introduced ourselves at the island one day, and offered to help out on a cleanup or two. We did just that, and now TBKA is listed as a partner on their site. We have permission to kite and camp there anytime, as long as we play by the rules- mainly stay out of restricted (bird) areas. Kite-n-camp weekend anyone?

We have partnered with Ocean Conservancy and other orgs. several times at Picnic Island in Tampa, which is another of our launch sites. This happened because a local kiter knew we try to jump on opportunities like that, and hooked us up with his company, who was hosting the event.


We have hosted and/or participated in several cleanups at Ft Desoto over the years, and they always welcome us for any other event we want- (just get a permit). The permit is not only the proper way to do things, it is a verifiable record of activity- good for us, and good for the rangers!
Ft. Desoto permits are free (for small events) and I can email you a copy if you need one.

The above stories and more kiters positive actions are listed on www.actionsportsfoundation.org if you want to check them out.

-Happy Kiting

Ah. I misunderstood where you were talking about. I kite there quite often and didn't even realize it. But apparently it didn't used to be fenced off and people would set up their kites over there