I thought about listing this post as "OT." On reflection, I feel it isn't. It is very much wind related and a heads up to kiters. With the advent of flat kites some guys are less cautious about squalls, if they ever were in the first place.
Within the past we've had a kiteboarder knocked into coma, into a building (twice?), into a concrete trash enclosure fracturing his neck and I also understand someone became a quadriplegic this year in yet another impact, all within a mile of the parasailing accident in Pompano ironically. Most of these accidents were squall related. In many ways the parasailing accident parallels a lofting, right down to the roof impacts and breaking a palm tree, in this case 25 ft. tall with about a 10 inch trunk.
The squall that lofted the rider in Cabarete over 800 ft. horizontally and 100 ft. high, also was stated to have hit two girls parasailing just up the coast off Puerto Plata. One was reportedly killed.
Flat kites aren't magic, C kites even less so, we need to pay attention to weather, that is the point. Only a fool would kite particularly when storms are common without doing proper weather planning and monitoring while out. All these avoidable accidents, just for want of a bit more care.
Here is yet more information from the Miami Herald:
Parasailing crash victim clings to life
The younger of two teenage sisters who slammed into a Pompano Beach hotel while parasailing over the weekend remained in critical condition Sunday.
Posted on Mon, Aug. 20, 2007
BY NATALIE P. McNEAL AND ROBBYN MITCHELL
nmcneal@MiamiHerald.com
J. ALBERT DIAZ/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
One of the two sisters injured in a parasailing accident Saturday is taken by helicopter from North Broward Medical Center to be transported to Broward General Medical Center.
Slide show | Parasailing accident
Operator error often causes parasail accidents
Parasailing mishap hurts teen sisters
Video | Witnesses describe parasail accident
While two sisters remain hospitalized after a parasailing accident, a family friend has taken on a new cause: to get more regulations for the parasailing industry.
Amber White, 15, was in critical condition Sunday night at Broward General Medical Center after the accident Saturday in Pompano Beach. Her sister Crystal, 17, is out of intensive care but still in the hospital, a spokeswoman at North Broward Medical Center said.
Holly and Jeff Lynn, their adult neighbors from Summerfield, near Ocala, took the teens vacationing with them to their Pompano Beach time-share resort on Thursday. On Saturday, the teens decided to go parasailing, although Amber was afraid of heights. The Lynns paid $180 for the two girls to ride.
Jeff Lynn is an extremely angry man now.
'If I could, tomorrow I would be everywhere they have these boats telling people, `Don't get on!' '' Lynn said in a telephone interview Sunday from Summerfield.
On Saturday, the teens decided to go parasailing, even though Amber was afraid of heights. The Lynns paid $180 for the two girls to take the ride.
Amber, who loved fashion and was extremely close to her big sister, suffered head trauma and broken bones.
The parasail outing began as a lark and turned into a horrific ordeal.
Saturday started out as a day of sun and fun for the teens, who attend Lake Weir High School in Ocala.
''My wife even asked if it would be too windy,'' Lynn said. 'The [boat] driver told us, `It will be fine. I've done 10,000 pulls and it is completely safe.' ''
Lynn's 10-year-old stepson had wanted to sail with the girls, but backed out at the last minute.
GUSTY WINDS
While they were in the air, the winds turned gusty, lifting the teens sharply. The rope that tethered them to the boat snapped. The sisters hurtled past the shoreline, spinning, and hit a thatched-roof shelter before they slammed into the second floor of the Beachcomber Resort.
''I was powerless. There was nothing I could do,'' Lynn said.
The Lynn family and the White girls are very close.
Lynn's 10-year-old son had a crush on his cute neighbors, who often baby sat for him. The girls' mother, Shannon Kraus, is out of work, so Holly Lynn took the girls shopping for back-to-school clothes. Because Amber loved fashion so much, Holly Lynn wanted to take her to the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale during the vacation to inspire her.
The sisters did practically everything together, she said. They sat on the same side of the booth at restaurants and leaned their heads together while they were watching TV, Jeff Lynn said.
Jeff Lynn said the parasail boat's driver looked younger than 30 and the two mates were in their teens.
''They were fighting and screaming to get away from shore,'' said Jeff Lynn, who saw the incident from shore. ``But the boat just would not do what they wanted it to do.
Lynn said his wife Holly loved the girls. He said Holly was extremely upset about the accident.
''[Holly] got burned laying on the black asphalt while [Amber] was being put in the [medical] helicopter,'' he said. ``She couldn't move because she was so upset.''
Almost 40 minutes before the teens set out on their adventure, the National Weather Service issued a statement advising of gusty winds in the Atlantic Ocean.
STORM FORECAST
At 12:23 p.m., the National Weather Service said thunderstorms and a line of showers were capable of producing winds of up to 30 knots -- about 30 mph -- near where Crystal and Amber were parasailing.
The statement warned boats to ``stay in safe harbor or close to shore.''
The marine weather statement was in effect until 1:30 p.m., the service said.
Some in the parasailing business are deeply concerned about what happened Saturday.
''I would have definitely ceased operation,'' said Arrit McPherson, president of the Professional Association of Parasail Operators. ``Weather conditions are extremely important.''
Amber Carter, manager at American Watersports in Pompano Beach, shut down her parasailing business Saturday after she noticed the gusts. She said that typically, it is not advisable to go parasailing when wind speeds are more than 15 knots.
She, too, is upset about the accident.
WIND METER
''Our parasail captain has a wind meter on the boat and listens to the weather band,'' Carter said. ``Everything we do is governed by the weather. We keep informed.''
The operator of the parasail boat, the H.I.FLYER, Saturday declined to comment when he was called.
Wes Brent, who works at Atlantic Bridge Jet Ski in Pompano Beach, said there were other parasails out that day besides the one the teens were on. He said the accident was a ``freak thing.''
''It could have happened to anybody,'' Brent said.