[ricki]

A long time back, I launched off of western Rickenbacker, pretty technical on it's own, solo and from shore (bad choice). I rode out trying to pickup stronger winds further from land. Mother nature decided to turn the winds way down. I didn't have enough wind to make it back to my launch so I tooled out further to the south. I ended up coming into an expensive residential area with seawalls, docks, trees, etc near Coconut Grove. I was on a 5 m Wipika Classic to date things further. Still, it is amazing at how fast you move towards all that stuff, even with the kite on the water. These areas are frequently dredged so you may not be able to stand up to stop your drift until the kite hits things. If I had waited a few seconds longer the kite likely would have been trashed in a tree or something. Fortunately, I caught a ride with a windsurfer driving over to where I launched saving me a LONG walk. Beaches and undeveloped margins bordering riding areas are much easier to deal with than seawalls and developments.