Lost Jimmy Lewis 'Flightdeck' @ Honeymoon Island

[Steve-O]

Todd,

Congrats on the return of your board. Not only is that an expensive piece but soooooo valuable on light wind days. Nick......I know first hand that Todd is very thankful for your actions and the favor will be returned to you one day.

The Honeymoon area is growing with kiters. We are doing most of our teaching up there and exposing alot of new people to the sport. Some things to learn from this.....check the tide and how strong it is. A full moon tide was evident that day and the water flow was very strong. A reel leash or avoiding the channel between Honeymoon and Caladesi during these extreme tides could do a world of good. Also, Honeymoon is a busy place in the summer (2nd most visited state park in FL). There is not much room for error during the summer months on and off the beach. Was hanging out there Sunday with the family and noticed a new kid flying his kite on the beach around tons of sunbathers. A hike to the north of the island gets away from the crowds or a drive to a larger less populated beach would be in order....ie. North Clearwater Beach, Sand Key (south of the park) or better yet.....Treasure Island. All great placed for a newbie to get some flying time with the kite and lots of room to spare.

Thanks again Nick for your honesty!!!
Steve-O

[Todd RT]

Thanks Steve-O!

I'd rather be known as 'that guy who lost his board'
rather than 'that guy who was never seen again, chasing his board into the sunset'

But instead I'll be lucky enough to be the guy who Was lucky enough to have an honest person, Nick, find my board and return it

Thanks again for the great lessons, teach! I'll give that reel-leash a try, but am going work on better upwind bodydrags first!

I'm also putting my name and phone # on all my equipment. IMMEDIATELY!

Now where is that wind???

[Chedder]

This is good stuff. Really happy to see this lost and found operating. Glad you got your board back.

[Todd RT]

Originally Posted by Chedder

This is good stuff. Really happy to see this lost and found operating. Glad you got your board back.

Not back yet, Nick's workin' on gettin' it shipped. Hopefully it's shipping soon! I miss Jimmy!!!

[Todd RT]

I just wanted to publicly thank the ENTIRE Montoya family. They went out of their way to get my Flightdeck back home in FL!

I believe that EVERY single member of their family assisted, in some way or another, to the safe return of my board. One of their sons found the board, and explained to his father that it came from 'out there', as he pointed west into the gulf. So rather than leaving the board for someone else to pick up, they kept my Jimmy Lewis safe, and lucky for me... they contacted me and shipped it safely back to Fl. Nick located my post on fksa.org and communicated with me. Mr. and Mrs. Montoya were so helpful in coordinating the shipping.

There was still sand on the board, from Honeymoon Island... and NOT ONE scratch.

The Flightdeck floated for almost 24 hours, then came back to the same beach that I last saw it.

Thanks so much to the entire Montoya family! I hope someone "pays it forward" back to you!!!

(PS. I just finished putting my name and phone number on all my equipment)