What not to do in Light, Onshore Winds

[ricki]

We've had a lot of rideable days in the last week or so in the SE and in other parts of Florida, happy days! Today, things were a bit lighter at least north of my normal area. Headed to a restaurant near the beach to grab lunch, shoot some pictures of the family then I saw something a ways to the north. I saw this 11 m kite with a good sized guy try to go out a few times and then just walk up and down the beach a little bit, beach jumping every once in a while. This with people close by and downwind. This went on for at least an hour.

I've spoken with this guy in the past about this appealing to his reason but apparently it didn't sink in. Don't recall his name and it really isn't important as lots of people do these same sort of things. So, why not use it as an object lesson for the rest of us on what not to do to avoid problems, complaints and threats to access. You will see people fly like this, usually clueless newbies who simply don't know better and more experienced guys who don't care or the problems with this approach never came into their mind.



Keeping the kite low, that looks good BUT it is in the wrong direction! Passing over all those people on the beach instead of pointed in the other direction.



Chatting with a bunch of folks dead downwind, kite and lines over them.



There's our guy again (its not Casper), kite over bystanders, bystanders directly downwind, hanging out, for a long time.

Why was this guy here and doing this?

1. The wind was light with some pronounced lulls as you can see below around 12 to 1 pm.



It's light but not that damn light to be stuck on the beach waving those lines over people. I think this fellow isn't a total newbie but has been riding for a while, so what's wrong?

2. Well, a full sized guy with an 11 m kite might be pressed for enough kite power. Then again, if he trimmed it for max power on the pigtails, trimstrap AND had a large enough board, he should have been able to get out. Must have not done one or more of these things.

3. Look at the choppy seas. Waves like that add a few knots of minimum wind requirements for low end performance over say flat water.


Easterly winds are close to side oneshore

4. Wind direction is close to dead onshore. That means you have to edge out to get offshore. IF you lack sufficient kite power AND you have to plane through some choppy seas, you may not get there, despite your skill level. At least not without a large board or ideally a slightly larger kite.

Point of Kite Etiquette -

DON'T FLY YOUR KITE TO THE WINDWARD OF BYSTANDERS IF YOU HAVE ANY CHOICE AT ALL. Sure as hell DON'T do this for an hour or beach jump near or upwind of them.

Why? Kites stall in light winds, riders get gusted at times and dragged unexpectedly, they trip, get distracted downloop, lines and pigtails break at odd times. Still more reasons, it is just a bad idea.

It isn't polite to point a gun at people nor is to play chicken with pedestrians with a car nor is it wise to fly a kite and lines upwind of bystanders. If you are walking towards someone, walk downwind of them if feasible, keep your kite to seaward, stand until they pass. Try to avoid merging the two, make sense? Don't stand around onshore with a full sized traction kite for any longer than necessary. Want to fly a kite on the beach, then get a trainer to play with, safer for you and bystanders.

Also, if you can't marshal enough kite power to allow you to plane out due to wind too onshore, too small a kite, too small a board, waves too narly, not enough experience with edging upwind AND there are people on the shore OR you have reservations about being pulled inland yourself and potentially eating sand ... then don't ride in these conditions! Go somewhere else, get different gear or wait for better conditions. This isn't the worst thing a kiter can do but it has heated up access pressures in many areas over the years. Why add to our problems needlessly?




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[greg meintjes]

We had a guy do that last year right in the middle of a packed beach during spring break, this guys kite was right overhead with the powerlines about 60 feet downwind of him and a group of his buddies standing around him, although there was not enough power for the kite to drag him etc, if the kite fell on someone or fell over the power lines we could have had a negative fallout from this "accident" . To make matters worse the guy was drinking a beer with his one hand while holding the kite bar with the other, and when I told him that he was not in the kiting area and that he needed to move up the beach , this guy told me that" not to worry as he was an instructor that worked for a kite shop up in Floridas west coast and that he knew what he was doing" Go figure the logic of this idiots actions and we wonder why this sort of behaviour happens when this is what instructors do. I do not know what company he works for, but if I did ,I would definately let them know what their instructor was doing and would not recommend them to anyone.

Greg

[ricki]

Bad locations, excessive wind and unstable weather contribute to lots of accidents. On thing that is high on the list, exemplified by your story and mine is "complacency."

"com·pla·cen·cy (km-plsn-s)
n.
1. A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy."
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/complacency


Covers it pretty well. Think first, act second, don't bring unwilling bystanders into our sport through poor choices. Again, this isn't an uncommon practice, well maybe sucking on a beer in a crowded beach is rare (I hope). It is a poor practice however, could use a more awareness out there, hence this post.

Any other experiences like this out there?