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Old 10-15-2014, 02:19 PM
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ricki ricki is offline
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Default SUMMARY - Kiting Season Opener/Access Meeting

WE ARE HAVING a kiting season opener and access meeting to discuss working to keep kiting access, launch specific problems and solutions. For newer kiters and folks who want to get into the sport, instruction options will be discussed, riding areas, suitable conditions, we'll talk about foil boards for folks thinking about getting into that and a good deal more. It is also a chance to meet and talk with other area kiters, meet new riding buddies and the like.

This is the first meeting like this that we have held in sometime. Representatives from Ft. Lauderdale Ocean Rescue are to attend to present their concerns. It would be GREAT to have kiters in from all over South Florida, say from at least Hollywood to Boynton Beach. We share a lot of riding areas, problems and potential solutions, so please plan on attending to learn how to help keep things flying at your launch and beyond. Refreshments will be served.

Some of the problems:

- Crandon Park was shut down to kiting a few days ago by guys riding too close to shore.

- There is talk of harsh restriction of kiting (possible ban?) off Ft. Lauderdale because of guys riding too close to shore/bathers and ignoring/disrespecting lifeguards. Guards are on duty until 7 pm by the way.

- I saw a bunch of guys riding inside the buoys off NE 16 St. in Pompano the other day contrary to the rules.

- Guys on downwinders frequently ride inside the swim buoys and have historically caused complaints with lifeguards from Boynton Beach all the way down to Hollywood.


RIDING TOO CLOSE TO SHORE, inside the buoys off lifeguarded beaches is the problem over and over again.


The kiting community needs to pull together to work to sort this out. I have spoken to shops and schools in the area to promote participation in this important meeting. Most kiters won't have a problem with any of this, some simply don't know and a very few don't seem to care. We need to reach out to fellow kiters at our local launches to avoid complaints and continuing threats to access.

The meeting will start at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 and will be held at:

Adventure Sports Ft. Lauderdale
741 SE 17th St
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Phone: 954-526-9367


Directions


If you plan to make the meeting please let us know at: https://www.facebook.com/events/716011678452867/


Thank you and here's to a great wind season!!!

Rick




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Last edited by ricki; 10-28-2014 at 01:24 PM.
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Old 10-21-2014, 10:40 AM
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Please be sure to come to tomorrow evening's important meeting in Ft. Lauderdale. We will be talking about imminent threats to kiting access throughout South Florida with special emphasis on launches in the southeast. That is Hollywood, Dania, Ft. Lauderdale, LBTS, Pompano, Deerfield, Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. We'll also be touching on issues in Naples/Marco Island and the Keys. Ft. Lauderdale Ocean Rescue is to come and fill us in on the problems and the potential harsh restrictions we're facing there.

If people use common sense and courtesy a lot of these threats to riding free and at will would vanish. Kiting isn't a right but a privilege we need to work at preserving.

The means of securing access are few, that hard part is motivating the community to do them. We need your help in short, long time kiters, new riders and folks thinking about taking up the sport.

If you can make it, please let us know at: https://www.facebook.com/events/716011678452867/

Hope to see you there and thanks!



A FORMER kiting area, one of the few easily accessible ones for SW winds in mainland SE Florida. Kiting inside the buoys, as shown, killed our access to this spot.

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Old 10-28-2014, 11:14 AM
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We had the meeting at Adventure Sports Ft. Lauderdale, thanks for hosting the event guys!

There was a good turnout of about 35 people at the meeting. There were more folks present than I can easily name but a
few included Gio Serrano of Ft. Lauderdale Ocean Rescue, Jesse Cors of Liquid Surf & Sail, Neil Hutchinson of Slingshot, Toby Braeuer
of Kiteforum, Kent and Paula Marinkovic of Adventure Sports, Christophe Ribot of MKB, Bruno Perez of the Miami Beach Kiteboarding
Association, Luke Svanberg of Adventure Sports Ft. Lauderdale and many more. My sincere thanks to all who took time out of
their busy schedules to attend and participate.




Gio Serrano lead off following a short introduction identifying some of the problems the City and Ocean Rescue are confronting
with regard to kiteboarding. Some of the points Gio and others in the city and comments are presented below:




1. Kiteboarders must stay out of the area inside the buoys approximately 150 yards from shore.


Comment: Wind, wave conditions, kite and board size don't always readily allow kiters to do this. Under such conditions, kiters need
to go someplace else where nearshore restrictions don't exist or wait for more suitable conditions.



2. Some kiteboarders aren't listening to lifeguards and are showing disrespect.


Comment: Kiteboarding isn't a right but an easily lost privilege, ignoring authorities trying to preserve public safety is a very effective
way to bring on harsh restrictions. Working things out with the lifeguard is vastly better than bringing the police down as I understand
those responses are tabulated at City Hall and could readily be used against access in time.

3. Kiteboarders can't routinely ride waves inside the narrow access corridor but must ride beyond 150 yards and stay out there until time to come in.


Comment: There are places you can ride the waves, away from lifeguarded beaches, more crowded venues and away from buoyed
swim areas. Head there and don't try to ride inside at Tiki Beach or NE 16 St. in Pompano Beach where it isn't allowed.


4. Illegal parking on the offloading ramp during kiting sessions needs to stop. Ticketing and towing are obvious solutions, so please
spare yourselves that ordeal.

The kiting community needs to step up efforts at self-policing, promoting of sustainable kiteboarding practices at threatened venues
like Tiki Beach and NE 16 ST. in Pompano Beach. Blowing it off or letting someone else deal with it, maybe, will see us all shut out.
As Neil said, time to take the gloves off or as I said to collectively get off our butts have some tactful words with problem kiters.
Some will be responsive, others won't be but we need to start trying.



General discussion of these points and others followed with input from many in the group. Access and sustainability challenges at
various South Florida launches were discussed to raise awareness about the problems and solutions.



Some suggestions that came up included:

1. Approaching the City to see if a new kiteboarding area in the vicinity of lifeguard stands S1 and S2 could be arranged. This is to the
south of Tiki Beach, the beach is about three times wider plus there is a parking lot buffer between all this and A1A. There is a large
parking lot there making parking much easier and providing park revenues for the city, an important consideration. Kiters would still
have to ride out beyond 150 yards and stay out until time to come into the access corridor but there would be less conflicting vessel
traffic, a large lower populated zone to the south and a lot fewer problems on the beach. Folks are looking into this at present to
see if it would be feasible to put something together.



2. A few people suggested forming an advocate organization for kiteboarding, a kite club, association, call it what you will. The intent
would be to have people sign up for membership, agree to promote sustainable kiting practices, provide leadership to the kiting
community, formally intercede with threats to access, collect dues to form a legal war chest to defend access as necessary, improve
kiting practices and ability in the community and more. If well rated, effective insurance could be obtained at a reasonable premium
it would be great to add this into the membership package. There are existing groups out there which it would be great to have join
in on this collective effort. In the end, access starts and ends with what happens on local beaches. So local efforts are very important.
These steps and more was attempted with the FKA but participation was limited years back reducing the broad effectiveness of the concept.
Today, things may be different. I would be happy to assist in the formation of an effective organization if there is interest. Please provide
constructive input on this and your desire to participate in such an organization, thanks!



3. Many of us share common problems and solutions. In particular traveling kiters, be they from out of state or just down the road.
Kiters need to learn what restrictions and precautions exist at a riding area BEFORE they go there and to follow them. I am
assembling a database of such information for South Florida kiting areas now. Toby of Kiteforum indicated that he would be happy
to incorporate the information into his global kiteboarding spot database, http://locations.splocs.com/ Stay
tuned for updates on this. In time there will be an interactive map of spots with detailed information on rules for each.

4. Several requested that the proposed organization have a page on Facebook. This is very easily done although name changing
is more problematical once it exists. Facebook has broad, easy access but poor indexing and file retention (i.e. where is that post
and lost photos, etc.). So, a combination of a traditional website/forum in addition to a Facebook page is proposed.


I brought a handout which summarizes important points for working to preserving access at Ft. Lauderdale and Pompano Beach, see below:


(Please click on image twice for full size)

Please review this handout and take it to the beach, literally. None of these efforts will amount to anything unless we get
behind it and push to preserve our access. The more folks that buy in and show commitment, the easier it will be on all
of us and more time we can spend just on kiting, so please join in. Copies of this handout are available at Adventure Sports and Liquid Surf & Sail.





A good deal more than the above was discussed, if I left out things that should be brought up in this first summary, please let me know.


My parting shot


Let's pull together to keep things flying and thanks!


.
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Last edited by ricki; 10-28-2014 at 01:45 PM.
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Old 10-28-2014, 12:58 PM
miamikiteboarding miamikiteboarding is offline
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Sounds good ricky,
good summarize of the points.
Regarding the Kite club/ association of flroida kiteboarders, to protect our accesses: it would be a good start if each stores/shop/ schools, will agree on promoting the group, and spreading the membership system to put in place.
Each kiteboarder is often related to a business in their local area.
This will certainly help passing the awareness .
A facebook page , will help speeding up the process through the enitre community faster as well.
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Old 11-04-2014, 08:13 PM
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I just heard about several kiters riding inside out out of bounds swim area today off Tiki Beach in south Ft. Lauderdale. With today's east wind you have to be capable of working out 150 yards past the buoys to ride.

If you can't make against the waves staying within that narrow 50 yard channel beyond 150 yards from shore because your kite or board are too small or you haven't developed your skills to that point, this spot isn't for you, yet.
We can't afford to have guys experimenting in the out of bounds swim areas without risking losing access to the lot. Please do the right thing, see below.

Head south of the Marriott, avoid complaints from bathers and strollers and work on your skills there. Or just wait for winds to return to side to side onshore. Dead onshore wind waves are a serious barrier for newer kiters. In any case NO one who can't ride upwind and stay there should kite off Tiki Beach. It is just too narrow an access corridor.

We need your help to keep this spot open, please pass the word on.




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Last edited by ricki; 11-04-2014 at 09:37 PM.
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Old 10-02-2019, 07:45 PM
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Our last larger meeting dealing with Pompano access was five years ago. We're having a new one tomorrow at the launch at NE 16 St., Pompano Beach at 6 pm to talk about access issues at Pompano, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton and beyond. Access impacts us all so please come on down.
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