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Preserving SE Florida Kiting Access - Meeting Notes 10.11.11
These are the notes that were handed out at Liquid Surf & Sail's store during the meeting on October 11, 2011. We had about 25 core riders show up from Boca Raton to Miami covering quite a few launch areas. Sincere thanks to all who came down to work to preserve our access and particular thanks to Jesse for opening his store up to us for the meeting. Most were from the Ft. Lauderdale and LBTS area, we will need folks to join into this effort from more launches from Boynton down to Hollywood if this is to succeed.
Kiters in Southeast Florida form a small community. We may frequent each others launches, share common access problems and solutions. We need to acquaint the kiting community with the problems and usually easy solutions and work as a community to sort them out. No one person will put a dent in these issues which left unattended, make destroy our ability to kite. As a group we stand a much better chance of resolving these simple but serious problems. So, let's deal with this effectively so we can go back to kiting! The handouts that were passed out are reproduced below with comments. Preserving Access At Lifeguarded Beaches 1. Stay at least 100 yards offshore from lifeguarded beaches, particularly on downwinders! 2. DO NOT fly your kite over lifeguarded beaches. 3. Enter and exit the water at non-guarded or designated areas. 4. Respect and comply with instructions from authorities. 5. Be courteous to others (launch & walk downwind of bystanders) and avoid complaints. Plan your session considering actual and likely changes in conditions, your experience, skill and gear. 1. If you are doing a downwinder, BE SURE to stay at least 100 yards offshore from lifeguarded areas. They are easy to see and you should know where they are in advance anyway. 2. If you are forced to land on a guarded beach, safely land and secure your kite. Do not try to relaunch from the guarded beach nor walk out with your kite flying. 3. For example, if the out of bounds area is immediately to the north and winds are light or excessively strong out of the south and/or your kite and or board are too small or too large, DON’T LAUNCH THERE! Go somewhere else where the out of bounds area is well to the south. 4. For example, if the wind is strong or light and is onshore, and/or substantial waves are coming in from the east and you don’t think you will be able to readily make beyond 150 yards from shore AND avoid the out of bounds area … THEN DON’T RIDE THERE, go somewhere else with a more distant out of bounds area. Quote:
A live cam shot showing guys going out in light wind immediately upwind of the out of bounds area. This is well north of Ft. Lauderdale by the way. You can't stay upwind and so drift into the guarded area. They then further aggravate things by walking back kites flying along the guarded beach. If you can't stay upwind from an out of bounds area, GO to where you can, in this case somewhere to the north of the guarded area. This just causes problems for access and will shut us down if it continues. Gio rides rescue for a Red Bull event recently on New River in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=10597 We also heard from FLBP lifeguard and EMT Gio Serano who is also a kiter. Lots of Lauderale kiters know and respect Gio. Gio was in a course in Northern Florida but joined in by telephone. He said they like kiters and would like to see them continue to ride in approved areas. At the same time they can't endanger others by riding through swim areas. We also need to consistently show the authorities the respect they deserve and not disregard what they say as happens at times. Lifeguards have a hard job and may be the ones saving our bacon if things go south, they have enough times in the past, they deserve our respect. The five points in Bold listed above summarize some of the main points Gio was making. Getting Along With Surfers 1. Don’t ride through the lineup, certainly not routinely. 2. Avoid riding the same wave. 3. Pass well to leeward or windward, not close by. 4. We can cover large distances there is usually no reason to ride close to them. 5. Anticipate wiping out, where your kite and lines might go and with what force. Make sure there is no one in that area. You’re the waterman, anticipate and control things. There are other things we can do to coexist this are just some of the more important ones that came to mind. An incredibly irresponsible kiter dropping into a wave with a ton of surfers in front of him. We are obligated to keep our kite and lines away from others. This was shot in Europe, not in Florida. This kiter then wipes out and slams his kite and lines down into the water among the surfers?! Amazing stupidity, reflecting very badly on the rest of kiters. So, this is just a start, we need to get the kiting community to buy into this initiative and take it to the beaches. As a group we can fix this things, as individuals it is unlikely much needed change will happen. We hope to have a few more organizing meetings to kick this effort off. So, please read this over, think and talk about it and give the effort a needed hand at the beaches! Copyright 2011 Fksa.org
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FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi Last edited by ricki; 02-06-2015 at 09:48 AM. |
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I just heard about a new complaint, a serious one I think from a beach front resident in Delray Beach. These are the folks that may pay over $100,000.00 a year in property taxes. They have influence downtown in short.
This man frequently takes his family to the beach in front of his house. Two days ago, he had his eight grand children there too. A kiter had approached the beach within about 20 ft., tried to turn hard north and wiped out and then downlooped his kite. The kite lines passed within 2 to 3 ft. of his grandson. When asked the kiter said "he could do whatever he wanted because there were no rules in this area and that he knew what he was doing." This sort of idiotic response is exactly what we don't need to preserve kiting access, believe it. Be polite, be apologetic and try to calm the situation down should you be unlucky enough to have an incident. Do not inflame the situation claiming inane things like non-existant rights to kite or that you know what you are doing, are a pro or other dumb comments. If you were that good the problem never would have happened. The resident contacted the lifeguards and asked for help in improving safety in the area. The lifeguard said he doesn't have jurisdiction in the unguarded beach. The police do however and if a new ordinance is passed as the resident would like to see happen, the police would be the ones to enforce it. The resident mentioned a 300 ft. offset from bystanders to be written into the ordinance. He likes kiting, enjoys watching it but doesn't want his kids to be at risk. We need to tune up in short. We don't need this to happen, we are able to avoid this if we try as a community. Blow it off, and it may well come to pass.
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FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi |
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Proposed guidelines for Tiki Beach, the boat launching area at the south end of Ft. Lauderdale Beach. Hopefully these will be posted on a permanent or temporary signs.
1. Kite beyond 100 yards from shore using the access corridor between the swim buoys. 2. Setup, launch and land within the traffic cone marked area on the beach. 3. All kiters must stay out of lifeguarded areas at all times except for valid emergencies. 4. Listen to and be respectful of lifeguards. 5. Work together to self-promote these guidelines and protect your access to kite. Input?
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FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi Last edited by ricki; 02-06-2015 at 09:48 AM. |
#4
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That's ridiculous, apologize and get on your way. As I've learned working for Ft Lauderdale couple of years ago, the people with the highest property taxes voices are the loudest.
I was sitting at beach place back in June and watched a group of 4 running a downwinder from Kite Beach, heading North. They were running pretty much into the beach, cutting between swimmers and heading back out. This was after hours but still obnoxious. Why? Not enough water out there for them? |
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Rules contemplated for Tiki Beach in Ft. Lauderdale. Input?
Quote:
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FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi |
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Just got another request from Gio a lifeguard with the City of Ft. Lauderdale.
STAY OUT OF THE SWIM ZONE This the area to the north and south of the launching corridor, where we don't belong. In easterly winds it can be hard to get out without riding in these out of bound areas. Solution, if you can't get out beyond 100 yards here, KITE SOMEWHERE ELSE! No one session is worth losing access at this launch. Please pass this on at the beach.
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FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi |
#7
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Hello,
I was impressed about this picture shark attack, as I was kiting in West Palm Beach last spring when I was on holidays. I’m now back to France and the shark don’t miss me __________________ "Kite-France" from SurfShop.fr |
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We do have some sharks off here particularly further north. The guy was doing something fairly bizarre, shooting fish that were
swimming close to large sharks. One decided to nip the guy for blowing away the shark's escort. Touchy? http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=12302
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FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi |
#9
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This guy is a lucky man in fact.
It could have been worst for him! __________________ "Kite-France" from SurfShop.fr |
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