Draft Guidelines - Matheson Hammock

[ricki]

A lot of good input on this launch and ideas for trying to manage the substantial rider and instructional traffic were brought out in the meeting. Ideas for a nearshore "no fly" zone were brought up by Garry and partitioning of teaching areas from riding areas was discussed. I took a stab at some guidelines but local input would really be helpful in this.

1. A "no fly" zone exists within ??? ft. of shore as marked by buoys to the north and northwest. Kites shall be launched and landed beyond this point with no riding inside this area.

2. This launch can be incredibly crowded. If conditions look marginal in terms of weather or crowding, why not come back when things improve?

3. Kiters shall give full leeway to boats in the channel and ideally will avoid riding in it.

4. If a kiter signals for help landing, properly land them without delay. Do not make people stand around putting themselves and your launch at risk waiting for help.

5. To avoid crossing the flow of experienced kiters with learning kiters, instruction is recommended to occur to the northeast of ???.

6. In ??? winds instruction is recommended to occur at the southern launching area on the far side of the boat channel.

7. SW to NE winds are offshore here, gusty and should be avoided.


Some preexisting info on the launch appears below:

Originally Posted by RickI

Matheson is a very popular and at times crowded launch area. One of the few in Miami that provides readily accessible calm water with nearby parking. Threats to access have occurred over the years here. Kiters need to follow the rules, see below and manage the density of riders as best they can.

BE SURE to observe the no jumping and riding zones. They exist for very good reason, built upon hard past experience involving injuries.


Matheson Hammock


Launch rules


Launch diagram


The launch area

From: http://fksa.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=11065

[cabdriver]

Rick - thanks again for organizing this special forum on your site. We all know you work for free and your efforts are greatly appreciated.

1/ On the subject of matheson hammock, I was riding there Saturday afternoon. The wind was awesome for a late May day. What I noted is that the traffic between the riders and the instructors/students overlaps a lot at this site. I had to duck and cover twice from students far out of the reach of their instructors that were ripping downwind uncontrollably.

One thing that might improve the user experience for both the riders and the students is if we can establish some type of downwind boundary for the teaching. What I would suggest is that everyone visualize a perpendicular line to the wind that runs through the American flag in the lagoon. If the students stay upwind of this line at all times, and riders stay either down wind of this line, or upwind of the instructors, then there is a floating corridor for instruction, and there is an area for people that already kite to actually ride comfortably with less concern for disrupting a lesson or vice versa.

2/ I agree that we need better markings for the "no ride zone", but by adding the marks to the NW of the palm tree with the drain pipe/rocks in front of it will effectively disallow launching and landing on the NW section of the "beach". Does anyone have ideas on how to mark the entire launch area so that there are two corridors visible for launching SE of the palm tree and NW or the palm tree, but it's clearly marked as a no ride zone??

Thanks for listening.

Todd Greaux

[balistic]

First, kudos to this initiative as we attempt to govern ourselves before we become governed. Let us prevent what has occured at Crandon. Kudos also for democracy in action as we begin to discuss the rules under which we shall have to abide by. Let those who have an interest speak their peace now and contribute to this endeavor because when the rules are enacted, and the park has authority to enforce them, it will be too late to complain about the rules.

First, perhaps what is needed here is more accessible education. Instead of the stylized sign found currently, change it to a google earth style picture with graphics for the different zones. Place these signs on every garbage can and on every sign post in the launch area and on the wreck marker.

Place another one on the cashier shack at the entrance with a sign below it that reads, "Kiting? Ask for flyer!" The park already gives out flyers on the history of the park and happening at the park, they can give these flyers out as requested to inform those interested and prevent waste by not giving it out unless requested. This way the flyer can be given to anyone new to the area or those who need more information about kiting at Matheson. The flyer can have not just the safety rules but also a brief on kiting and contacts for instructors. The instructors can fund this as advertisement. Just make sure to put a legal disclaimer on the bottom that stipulates this information is provided without any implied or actual endorsment of the instructors ability or liability.

In addition to this a larger sign may be placed on the east side of the parking lot between the trees that border the lagoon and the palm by the grassy area. This display can be an informative park bulletin board with a small rain cover to protect the contents. The display may be seperated in two sides. The left side may contain a large 2' x 3' version of the smaller google earth signs. The right side can house a display where certified instructors, the Matheson Hammock Kite Organization, for sale posts, and the park itself can post advertisements and information. A 5' wide 7' tall display should house this and be relatively inexpensive to construct.

In this fashion kiteboarders and the general public get educated about park and kite regulations. Involvoing the park in this endeavor will also allow the park to pay for this, if not in whole then at least in part. The funds the large amount of kiters bring to the park is enough reason to invest some of those funds to better manage the kiters.

Lastly, I must recommend a no board zone next to the launch area, although not as deep as Hobie Beach. Extend the red bouys parallel to the beach and make the inner water area a kite walking area only, no one should be riding in this area. This will prevent reckless kiters from buzzing the launch area and performing jybes on the beach. This is extremely dangerous and has been discussed on this forum in the past. Matheson has the same dangers as Hobie minus the crowds in the water. From my experience, if instructors do not follow that suggestion, then you can not expect other kiters will either. Telling people not to do this will not work, making it enforcable as a rule, will.