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#1
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Close Call
This happened yesterday evening. Four of us were riding late in the afternoon on the other side of the pass at Honeymoon. Waves were very big winds in the high 20's. Felt like the temperature was also. During my session riding a strapless surfboard I had several wrecks, in one I lost my prescription goggles. I came in (the sun was going down quick) to end my day. There was a lone kiter who I did not know, rigging on the beach. As my blind ass tried to land my kite to him I missed him several times. Once he landed my kite I explained to him that I could not see him without my glasses. He ask for a launch and I sent him on his way, with less than an hour of daylight left.
I tore down my kit and took it to my car, put on my clear glasses, came back down to the beach to land my buddies. I did my usual kite count to check on everyone, and came up one short, the kite I had just launched was not in the air. I scanned the area and could not see it anywhere. I went over to a bench to get some elevation and saw the kiter in the water with his deflated kite waving his arms franticly. First reaction was to paddle out on my surfboard to assist, quickly realizing that I would not be able to make it out and back, I considered re-rigging to go out to him. As I watched him getting sucked out of the pass at an alarming rate I decided it would be better to keep an eye on him while trying to get the attention of my three buddies on the other side of the pass playing in the wave and jumping to the moon. Finally I got Doug's attention with my arms crossed over my head. Being an accomplished waterman, Doug recognized this signal and made a bee line to me. Steve saw this happening and came in also. We could no longer see the man in the water, I showed Doug the line I had last seen him on and off they went into the dusk. They found him on the other-side of the pass in the pounding surf on the outside sand bar. Doug returned with his board and Steve towed him and his deflated kite in, getting him back to shore around 6:00 PM. Upon return he said he crashed his kite it instantly deflated and he was getting sucked out to sea despite strong onshore winds and large surf coming onshore . He said his first thought was "Shit there is only one guy on the beach and he can't see. I post this to help serve as a reminder not to kite alone. He should have left his kite and swam towards shore in this situation. Once safely on shore you can get someone to go out and try to recover your gear. His deflated kite was acting as a sea anchor allowing the strong outgoing tide to over power the wind and surf pulling him out to sea. He did not have his struts pinched off so he lost all the air in the kite, take the time to always isolate the struts on your kite. Be aware of your surroundings, take the time to check on folks on the water. Great job of getting him back alive Steve and Doug, the event has a happy ending because of your advanced riding skills and instant willingness to help a fellow kiter. Without your help this could have been a very very sad event. |
#2
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Nice one!
Glad everyone made out OK in the end. That is a sketchy pass to get in trouble in, especially a day like yesterday. Your life is always worth more than some fabric and lines!
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#3
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Nice job keeping your eyes out and heads on for other kiters (or anyone) in distress on the water.
It's a good thing the story ended up happily. Although things can happen to even the most experienced waterman, it sounds like there are some important lessons to be learned from this particular incident.
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Roberto Villate 4 Winds 7 Seas PASA Level III Instructor rvillate@msn.com http://www.kitesurfatlas.com/schools/4winds7seas |
#4
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Quote:
It very easily could have turned out very poorly and that was a frustrating read. Anyway, great work guys. |
#5
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Interesting, but it's easier to see the kite from the air than a swimmer.
"Always stay with the boat" Swimming for it especially against a strong current is a bad idea. Looks like these kiters found this guy because was still with his kite (which is where they went first). If he was already swimming for it, and you didn't see him waiving his arms, where would you have looked for him when you saw his kite? The kite floats, it's big and easy to see from the air, it can be raised out of the water to be seen by boat, and it can be used as a sail. Stay with the kite. |
#6
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im personally not a strong swimmer (i sink like a rock), 9 out of 10 times, im staying with the kite.... mine arent one pump, so they will always float....
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handle passes are easy... at least i think they were.. been so long i cant remember |
#7
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Whitey,
Good point about pinching the struts. I used to do this for all DW events, even more so on the very long ones. I have since disregarded this, but your point is very good regarding the flotation that they provide. I'll be back to pinching again.
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Kent Marinkovic www.adventuresportsmiami.com www.pryde-group.com www.cabrinhakites.com www.neilpryde.com www.jp-australia.com www.npx-hq.com |
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