Pass a Grille and riding there

This weekend I noticed several newer riders showed up at PaG to ride.
I mentioned this idea to most that were there that were new to the area, but figured I would post it again on here all the same. I have been riding PaG now going on 7 years for kiting and before that windsurfing going back quite aways. We have had a core group of about ten riders there for several years that have followed an "agreement" out there.

Until this weekend, I had never witnessed kiters or windsurfers enter the swim area where all the people hang out. Yesterday, I saw several riders going thru the swimmers repeatedly for hours getting very close to people and on several occasions dropping kites in the swim zone close to waders.

It concerns me that 6 years of kiting etiquette and efforts to stay out of that area to insure continued access might be risked if this approach continues.

Here is the situation as I see it.

When at PaG, nearly all the people are located in a fairly limited area by where the parking meters are. Most people are very lazy and don't want to walk 5 feet more than necessary, so it ends up being very crowed by the meters.

This works to our advantage, because about 150 yards north of where a lot of riders were yesterday there is relatively open space with very limited numbers of people (usually 2 people per 40 yards as compared to 2 people per 10 feet).

So beach goers laziness works to our advantage at PaG by providing a non crowded rigging and riding area for us to use.

Can I ask that riders in the future please walk the extra five minutes to insure we don't land and launch in a crowded area. Kiting is by nature takes up a lot of beach space. If a launch went bad yesterday, it would have been in a highly visible area and also may have adversely affected some beach goers... double whammy.

The riding in the crowded area was what really got to me though.
I just don't think there is any excuse for this. I saw several incidents that basically floored me, especially jumping and landing close to kids.

I want riders out there to realize that we have had zero problems out there up to now for a long time due to the agreement at PaG among riders. I only want for this to continue.
If we do run into problems, I am confident that it will be due our laziness to not walk the extra 150 yards and also our ignorance to ride in the swim zone of a relatively heavily populated area of our beaches.

Please just use judgment out there.
Thanks.

Well... here's my perspective.

At PAG yesterday there was a group of 4-5 riders who insisted on riding in the middle of the swim area. This was a crowded beach of 500 people and about 30 small kids in the 2 - 8 age range playing and swimming in the water.

(edited because I believe this issue is being taken care of)

All you have to do is ride outside the bouys, or walk 500 feet north of the swimmers and sunbathers (where everyone else was riding).

[bryanleighty]

well.. i had just typed up my agreeing with Scotts post when I saw Tom's and now am pissed that anyone in our area would give lessons in an environment like that.

at PaG park at the most northern tip and just walk north a bit. rare to have even a single person there. tons of room. on saturday i had ample room to self launch.

cant fu*king believe someone would give lessons on a crowded beach.

[bryanleighty]

removed due to Tom being loopy.

Yeah, it was disappointing. The instructor agreed to move, and I think that was the right thing to do. The riders however did not... it only got worse.

[ricki]

Riding among bathers has caused kiteboarding to be banned at many locations nationwide. This is a no brainer, keep it up and out we go, pretty much guaranteed.

This caused kiteboarding to have been banned or come close to it at:

Miami Beach
Crandon Park
Rickenbacker Causeway
Hollywood
Ft. Lauderdale
Pompano
Boca Raton
Delray Beach
Key West


Maybe you'll be lucky and after access is lost you can negotiate for restored kiting with stringent rules like at Crandon Park, i.e.

Certification
Registration
Signing in
Helmets

Then again, that happens only if you are lucky after this sort of behavior gets you kicked out.

Think about it and choose well.

[robertovillate]

I agree...Scott, thanks for bringing this important issue up.

I've also been noticing a lot of questionable teaching and riding practices lately, specifically related to riding/lesson location and environment. Anyone reading this forum knows exactly what we are talking about here, which is not to say that everyone reads the forum. So, unfortunately, it is often necessary to confront people at the beach about this - not anyones favorite thing to do when they would rather be riding.

I'm not intending to blow my horn, however if someone is a certified instructor they should be concerned with this type of reckless behaviour, which can lead to being "de-certified". Maybe the fact that some "instructors" are not certified makes them feel that they can do as they please(?). However the situation you describe is blatantly irresponsible any way you look at it.

Anyone teaching, certified or not, needs to set good examples, discourage reckless behavior, influence students to be responsible in order to maintain access, and avoid situations that are prone to accidents. As Scott states - it's not that hard to follow some of these standards. Respect for these issues should start with the first lesson and should be reinforced along the way by the instructor and other riders.

One of my students went to East Beach (after a lesson with me) on a 20+ rider day to watch the action. They were shocked and appalled by what they saw going on there with respect to safety practices, rider etiquette, rider conflicts, uncontrolled draggings, kite-to-kite contact...WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HERE???? I'd venture to say that all of this is unavoidable and unnecessary. I am convinced that the conduct of many riders is based on the direct influence of their instructor and the people they ride with.

As the rider population increases so does the probability for accidents. There are going to be some very irrate people around here if even ONE of the beaches becomes off-limits due to this sort of thing.

[bayflite]

If whay you say iz true...someone shouldda taken video and sent it (along with an explanation of how illegal it iz) to eckerd officials. They are the ones that own the kites and would prolly put a stop 2that kind of behavior. Explain that Ecked would get sued in a worst case senario by an injured party.
Matt iz a cool guy and I bet he would be upset if he found out hiz students were doing stuff like that.

Sounds very good on paper and very easy to put in practice Bayflite. I am sure Matt and Mike will spread the word.

Thanks Rick for the post reminding us that no kiters have inordinate rights that supercede common sense.
If common sense and courtesy is not applied at PaG, it is very possible the authorities will enact some type of measure to ensure that we can't run into or land on a kid. It won't be the first time, as Rick points out, that lack of self regulation has led to loss of access.

Hopefully this won't become a big issue and will be easily resolved by just walking 150 yards.
Let's just not be lazy and put in the 5 minutes of walking North.
The area up there all the way to the DonCesar is basically desolate.

BTW the instructors are NOT ASSOCIATED with WSW.