I lost a board and it was up on seabreeze later that night, don't really agree that kiters are not honest. Yours may just not have been found yet.

Yeah and don't forget that most gear would be picked up by non-kiters...

Spot said...

Having recently lost a harness I have been looking through the lost and found section and have realised how many lost items there are and so few found items. This makes me wonder what sort of people kitesurfers are? ...

You're assuming all kiters in your area view this forum?

Did you have your mobile number written on it so people who don't use the forum can call you?
Cheers

if you put your ph. no.on all your gear i bet it would get returned nearly 100% of the time

I agree with you spot I left my lines on the beach one arvo and whoever found them washed up on the beach with the tide didn't even finish untangling them before winding them on the bar. Talk about p********* off the next day when I found them next to where I pump up the kite

When I lost my board, i ran up and down the coast looking for it. Couldnt find it, so out of desperation i started asking anyone who had done a downwinder if they had seen it on their run.
When i was just about to give up, i asked pretty much the last people of the day. They found it, and burried it on the beach for me (in a spot they could remember, so it wouldnt get nicked). I told them the name on the bottom, and they told me where to find it.
I think the best idea is to permanent maker your name and phone number on the board.

TurtleHunter said...

I agree with you spot I left my lines on the beach one arvo and whoever found them washed up on the beach with the tide didn't even finish untangling them before winding them on the bar. Talk about p********* off the next day when I found them next to where I pump up the kite

Lol. I wouldnt untangle the lines. As if someone would spend a hour plus untangling some elses lines, who forgot them, while the wind was cranking. I hate untangling my own lines enough.

got my board back within 12 hours, got the thread removed, saves on clutter.

kitesurfers are ridiculously honest except when it comes down to,

1.....knots

2.....elevation

So you're assuming two things:

1. All kitesurfers frequent this forum.

2. That your lost gear and that of every other kitesurfer is actually found.

I think that's a bit daft.

The majority of kitegear lost at the beach is picked up and taken home by non-kiters. Who knows what they do with it. I once left a bar and lines on the beach at S Narrabeen while packing up after dark. Came back the next day and posted a sign and picture of it with my contact details on a post at the beach entrance. Three days later I got a call from a lady who found it on her morning walk, had no idea what it was and took it home and threw it in the laundry room. Said she thought it looked "interesting" and was planning to "cut up the strings and give them to her kids to play with"... The rest of the world does not view the universe through "kite goggles"...

FWIW, despite common misconception, the law is not "finders keepers"--if you find something that does not belong to you, legally, you are obligated to turn it in to the police. The police are obligated to keep it for a period of time (varies by state). If it's not called for and claimed by the owners after that time then the finder is permitted to collect it and keep it. I wonder how often this EVER happens, in reality? I do know of one instance of someone who found a board at Longy a few years ago, handed it over to police and we advertised it high and low in all the shops, all the forums and put signs on the beach, and still the owner never did come looking for it and the finder did eventually claim it back from police, so it often goes the other way too...

Im the opposite. I am usually amazed of how honest other kitesurfers are.
Ive left plenty of things on the beach, and they have always been found and returned.

When you are looking in the lost and found, i think you will find that most stuff is fouind and returned... people just dont update the thread.
ie I have 2 threads on there where I have lost things... and I have not updated them althtouhg I have got my stuff back.

I agree, kitesurfers are one of the nicest crowds you'll ever meet.
But I waswhen my pump was stolen!

the two times i have left stuff at the beach the same person has picked it up and dropped it off at my place, I have never seen him out on the water but wow the chances of the same guy being out there the two times and picking up my stuff are so slim its creepy.

If you lose a board in the channel at Dolls Point be prepared for the tide to take it to who-knows-where. Many boards have never been recovered after a trip to the Dolls Triangle.

The best story I've heard on getting your gear back was from a girl here in Perth. She got a call one day from people on a fishing charter, they'd found a board 40kms out to sea and luckily it had her phone number on it.

She was stoked thinking it was long gone. Always put your number on the board and at least you have a chance of getting it back.