Point Moore is no place for beginners , thats why I never had my kite school there,
I watched the whole thing , what beginners must understand is if you are in trouble there is a procedure called self rescue , unfortunately most beginners find out to late they should have practiced this procedure before heading out to hells gates hence saveing Mal a heep of trouble.

Thanks hitch hiker. The storey so far.I had just finished my underpowered session and landed my kite on the beach, noticed a kiter getting dragged north trying to relaunch. Went back out to investigate found a young ( all young compared to me)euro chick very very distressed barely able to breathe and getting submarined. got her kite to relaunch but it went into death spirals and she could not release. pulled out the hook knife and cut her away from her kite. My slingshot chickenloop selfreleased , no kite for me either.
We floated together for a few to get breath back and composure and started the swim home across the reefs.
All the gear was recovered, thanks to Matty K on the crayboat for grabbing my kite it could not have ended up in better hands

nice work mate, very selfless act
how many people kite with a hook knife ?

Mystic harnesses I have had come standard with hook knife .

Mini Mal said...

Thanks hitch hiker. The storey so far.I had just finished my underpowered session and landed my kite on the beach, noticed a kiter getting dragged north trying to relaunch. Went back out to investigate found a young ( all young compared to me)euro chick very very distressed barely able to breathe and getting submarined. got her kite to relaunch but it went into death spirals and she could not release. pulled out the hook knife and cut her away from her kite. My slingshot chickenloop selfreleased , no kite for me either.
We floated together for a few to get breath back and composure and started the swim home across the reefs.
All the gear was recovered, thanks to Matty K on the crayboat for grabbing my kite it could not have ended up in better hands

You are a legend Mal..... I think I did my IKO course with him.Old school kiters know what to do when the poop goes down! Get them to buy you some BROO premium beer. 100% Aussie!

genuine question from me for once about the hook knife, there was no sarcasm in that(for once), hope didnt take it the wrong way

the hook knife thing i have never heard talked about really, will have look at them for sure, you just never know.

i have done the submarine thing before, not fun but managed to pull the release, not easily though

one story of using one is enuf to make ya think, cheers

^^^ what they said Hats off - glad you got your kit back too.

Hook knifes - used to be in every new harness, a pocket around the back. The kites of yesteryear were more likely to need them. Not so common in modern harness - if at all. My latest 2 do not have a pouch for the knife. Having said that, I often overlooked taking the knife out when washing down, and over the years chucked 3+ out totally rusted out. Blade sits in the base of a small V so snag a cable in the V and it cuts (when not rusted out!!).

Just checked old harness (rusted out knife in the pouch).

Not sure where I would put one now. Comments on this welcome..

Cheer AP

Good work Mal. Turns out he is an old hand at saving lives. He also once pulled someone from a burning building years ago. Saved their life. (true story)

He had to give up a carton of beer to the skipper of the crayboat that picked up his kite and another carton to a bloke who saw the event unfold and agreed to go and get his dinghy to help retrieve the kite. (crayboat got their first but mal had already offered a carton for his troubles)...

So now he is 2 cartons of beer down and the euro kiter that had her life saved has gotten off scott free. (No disrepect to the tourist... she is probably unaware of the "carton currency" that exhists on our shores...)

Cruel World.... and as Mal would say... "Nobody hears your screams at Hells Gates"

just leave the point to the slayers, i had a very scary experience there the other day, channel busting and the wind pissed off really offshore and barley made it back to the north side. if i had been trawling the depths (as per usual) k's off i would have been screwed, the only advice i can give is to locate a cray pot and wrap your gear or yourself to that.

It ain't called Hells gate for no reason, specially when its busting. if id have been there i'd have helped out, pretty much a permenant fixture these days,
in future go to seppo's, glenny's, sunsets or drummonds far better for you 'us' euro's