What happened?

Ughhh,
Bar throw (I assume thats what its called-the distance from my harness to bar) on my kite is really far out of reach, I was out about 500m from shore and having trouble bodydragging upwind-- Without a life jacket on it's a bit harder. Basically kite inverted once I got my board back, bridle lines wrapped around trailing edge somehow, I Went to self rescue by deconnecting the Chickenloop, my leash was wrapped around my loop and stayed powered up, I had to disconnect leash entirely as I was getting pulled out to sea quickly and losing my board. Then swam with board in one hand the looooong distance back to shore.

The Euro guy who saved my kite also checked me out at about the 200m mark to see if I was ok, I was really quite glad to see him, although talking to him was hard as i was rooted from the swim. Turns out he's a beginner also, loving the mateship in this sport, no one gives a toss out in the surf.

how were you getting dragged out to sea ?


shouldn't you be kiting with cross onshore winds ?

airhead said...

kn windy yesterday

Nort wrong!


Sounds like kitemare o' the week..glad there was a happy ending there Infi. Good to hear a kiters behaving nice story too.


Not trying to lecture you (much ) Infi, but winds like yesterdee, are not really the go if you are a noob (even if your kite is correct size) and/or haven't been on board for a l o n g time.

For my money the wind yesterdee was even 'punchier' and denser than the speeds the graphs have it showing. Was kn tops with the size of swell running. Best sesh i've had in donkies!!!

Hope your back on the water soon.

getfunky said...

airhead said...

kn windy yesterday

Nort wrong!


Sounds like kitemare o' the week..glad there was a happy ending there Infi. Good to hear a kiters behaving nice story too.


Not trying to lecture you (much ) Infi, but winds like yesterdee, are not really the go if you are a noob (even if your kite is correct size) and/or haven't been on board for a l o n g time.

For my money the wind yesterdee was even 'punchier' and denser than the speeds the graphs have it showing. Was kn tops with the size of swell running. Best sesh i've had in donkies!!!

Hope your back on the water soon.

Yeah GF, DEF a beginners stay home/on the beach day

like a christmas tree.

Mike is the AKS instructor. Think that's the fella.

I was lit up on a 6m catalyst yesterday at Pinnas.. 25-28knots consistent.

Looks pretty full-on out there again today chaps n chapettes

If you have never flowin over 25 kts before (hey everybody has to try it eventually sometime) then use a bit extra caution and take it easy.

If you are a noob it is likely you will be on your only kite and at the upper top end of it's range also.

If you get spanked in these conditions it happens waaaayyy quicker and leaves a bigger welt.

EDIT:
2 days kiting in a row for me.. it MUST be Xmas!

Wasn't an AKS instructor thats for sure, although he did have a Javelin life preserver on, he was a euro (I think Dutch or Belgian from the accent) but he was still a beginner, flying a red LF kite (10m I think).

It was rather windy yesterday, but for me (any port in a storm), I had to go out, 7m kite is my biggest in my quiver at the mo, 6 being my smallest.... very limited wind range.

The kite was inverted and tangled in lines and I was getting tired trying to get it back up in the air as it was at about 10 on the clock face in the water, not getting back into the air, but gradually dragging me past those rocks/ reef downwind of the point. So I made the decision to attempt a self rescue, then made the even harder decision to abandon all my kite and swim for my life. But locals said it's happened before and will happen again, all just part of the game, like getting line twists or deflated end cells in skydiving.

Wear ur vest or stay at home haha cos ive never done that or hav i