In response to this,

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=39463

...someone suggested I start a thread with this question. So I did.

Often people begin these threads with their own tale to tell. However, I personally have never ever ever been scared kiting as I am HARD CORE, and unfrightenable (female, you see). However, I am aware that most of this forum's readers are not female...they are the other one, what's it called again? With the furry faces and the beer...? Ah yes, male.

So...start writing...

Sitting on my arse on a reef in 6 inch deep water with 6 foot waves breaking and washing through on my head with a drowned inverted kite and over 500m from the shore with no-one else around.

Wasn't that bad, but i was a bit worried about being minced on the reef with the waves. I didnt realise it was so shallow when i caught the first wave. Gouged the crap out of my board trying to keep my soft flesh off the reef, had to wait until i passed over the worst of it and then self rescue and paddle back in.

This was followed by "the most unhappy i have been while kiting" - that being stuck at home untangling my lines for 2 hours while it was still blowing 25kts outside.

Got wrapped up in my lines in a wave with a 8 foot break and a death looping kite (because the lines were wrapped around me). Pure stupidity going out in those waves with my skill level at the time and I was punished for it. No hook knife, I was lucky the kite hit the beach about 50m before a set of rock (I was dragged about 300m) and a fisherman jumped on my kite before it relaunched again and broke it. Needless to say thats the first and last time I have ever wanted to hug someone for breaking my kite. By the time that happened I hadn't breathed in about 2 minutes because I was getting dragged face forward.

...but I still wasn't scared coz I'm hardcore and I'm a guy. (if my pants hadn't been washed off I might have needed a change of underwear)

I was having a great sesh at my local wave and lost track of time, 1 hour late for my daughters wedding.
I didn't miss walking down the isle but was late for early photo's etc.
I was like treading on egg shell for a while
We laugh about it now, all's forgiven.

i haven't had any near-death experiences to terrify me, so my most frightening moment would be

25 knot cross-shore at main beach, stradbroke island. nobody else out, terrible conditions, massive dumping surf. managed to get out over the break and as a swell went up in front of me, i saw a large fin sticking up out of the water about 10m in front of me. downlooped the kite and got the hell out of there, eventually got the courage back up to go out again and in the same spot i saw a massive dark shape, thought it was a baby whale because it was so big!

anyway it moved a bit as i was heading towards it (i was pissing myself at this time) and i realised it was a MASSIVE manta-ray, the biggest one i have ever seen. it had been lying on its side with its fin out of the water, looked exactly like a shark fin. sneaky bugger! anyway i cruised around it and checked it out a few times, it was an absolute monster, must have been about 3 metres across i reckon. huge creature, but harmless.

GreenPat said...


You want to know how it ended up as well as how scared I was when it was happening?

Ok I'll tell you. I ended up with my head wedged into one of the little dune shrubs about 10m from the fence, I was stuck so well that two of my kite lines broke under the pull of the kite and it flagged out (over the other side of the fence). Counted about 60 lacerations on my arms, legs and face that night. Was wearing a shorty wetsuit that copped it a bit too. Saved a lot of my skin though.

I actually had my first bit of trouble on my kite this weekend. I have now been kiting for just over a year. So I was attempting my first shot at backloops at the weekend.

presumably I had sheered the kite up too powerfully as when I came down to land the kite had come right over the top of me and it just dropped straight out of the sky. The canopy had also managed to get sucked inside out. Obviously my lines were twisted as well as I had come out of a loop.

Anyway - the kite did flip over and the canopy went back to normal but by this time the lines were well tangled up and was holding the bar at an angle, I was frantically trying to un-tangle the bar and lines but the kite was jumping up in the air, spinning and craching down again at a fair rate of knots. I knew I was on a losing battle and I was also heading towards some rocks.

Decided to pull the quick release and get out of there. Realised as I had never been in trouble before I couldn't remember where the chicken loop quick release was (sounds dumb I know...). So pulled my safetly line QR which obviously did jack all and then when the kite was in the water managed to un-hook the chicken loop.

I was very pleasantly suprised that without a fat Darryl on the end of it, the kite just gently blew into shore and sat there waiting for me (about 100 meters before the rocks). I managed to swim and find my board and got back to shore, so all is well. But the experience certainly shook me up and made me realise how dangerous this sport actually is.

My two learnings from this:
1) Always make sure you know where the QR systems are as when getting pulled through the water out of control you can't see too much
2) Don't be scared to seperate yourself from the kite as it tends to drift to shore and look after itself (whether I was just lucky I don't know?)

Was kiting in some frontal winds on the estaury and the winds picked up quickly to the point I was overpowered - was out on my own and was a bit hesitant about landing as it was my second time on the Havoc - made it out as far as I could stand (100m from shore) and put the kite on the water and released the safety.

Walked up the safety to the kite when the safety broke (I could almost reach the kite) , I stood there looking at the kite with the bar and remaining lines flying towards the road and trees, all I could think of was the destruction I was going to cause as the kite crossed the busy road...

The kite made it between the trees unscathed which I couldnt believe and the remaining lines and bar snagged on the trees stopping the kite and a bystander secured the kite as I made my way from the estuary to land.

Ended up with that jelly oh sh*& feeling and have similar now as the current front is blowing tasty looking winds on the estuary right now

Great thread!

When I had just started kiting about 6-7 years ago I was out alone at my local beach (Semaphore). I was cruising along fine then I saw a fin around 50m away, the dark shape beneath looked fairly big, mind you not 5m or anything lol. I kept my eye on it, was watching a bit too intently and caught an edge, the thing starts heading directly for me. At this point I am starting to **** my pants, before I can get my board the thing has reached me. The water was semi-murky I couldn not make out what it was. It circles me, I naturally stop thinking about the kite and spin around following it. Accidentally in the process I steered my kite hard into the water. At this second I felt absolutely helpless, attached to a kite pulling me around I wouldn't even be able to fend off an attack.

As it happens after a circle and a half it decides not interested and disapears leaving me with a packed wetsuit and a crashed kite. I still to this day do not know wether it was a shark or a dolphin but I will never forget the helpless "oh **** I'm actually about to be eaten" feeling.

last year in winter i was riding my 9waroo fully maxed out on it, doing boosts at a secret spot with rock walls on eitehr end of the small estuary and also a rock wall straight down wind, at apex of one boost bridle snaps, i drop like a rock and the uncontrolled death loops started just as i was half a meter of teh water throwing me full speed down wind n hti the water pretty flat n hard, was getting launched down towards the rock wall and the kite hit the water, just enough tim for me to breathe and grab the bar looking to see which line snapped so i can grab teh right o **** handle, getting dragged another 150 odd meters underwater doing nothing but lookin for the right handle because i didnt want my kite ending between the houses, by the time i got it sorted and flagged onto one line my kite was resting against the rocks and i was exhausted!



other session was at quinns rocks a few months ago when i was at one of the outer reefs by myself about 2 k off, as i was coming back in i saw a relatively large shadow including fin about 200m off shore, the water was insanely choppy and was rather stormy conditions... i raced towards beach as fast as i could but decided to throw a kung fu on way in, i pussied out when i got thrown way higher then expected.. last second i said stop being a bitch n do something so i threw a pull up in instead, biggest pull up ive evr done imo.. came in landed smoothly skiming along the water on top of all the chop and swell.. rogue wave stood up infront n i face planted into it, got kite above head but as i recovered n body dragged to myboard the kite just popped open a valve mid air, at this point i was ****ting because im the only person on the beach, just saw a big shadow close to where i crashed and its soo choppy i cant see the beach unless i was siting on apex of the waves.. spotted a rough direction and just swam my arse off with my board, dragged the kite in by 5th line and didnt give 2 shyts about it until i got to the beach.

This was when i was fairly new to kiting
i was in waves crashed my kite just out of the break zone and as the wind was being gay and wouldnt kick my kite up.. a 6 footer finally got my kite and the submarine voyge begins.

I got dragged a good 50m underwater by my kite.
You get pulled under and dragged..

Finally i released my chicken loop then i surfaced. then another pull and release my 5th line as my kite washes up on the beach

My board was still out at sea and i have to thank the lifeguards for rescuing that

Charl did the Shift key abuse you as a child?

get angry, love it!

First ever time flying a kite, no doubt about it.

A 'mate' took me down to Melville for a taster on an old Wipika white thing, 2/4 line conversion. Must have been 2003 or 04

Was howling on shore, he set me up with a harness and the bar in the shallows and went to the beach to launch me wth the very vague instructions - 'Just hold the bar and the kite will rise up and stay there, then I'll walk out to you.'

That was true for about 2 seconds until I must have steered the bar a bit, the kite whipped straight through the window, I got whipped off my feet and dragged, spinning around under the bar through the shallows, towards the beach, not really sure what to do next.

Luckily a tree between the beach and the road caught the kite for a bit so I could give the bar to my mate who had sprinted after me. I still had the wrist leash on so we were both attached to the kite as it took off again and bounced across the road.

Luckily a car ran into it and stopped it.

No one got hurt. Not even the kite.

I taught myself after that, mates are not to be trusted.

This



Scares the **** out of me every time i see it

I don't think you were scarred then dave. But the bloody tree would have been.

Does anyone else find the wind drops to nothing along the nudist beach....Sooo annoying.
Haven't had a proper scary moment. Except when my kite almost washed into the pipe at floreat. Got lucky then. Also wiping out infront of a rather large wave. Big breath. Popped up. Even bigger wave. Bigger breath. Popped up, kite was still in air. Then Kite looped to beach to recover board.