+1

Good one, Tom! The beach you mention is Brighton and it can't be stressed enough that this is a risky spot in a northerly. I was there the same day and my 8m RPM just fell out of the sky after it had been launched due to the spotty wind on the beach.
Later I helped one guy who had lost his board and was drifting south bodydragging in those super gusty conditions.
If you are too far out and lose your board, tangle you kite or break a line, you are pretty much farked and will have to act quickly to reach land before you drift out into the bay. On the way in there is the reef and its markers you'll have to avoid. Also, don't forget that you will wear out a lot quicker in cold water if you spend too much time trying to recover your stuff before making the call to abandon your gear.

I was at Brighton about a month ago when a guy asked me for a launch. Brand new Cabrinha Vector, pumped up on the beach, but resting upside down (rather than leading edge down) with a heap of sand inside the kite. Interesting...

I grabbed his kite and his lines didn't look right. He had fronts connected to wingtips and rears connected to the bridal. I explained to him what he did wrong and asked him to reset and grab me when he is ready.

5 mins later he comes over ready for another go. This time I thought I better check the lines properly. Lucky I did. He did not have the little line extensions that cabrinha lines come with and he just came up with his own knots to attach the lines to the kite. They would have come apart under load for sure.

We got it all sorted (extensions were in a bag) and he finally went out to do some body dragging.

turns out he had some lessons but the instructors never showed him how to set up. He got a new kite as part of a package from one of the local shops but didnt even bother to read the manual.

Oh yeah, and he was wearing his harness upside down too :D

When you see someone that looks like a beginner always make sure they have the right equipment for the conditions. Check their lines before launching too. Although had this guy not mixed up lines in the first place I never would have thought to check how the lines are attached to the kite and it all could have ended very badly.

Aye, Altona is a feisty place alright. Ignoring the debris, that little sand island over to the west would be fine to launch/land/learn from...

The reef at Brighton is a good thing in a northerly. It's a kook catcher. It's where you end up if you can't handle the conditions ... and you're lucky.

You just need to wear booties so you can walk on the reef without damaging your feet.

What I have trouble understanding is how can you not know that Brighton is difficult in a northerly? You're standing on the beach. Bullet gusts are pounding into the back of your head and blasting straight offshore. Kites are dropping out of the sky. One second it is calm and peaceful. The next second desert storm. Guys are having trouble getting on or off the beach. What process of logic is it that makes people think, "I'm a newbie, I'll go out here. I'll put up my crap 12m C kite." We had a very simple mechanism to avoid doing stupid stuff. It was called fear.