Hi

I'm going to be staying in the Port Melbourne area in January for a month and I have a few questions about kiting in the local area as I am trying to figure out if I can get away without hiring a car?

My girlfriend claims that she regularly sees poeple kiting at the beach at the end of her road (Bay street) so I initially thought I should just be able to walk down there and go, but looking at the kiting zone map, it would appear that I have to stay below 5mph untill I get 200m out from the beach. This sounds like a load of hassle, so I was wondering if these guidelines are heavily enforced or is it just a slap on the wrist if they catch you and so everybody just ignores them? Also, what is the kiting like once you get beyond 200m from the beach - are there any areas of flat water/breaking waves or sandbars, or is it all just mushy chop and not worth the effort?

Going by the map of kiting zones, the nearest beach I could go looks to be St Kilda, which should just about be cyclable, so could anybody tell me how safe it is to leave kitebags/pump etc lying around on the beach (since I won't have anywhere to lock them away)?

From what I read, St Kilda gets very crowded, so if I go any further afield, how easy is it to take them tram? Will they let you on in a wetsuit with all your kit coated in sand?

As Harry Mentioned, common sense is required.

You can kite when its busy on the beach but make sure you pick a deserted spot to launch and stay out past the 200m markers. If its too busy to find a deserted spot, don't bother. Avoid swimmers in the water and there is a pier near the Tasmanian ferry so use it as a marker to avoid going to close to the ferry, particularly while they are refueling or they can call the coast guard (and they have done in the past)

On quieter beach days (25 knots plus), the beach is empty and you can kite closer to shore but it gets busy quite easily.

I live in Port Melbourne so I'm happy to take you out to Altona when I do go on weekends which will save you a tram ride. Altona is a great flat water spot. St Kilda is good but gets really busy so I tend to avoid it most of the time.

St Kilda is close by bicycle.

Ah, the old, if everyone else robs the bank, then it must be OK.

Kiting is banned on an extensive part of the Port Melbourne beach courtesy of a lot of stupidity two seasons ago in front of the South Melbourne Life Saving Club. This included people trying tricks and smashing their kites down in the middle of young school kids there for training.

As it stands, there are a number of options still for kiting in the area where it is not banned. If self-regulation doesn't work, and people continue to break the rules there are, we'll find ourselves in a situation where it is banned in more places and they will find ways of enforcing the bans.

But hey, do whatever you want, because everyone else does.

Kazan said...
Take Paradigm's pessimistic view of the world with a grain of salt. The others above, Saffer, etc have given you the right advice.
Enjoy!

Thank god for altona eh Kazan? LOL

Thanks for all the advise. Looks like I'll play safe and stay away from Port Melbourne unless its nuking. Saffer, might have to take you up on the offer of a lift to Altona sometime.