Jono77 said..
he was in contact with the water police and the rider had contacted the water police and informed them he had to release the kite but he was fine on dry land.
Good on him for contacting the authorities.
I'm the one who called the water police just before 4pm to inform them he was OK. As you'd expect from a newbie/foreigner, he sure wouldn't have called anyone or knew who to call for that matter. When I talked to the water police they told me they had already received a call about that same kite and were wondering if anyone was still attached to it.
Wind was light and gusty at the time and only 3 of us were out kiting including him. I saw him drop the kite and it looked inverted. He tried to relaunch for ages and drifted downwind and away from the shore in the process. Eventually he gave up and released the safety only to realize his safety leash wasn't clipped in (at least that's what he told me).
His friend was nearby kiting in the water and gave him a hand towing him in (he was more than 300m out already). Lost his board and his kite.
Even if the wind was slightly Side-on (NNW) the way the kite was positioned, it caught wind from one wing tip only and was blowing fast away from the shore. By 4:45pm the kite was already close to little island, which is almost
2km from shore.
Looked to me like an easy self-rescue but it just didn't happen, probably from a lack of experience from what I observed.
I normally go out to rescue runaway kites (I usually bring back a handful every year), but at the time it happened last Friday the wind was very light so it was too risky. By the time the wind picked back up the kite was already 1km out and I figured calling the water police was the more important thing to do when I saw the guy get back in.
Water police told me on the phone they would go and retrieve the kite, it doesn't look like they did, but I don't blame them they probably have more important stuff to do and the important thing is everyone was safe.
probably a good time to remember:
-To ALWAYS call water police 9442 8600 ASAP whenever kite equipment is adrift to inform them about the situation and if you know whether the person is safe or not.
-To check safety systems are functional and correctly connected before we go out
-To make sure you and your friends are competent at self-rescue
-If in doubt, don't go out
-That's
9442 8600, if you kite in WA and you don't have that number in your phone, add it!
Stay safe,
Christian
