Know your safety...

[Blackbird]

Finally decided to post an outing at Waddell that turned into a debacle last fall, 2005. The key lessons at the end...

Classic Waddell day, nuking, blue skies, nice waves, friends boosting. I'm on my new 9m Cabrinha Crossbow having a ball. After about 2.5 hours on the water, I watched a friend boost some air on the outside, did the same, something I have done many times. I screwed the landing a bit, nothing bad, but as I was dunked, I felt a huge tug on the kite. Well, no problem, let go of the bar, the Bow safety will engage. As soon as my head cleared, I looked up, and no kite. What?!? No kite? Now is the point I realized the tug of the kite was the kite getting fully powered up because my thumb or hand had accidentally hit the kite RELEASE just above the chicken loop. I looked down wind and saw the kite gently floating down toward the water. This is also when I realized I was now about 200 yards out, at Waddell, with no kite. Whitey? I decided to hold my board out to the side and start swimming as this would hopefully look the least like a sea lion from below as possible. Within about 5 minutes a very generous Wind Surfer pulled up and dragged me back to shore. Thank you, thank you, thank you! However, in the waves I had to let go as the strain of being dragged was too much to hold on anymore. A short swim to shore and I started looking for the kite. It was now heading down wind (unfortunately a very northerly wind that day so there was no onshore winds that would bring the kite in). Ok, looks like it will hit the point. I start running thinking I will swim out a bit and snag it at the point. I get there, walk gingerly out across seaweed covered rocks, swim out into the six foot high break, and manage to get about 75 feet out when I realize how futile this is. The kite is about 50 yards off shore and heading downwind fast. I then swim back in, run back up the mile or so of beach, grab my 12m bow that is already rigged, jump in the water and take off downwind after my other kite. What am I going to do when I get there? No idea. I am just going one step at a time thinking about the recovery value of a brand new Crossbow...
I get a mile or two down and am looking toward shore where I think the kite should be... no kite. Where is the kite? It should be around here somewhere... I look around, and then out to sea. The kite is further out to sea and obviously wants to get to Fiji fast. I head out to grab it. My first thought is I'll grab it by the leading edge and 'float' it in behind me. This proves so futile after a few attempts that I give up. While trying to figure out my next move, I decide to wrap the lines up a bit to avoid a tangled mess that could easily get out of hand. Granted, I am doing this while trying to keep one kite in the air. Next, I figure deflating the leading edge so the kite won't catch air and hooking my current safety leash into the leading edge loop and draggin it in is the only option. So, leading edge deflated, safety line hooked in to the LE inflation loop, and I am off.
Mind, it is now getting very close to dusk, I have been messing around with kite rescue for 20 minutes or so, and am approximately two miles down wind from Waddell. There is ONE last bit of sand before a long, long, long slog to Scotts beach, with soggy kite in tow. My concerns at the moment:
1. The safety leash doesn't break while dragging the deflated kite in to the beach.
2. I don't mess up the now only safety on my currently flying kite (no leash)
3. I make the beach
I set off, and everything is going great. The kite is flopping around madly behind me, but seems to hold. I manage to come ashore at the last 20-30 feet of sandy beach possible. My friend had been watching the whole event and actually driven down the coast and come running down to help me land. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Ross was so helpful and tried to grab my kite at the start of all this, only to loose his board in the process. Luckily someone had found it and called the next day. Good karma goes a long way...

I felt like I had just done a marathon. Definately a triathalon. Should we make this a new event? Kiting, swimming, running?

Lesson learned: Know your safety, and how you want it to perform. This is said over and over, and is not thought about enough by most kiters until the safety is needed, or NOT needed in my case. I have never accidentally released again, but I also now attach my safety leash above the red kite release knob once I am on the water. This ensures that if the relase is accidentally hit, I am still attached to the kite. This also means my safety leash now needs/has a safety release buckle. Also, something like this makes you realize how vulnerable you are on the water. 200 yards out at Waddell made me feel like a chunk of bleeding meat floating in prime feeding grounds. Without the added buoyancy of my impact vest, I certainly would have been in for more exhaustion. It took two days of being wiped out before I felt somewhat recovered.

Know your safety system!

This also comes after a friend broke his wrist in a mishap with his new Slingshot Turbo Diesel. He launched, a wind lull, then a gust, meanwhile didn't realize the chicken loop came undone from the harness. Kite was then fully powered, lofted him, he then let go, but landed hard, breaking his wrist. Point being, on the new bow style kites, the safety system relies on your chicken loop being LOCKED. If it comes undone unexpectedly, you will be FULLY POWERED. Sure, may seem like common sense, but I bet for many who are making the transition from C style kites to flat Bow style kites, this launching standard is not the norm. I was used to launching without the chicken loop locked in as well due to the safety system of those kites.
Review your safety system and try to imagine ALL scenarios.

[windhorny]

You had me biting my nails reading that. Glad to hear you are ok. The kiting community needs stories like these every now and then to remind us we are not invincible. It's funny, i sometimes think of carrying some extra line on me just for a moment like that. Sometimes I see a floating log out there and want to grab it but i realize I am not a tractor and give up. I can't imagine being out there without a kite.

Yuri

[Don Bogardus]

Truly EPIC tale of loss, trolling for action, and ultimately
eventual redemption of life and property, mixed with
words of wisdom!!.

[thereza]

I'm new to this sport, so I might be way off on this, but I saw a guy coming in that had this gadget attached to his back that looked like a spool of line with a reel in an enclosed structure. I was tempted to ask what it was for, but didn't.

Reza

[windhorny]

thats so you can kitesurf with your dog.

Actually it is a board leash that extends just like a dog leash. The idea is that the slack gives the board some distance from you and then once in the water it reeels in to you. Something like that. Good for beginners who cant body drag upwind or lose their board a lot.

[Windseeker]

YA that "gadget" is an interesting device....

Its a crash activated kiter decapitation machine.... quite effective too!

[thereza]

so this thing is bad - causes problems?

[windhorny]

No, its fine. Technically you should wear a helmet when using it just so the board doesnt whack you from behind the nogen in the water.

[Windseeker]

Hehehe didn't mean to make a serious issue a joke but I just couldn't resist...

There is a whole ton of stuff all over this forum and others about wether kiters should or shouldn't use board leashes while learning.... The real type leashes do seem safer than traditional surf style leashes but then again no leash is safe. Talk to guys at your local spot about what the norm there is, as some places its a lot easier to body drag back to your board than others....

But if you do decide to wear a leash make sure you wear a helmet and an impact vest or life jacket to minimize your chance for serious injury. But they wont protect your face.... a sharp board edge or fin can do a lot of damage very quickly.....

[elli]

Yep, there is a lot of discussion on the leash. To sum it up:
The general objection is that when you crash and get dragged by the kite the leash pulls the board behind you, and it can launch towards you and hit you. If the board gets submerged in the process it can build more energy in the leash tension and launch at you even faster. This is why using a leash also means wearing a helmet and vest, to protect your body from the board shooting at you. Boards have sharp edges and they are built pretty solid. You really don't want this thing hitting your head.

A wave can also shoot the board at you, in that case having a leash also increases the risk of getting hit.

Its also another thing to deal with in the water, another line around your body when you swim.

Reel leash is much longer than standard leash, so it reduces the chance of getting hit somewhat because of the added distance, but the risk is still there.

So use at your own risk. Helmet and vest are never a bad idea, but with a leash they are a must.