ALAMEDA NEWBIES

[schwede]

Hey I am stoked for all the new kiters and to meet some cool people but seriously don't come out and try to learn on 2003 15M RRD C kite. Honestly your going to get hurt. I know the economy sucks but spend a little money on 2006 or newer preferably bow kite and it will be much safer for you and everyone else on the water.

Josh

[windhorny]

How about a cabrinha access or a old foil or 15 lines? Alameda is a recipe for disaster. I really wish the schools would enforce staying out of peoples way. It seems that even the basics of steering the kite on the water are left out of the lesson as where ever the wind blows the kites, they end up. And it is normally right where the family of 10 is. But what are you gonna do?

[friggin old guy]

Every time I see somebody with a board leash it gives me the heebie geebies. I see a lot of them at Alameda these days.

I'm not an instructor or anything, but it seems to me that students would be better advised to bone up on how to minimize distance from your loose board when you eat it rather than getting them to rely on the leash, especially at a place like Alameda where there's little consequence from losing your board anyway.

Minimize distance = just don't do friggin anything with your kite when you fall in the water. The extra drag from your body will bring the kite up to the edge of the window and you'll stop a few feet from your board even if you're moving fast.

Any time I see somebody with a board leash I just want to run away. Bad accident just waiting to happen.

[Greg]

I learned on 99 gear, gear ante' the problem.
and I learned on my own, so lessons arn't the problem..
Kites don't hurt people, people with no respect for their kites,
thats what hurts people....

Enjoy-
and be safe out there!
L.M.G.

[Getssum]

AGREE With LMG... Greg was one of the TRUE pioneers in our sport, hell I remember watching him examine the rocks up close at 3rd ave.....

[maxsteamer]

Hello Getssum,

I agree 100% I used to windsurf over at 3rd..blew a fin and ended up in the rocks after dark now I did not have any problems untill I got to the rocks??.. and then all hell broke loose. used a pin light to navigate up the rocks, then dropped the light!! slipped and hit my knee called the good lord a bad name, then my mast and sail slipped off the board back to the water, so I grabbed the tip of the mast to try to keep it from sinking... did the best back flip you would ever see in a circus. but my foot wanted to stay behind. OH YA!!! after further examination one of my booties was lost in the rocks. still there most likely?? Now you probably wonder why I 'm posting all this sh*t .. Well the reason is because all my bro's ask me to kite with them at 3rd." #-o " =; " ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) Reminds me of a band..Blood, sweat, and tears.

[Greg]

you know...
I never had a a care in the world tell I meet those rocks...
OOOOOP's #-o

[consumer]

Hey I am stoked for all the new kiters and to meet some cool people but seriously don't come out and try to learn on 2003 15M RRD C kite. Honestly your going to get hurt. I know the economy sucks but spend a little money on 2006 or newer preferably bow kite and it will be much safer for you and everyone else on the water.

Josh

hey man, the goal of this post was probably to vent, but what service are we to alameda/ kiteboarding by doing so? This post is a little insensitive, don't you remember how dumb we all were when we began? Why don't you make an effort to help someone out, either by suggesting a different kite size/ style next time you see him, instead of making a post that only jackasses like me will see.

maybe that is the berkeley hippy in me...

[Tony Soprano]

Approximately 50 kitesurfers attended a recent (late Summer 2005) meeting to address the concerns of the Parks Department with regard to kites flown near beachgoers on the beach downwind of the launch area. The consensus was in favor of a new policy for kiters returning to shore downwind - “Kite in hand when you hit the sand.” Kitesurfers who return to shore downwind of the antenna must land their kite in the water and recover it before walking up on to the beach.

Has this been forgotten?

[CdoG]

Yup..
along with drag out ,two kite line length's then get on your board
AnD stay outside of two kite line lenght's (dont kite right up to shore to transtion)

as too, share the beach with non kiters wanting to get wet,not enTanGled...

also dont park your kite in the luanch/land zone
ect...
ect...
EcT...