Stupid kite landing and how to get Crissy potentially closed

[Tony Soprano]

What a difference a day makes or lot of people would have gotten
Schooled Sunday, good thing the wind was good.

Monday was some awful wind, I feel lucky to have made it back to the beach.
Stephans risked his own neck to go after a guy on a yellow/black Best;
going deep down wind near angel island, and barley made it back himself.
We called the Coast Guard, he was still flying his kite, but was getting flooded into the bay between Alcatraz and Angel Island. He dump his kite and was rescued. On the way in other kites were down due to major holes in the wind line, and the Coast guard picked up Two others, another opted to do the classic self rescue technique. If you kite Crissy enough you will become very good at it.

[EvanOR]

At Crissy we generally try and take the friendly, helping approach first - unfortunately sometimes it goes unheeded. I agree that we all need to be more proactive if the " nice " approach fails, especially when innocent beach goers are at risk. Keeping everyone safe and access open is not going to win any popularity contests with the stubborn, jackass " offenders ", and nobody wants to be " that guy ", but what's worse? Not injuries and losing access.

And, it doesn't matter what the location is. These issues are everywhere to varying degrees.

Classic Crissy today - 25+ and smooth in the channel, but no wind on the beach and a strong flood tide = race board magic and local knowledge. :mrgreen:

If in doubt when you arrive, please just ask.....

[Loscocco]

I think that wether if it is Crissy, Alameda or anywhere else that having the "jackass" attitude and posting them up here like criminals is the wrong way to go about it. I think everyone of us.. myself included have done these things at one time or another when we were learning. We should explain to them what they are doing wrong and how dangerous things can get nicely but firmly.
some people may refuse to listen but i think the majority are just uninformed.

And if i was a newbie coming to BAK and saw my picture labeled as a "jackass" then i might not think to highly of BAK and its members. Makes me think of going to a surf break that the locals will run you off of rather than show you the proper etiquette and rules.

We do however need to police ourselves before we get beach access restrictions placed on us.

Just my 2cents

[windhorny]

Even though i started that , i tend to agree. I was angered that I could not penetrate the thick skull of a few kiters that were making bonehead descisions. And I thought this would be a non-violent approach that may somehow lead to more thoughtful actions in the future by some.

Maybe you guys can give out some of these stickers I am making to the crissy crowd of newbees. Education is the best method but some still don't want to learn.

[stone]

Though I am hugely in favor of the engagement approach to wayward kiters (as opposed to yelling at them), Yuri's and fathom's photos are of kiters who utterly failed to respond to the friendly non-confrontational approach.

Though I've had my share of learning fuckups (and expect I'll have some more), I've never swept my kite through other beachgoers. If a kiter persists in bystander-endangering stupidity, we need to know who they are or what they look like.

Having said that, I'm sure there's more than one orange Best-owning kiter who saw that photo and said, aw shit. Guilt by coincidence.

[abarna21]

having said all that.....i'm a newbee into the sport.....i just had my lessons and i bought all the gear...but now i want to make it to the beach all by myself. I'm sure I don't want to be another jackass post, but we all have to start somewhere.
We all make/made mistakes.......I want to start at Alameda; in the evening when it's not too crowded, but if there are people out there i'll be more careful. But I have to start somewhere as you all did.

[Sonny]

I think that wether if it is Crissy, Alameda or anywhere else that having the "jackass" attitude and posting them up here like criminals is the wrong way to go about it. I think everyone of us.. myself included have done these things at one time or another when we were learning. We should explain to them what they are doing wrong and how dangerous things can get nicely but firmly.
some people may refuse to listen but i think the majority are just uninformed.

And if i was a newbie coming to BAK and saw my picture labeled as a "jackass" then i might not think to highly of BAK and its members. Makes me think of going to a surf break that the locals will run you off of rather than show you the proper etiquette and rules.

We do however need to police ourselves before we get beach access restrictions placed on us.

Just my 2cents

I agree that we should not post beginners and labeling them as jackass, unless they have a thick skull, don't want to listen and follow the local rules.

[windhorny]

abarna21. The problem isnt going downwind or even having to occasionally walk through people. The problem is when you dont have confidence in your skill yet make choices as if you did. I.e. if you dont feel comfortable landing/getting your kite without it tumbling down the beach, landing in between people is a bad idea.

Stay downwind of people when trying to self land.

If you are in the water and trying to drag in, use the steering lines to swing the kite away from the beach when your feet have hit sand. Now the kite is out on the water where you can self rescue. Use this technique to swing the kite in on side shore days as well.



No one is against learning. You will get support from most people in the community. It is strictly the alpha bonehead that cannot accept someone else telling them what to do.

[baypirate]

I agree that we should not post beginners and labeling them as jackass, unless they have a thick skull, don't want to listen and follow the local rules.

I think that's exactly the cutoff. Attitude is the issue, after getting friendly advice/notice. Mistakes are ok, except of course for those that are not a matter of skill (or even judgment), but rather show reckless disregard for the safety of others - and you don't even need to be a kiter to know which are those.

I mused (unhappily) earlier about the... specter of SoCal-style regulated access. I think we're underestimating the extent to which ending up that way can ruin the good thing we have going here. You can't (legally) enforce self-regulated access on public beaches, the Kite Patrol works by actually taking any dispute to the Life Guard, who has legal standing (Ski Patrol is different, same way that clubs have bouncers b/c they are not, say, parks). So in setting up any Kite Patrol w/ teeth you concede powers to the Feds(/State/Locals etc.), just what we need in ever-over-reaching-and-meddling CA / SF.

So I guess we'll probably need to walk softly this fine line, and use Yuri's "big stick" for the really egregious stuff.

In all fairness, the beach was packed w/ civilians at Crissy this w/e, by the lagoon at the tide was hard to even see the people lying down. I personally decided to make sure another kiter sees me coming in and can reach up for the landing kite while still in the air.

Not to pile on, but there was some other... odd couple student-instructor, all way upwind by the rock wall, fooling around with a purple Slingshot (was it you, Sonny? haha), not too long b/f they crashed it on some sun-bathing civilians who quickly wrapped their blanket and move out of the impact zone... I really don't get it, how can you even learn to fly a kite at Crissy?? And on beachgoing-est day of the year?

And, yeah, Crissy has a way of schooling everybody. Sat/Sun you had the washing machine by the South Tower spinning in overdrive, glassy flood in the middle - smooth as a baby bottom but also a 10min express ride to Alcatraz, and a huge hole on the inside to welcome you home. A treacherous seductress Crissy is.

btw, today is my one year kiting birthday!

[KillaHz]

Dangerous, ignorant people should be reprimanded in all sorts of ways... at the beach, in the parking lot and online!

You may compare it to heavily localized surf breaks but what many don't realize is that the heaviest enforcement goes down at the heaviest spots. A good example is Pipeline. A wave with serious consequences for all involved if you don't have a lot of experience and show respect for both the wave and the people out there owning it. The local Dahui police the place with an iron fist. Ass whoopings are handed out regularly and these ass whoopings save lives... literally.

Some people don't listen to reason, logic or even helpful advice. They insist on doing things their way because they as a tax payer or economy stimulating tourist or whatever have "the right" to be there. When those people's actions endanger experienced watermen and innocent beach goers they need to be discouraged with the most effective means. No longer is the "I didn't know" excuse valid. It is every individuals own responsibility to educate themselves using the resources out there. If you choose to go about it on your own, be prepared not to be met with much sympathy when your actions endanger others, especially those who did not ask to be subject to your endangerment.