Deathlooping kite today, you guys okay?

[reyrivera]

Alameda was good today, but saw 1 kite deathloop for at least two minutes and another kite down close to the looping kite. I went ahead and rigged again, to check on you but you guys were wrapping up by the time I passed by.

That was scary watching you, R u okay?

[Aloha]

Wow hope everybody was okay

It was a little too windy today but tomorrow is looking pretty nice

Plus a weekend kick-off TGIF session

[JimmyJack]

Hey Rey,

Yeah, that was me and I think a guy named Dave. We crossed lines and he got unattached by I could not. After I released everything, the line to my kite was wrapped around two of my toes and attached to his death looping kite. After thinking I was either going to drown or lose two of my toes, I finally caught a break and was able to get the line off my toes with a last hard yank against his kite to get some slack. One kiter, common to Alameda lent me his knife and I passed that on to another and he cut one of the lines of the other guys kite which then allowed me to self rescue with mine and drag the other kite with me. If I had remembered to transfer the knife from my old harness to my new harness, it would not have been nearly as scary. Although, I have to say that I am not sure I could have taken one hand off the line (which was why I was being dragged underwater) and held back enough resistance to not lose my toes. Lesson 1: If on port tack and facing someone on Starboard, it doesn't always work to try to jump and float below the other person because they may not have enough experience to understand or accept what you are trying to achieve. I am going to come out and admit what I admitted to him, that is an aggressive offensive move which I know many of us do, because I learned it through observation, but I wont do it again. Lesson 2: Make sure you have a knife because the one time you need it, you really need it. Earlier that day I brought someone elses board in who had a broken footstrap. I guess that was the right move because no less than 3-4 people helped me and the other guy with boards, kites etc. Thanks to all. Final damage tally: Me - broken bridle line and shame , him - broken lines.

[Aloha]

Thanks for sharing your story - these lessons are helpful for everybody. I've had an ankle wrapped Nantucket sleigh ride before and it's not fun. I'm so glad you're okay, we can replace everything on your kit except you!!!

[charlie]

Me too glad your ok...
I'm sad and mad that it was observation, that thought you that.

when you two should have, shown each other your heading ....starboard kite holds course, port kite dips downwind a bit, upwind kite go's high downwind kite go's low no one even thinks about throwing a TriCk!!


Why is it that some of the best kiters exhibit the worst behaver?

Riding inside throwing tricks in a crowd, not passing with care for safety,
Riding all the way to the sand to transition back out, when you should stay out 200 feet.

We are starting to get swimmers again and they are going to need a place to swim, kids need a place to wade in the shallows ...

Leveeing your lines across from the waters edge to the sand, for joe public to trip on or worse some little kid to pick up and fly away with
roll it up even for a 10 min brake.



Seems like lately if you learn to kite, then you learn a trick, then you ride in front of the launch throwing it over and over...... GO OUT SIDE

Yesterday I saw so much bad kite behavior someone teaching their "friend" upwind of the launch ...dropping their kite on the soccer group (that should take place below the rocks and out of the launch area)

kiters coming in to land overpowerd then when someone grabs there kite they just stay flat footed when they should START WALKING tOWEARDS there KITE to slack the lines immediately.

kiters still pumping up in the launch zone when that should happen off to the side
kiters still rigging up there lines in street clothes when you should be in your wetsuit and harness

so lets all take a deep breath think about the longevity of kiteing and act accordingly
take the less space not the most space and we might get to stay and play in this place

[JimmyJack]

The progression you describe is quite true. Although, not for me. I tend to try to avoid people as much as possible, but in this one off situation I was on my way in after staying above and outside of everyone most of the day. At Sherman, I rarely kite leeward of marker 12 and almost always windward of marker 10. In any case, the issue yesterday was that the guy just froze once I went up in the air to float downwind and I so when I floated down and then put my kite low it flew into his lines and I couldn't turn back before I jumped because someone was on my tail there too so I would have had to downloop then hope I could get below that person too. The decision to try to float downwind was not part of a "trick" but granted it was probably, as I said the more aggressive decision. So therein lies lesson 3 which I normally abide by and that is, avoid kiting in crowded places. In flat water places, I usually avoid people at all cost. But I have a question I will throw out to the general public, that is a long beach and there are many places to park and ride all along that beach, and I even looked for parking well downwind but couldn't find any when I launched, so my question is, is at agreed that one can launch and ride well below the shack?

[charlie]

Jimmy im not blaming you
We have a guide that is not used much but would help teach what to do in certain situations ,
Alleviate congestion and let the public have access to some of the beach too.
Like you said ,observe learned behavior . people that know how to kite should exhibit the proper etiquette ,set an example not break the example .

This is not a new rant just the old rant of mine that goes back at least 14 ,15 years....

Jimmy jack
As far as I know the park would like us to not go below the first outhouse at Shellgate ,but if you can find a place down the beach where you could launch safely at least two kite lines away from Joe public then yeah go down there And kite ,stay outside till your ready to come back in
Be safe have fun

[dz]

Thank you for your post.

re cavalier attitudes, I think the biggest risk at Alameda is to the public.
It is one thing to take chances w other kiters, but a very different thing to endanger the public, WHO HAVE JUST AS MUCH RIGHT TO THE BEACH.

[pipedragon]

Welcome to the 2016 Kite Season!

[friggin old guy]

I might mention: releasing kites prematurely when you cross can sometimes make the situation worse, not better.

The first time you experience a kite tangle, the automatic instinct is to eject. However, it is not uncommon for one or maybe both kites to be able to stay aloft and fully controllable even if lines are crossed. That's preferable to ejecting and creating an unpredictable result. Like loopage.

Always scary but sometimes very manageable, not an automatic nightmare.

And yep, the show at Alameda is on!

Charlie, you're a crusty old SOB. Don't take it personally if Charlie yells at you or uses caps. It's his way of showing he cares (not kidding).