Melville beach today-noobville.

Had a river session, was too sore after scabs yesterday. The amount of first timers and newbies launching from the top of the bay was insane. Don't these people know that the beginners area is the lower half of the bay? Kites, lines and bodies being dragged across the bay, was chaos. Had a newbie cut in front of me and then drop their (kite undermine), nearly ended up with his board in my face. He didn't pull quick release, nor say sorry. Loved it their last season, but this was a little over the top. Maybe some clearer signage? I learnt at Melville, but paid my dues down the bottom.

Aside from the inconvenience and danger, I think it's great entertainment.

There were a few learners out yesterday over here and, hey, call me mean or whatever, but I find it really funny to watch a newb drop the kite for a take off stroke only to overpower the kite, get yanked out of the straps over the board and spend the next 100 downwind meters and 2.1 seconds skipping along the waters surface, trying to work out which way is up and what side of the bar to pull.

The look of terror is priceless, as is the frustrated, exhausted look as they drudge upwind dragging the kite back to the board. All as you sail casually by.

Forgot to mention that solid 'tchwack' the leading edge makes as it slams the water.

out of curiosity did you say anything to these people learning ?

On saturday i spent more time i reckon telling people to move down north of the white gum tree . I had a learner upwind of me crash his kite over mine as i was about to launch . The guy didn't even have his safety attached

There was also an idiot with a trainer kite right in amongst the launch /land area of the southern section of melville although he happily moved on when i asked him to leave the area . all in all most people were all good about not knowing and i agree there needs to be some signage there .

the biggest issue i find is the yellow buoys , no-one has a clue what they are there for and when you point it out they are so surprised

This sounds like a case of adding too many new things such as the board and board start before the kite has been mastered and control is automated .

This is why i would like to see my waksa membership used for policing . Waksa memberships should be worked into the cost of a say 3 lesson package .

The waksa membership i would be happy seeing a price rise if that allowed policing of popular spots by the water police/ranger whoever issuing warnings for people doing the wrong thing . I would also love to see signage put up at popular spots like they have done at safety bay .


i'm just throwing ideas out in the arena . Still waking up

but did you go and say something ?

Carnt fix stupid.

Today at Woodies beach one. A guy named chris got his Nobile 2HD and his cabrinha and decided to kite about 1.5 -2 kms out the back, as Murphys law works something went wrong with his harness, he was OK and tristian brought his board in but an hour swim when a large shark was spotted 2 fridays ago is probably not a good idea. He didnt know how to ride unhooked, probably something that is good to at least practice, even if you cant ride upwind. Chris, untangling lines with a beer is quite relaxing, just do one line at a time

It's because they are trying to run before learning to walk.

After 2 lessons they should spend at least 5 x2hr sessions by themselves concentrating on body drag up/down wind, board recovery and doing self rescues. Getting their kite control skills up to standard. Additionally land and launch correctly.

All these noobs who are going to boardstarts after 2 lessons. Your kidding yourselves and the instructors who have you doing boardstarts are actually putting you behind in your learning.

Also peoples awareness of their surroundings really **s me off. Don't people understand that walkers,families and people enjoying the beach have right of way before kiters. Look over your shoulders noobs and see what the hell is going on around you before you take out someone.

Interesting thought, but as people don't read / ignore signs and we can't pay someone to be everywhere the effectiveness would be limited at best.

Besides, who gave WAKSA the right to say where we can and can't kite (not WAKSA bashing, just stating a fact).

By far the simplest solution is for all of us (yes that means you!) to speak up when we see something wrong. Forum posts do no good. We each have to speak with and educate the people we see being unsafe.

Maybe we can get WAKSA to issue cool hats instead of membership tags next year?

^^that would be nice.

I think its time we stop encouraging so many people to take up the sport.

I understand that this is an issue. I am a beginner myself and I realise that I do some stuff wrong sometimes involving other kiters. I was out there on sunday as well and I must say it was INSANELY busy. So busy, to the point that I stopped just because I didn't want to hurt anyone.

Now to be honost, nobody tells the newbies anything about these unwritten rules on Melville so there is no need to rant about it unless you actually do something about it. I am more than happy to train my skills a bit further downwind but if nobody actually tells me to go further downwind then obviously as a beginner would chose to go as far upwind as possible so that they actually get a decent run out of it.

So sorry if I might be annoying for some experienced riders but remember, you guys were just as inexperienced as me once so help a fellow kiter out and tell him what the deal is or you actually might end up having that board smash into your face one day... which I can tell you now, the newbie really doesn't want that to happen!

Good onya Rick I'm sure the Melville locals appreciate it, but generally people who are on this forum (like yourself) aren't the ones out there breaking the rules/guidelines.

Hi Rick (and anyone else possibly offended by this thread),

I appreciate your frustration!

Melville suffers from, among other things, a rather transient kiting population; plenty of learners that soon migrate to the coast for surf or woodies/pond for the flats once they get semi-skilled. So each season there's a vast number of new punters, with very few people remaining to pass on the dreaded 'guidelines'.

In case you're not aware, there's been no shortage of past efforts made to ensure everyone can still access Melville. The guidelines you see on the WAKSA flyer represent ideas put forward by many past and present Melville regulars. All we did was communicate these local guidelines to WAKSA, who drafted the flyer, printed them up and gave us a pile to disseminate. These guidelines were not identified by WAKSA.

The main concerns were kites making contact with cars, bikes, houses, pedestrians, and vehicles blocking local traffic. Hence the yellow buoys, and requests to park cars thoughtfully.

The learner/experienced segregation simply keeps boosters from landing on body-draggers and vice versa. There's still ¾ of the beach available for cutting your teeth.

Having said all of that, there are no rules at Melville, and you are obviously free to do as you please. You are also free to suggest changes to the guidelines, grab some flyers and hand them out, or just verbally pass on the vibe! Oh, and please don't think I am in anyway the Melv authority!

Thanks for your input mate!

Those flyers sound like a plan. I totally understand the situation especially after seeing sunday's debacle. The flyers sound like an idea but they need to be handed out more often I'd say. I myself would be more then happy to help out with this since I actually live in applecross and don't want Melville beach to close at all since it's in walking distance for me and also because it is just a awesome beach for our great seabreeze.

In the 3/4 weeks that I have been kiting I have not heard any of these 'rules' but I do reckon it is a good thing to get them out there.

Signs won't work I don't think because obviously they aren't 'set' rules so the council would not want those signs there.

Thanks for a normal reply instead of just bagging the newbies. In the end we all have to start somewhere and now I know it should be north of the gumtree haha