Guys we all have accidents from time to time but what amazes me is how few people i have observed help others in distress in the water, often at times i see kiters completely ignore people in the water, a classic example was at woodies the other day which is offshore and the poor bloke was drifting further away (i managed to untangle his kite) and many times of Leighton. Guys no one wants to be in the water for long periods of time so go and help people or ask them if you can help and stop being selfish. Those that are rescued should perhaps buy your rescuer a beer, we did this in Brazil and there was never a shortage of helpers and it was all good fun.
On this note the chap who caught my kite (s bend went horribly wrong) yesterday please come forward, i have a beer for you.
I have rescued endless boards, the odd kite, and I always check out downed kiters and windsurfers. If necessary I would rescue the person.
In the past I have been very pissed off that I have been dragging around searching for my board and Captain Oblivious just rides straight by without looking sideways.
But ... rule one of first aid and rescue and all that stuff is to not put yourself at risk. You don't want to get injured or lose your gear. You don't want to have two people to be rescued.
did you even read my post?
I said that if you want to kite no 3 then you take the risk of getting blown offshore.
I never said I would sit back and laugh. I said that you need to understand the risks involved with kiting offshore and be responsible your your OWN actions.
I don't get what you're trying to say RPM? You're implying because someone is irresponsible enough to get themselves in a situation, or because they are a euro, they don't deserve to be helped out?
I think what he is trying to say is you shouldn't just expect people to help you out.
Woody's 3 is offshore and if you want to kite it you should accept that you may have to fend for yourself.
I hardly ever kite there but would imagine that it must get frustrating as a local rescuing people who really shouldn't be there in the first place.
If I was compentent enough to rescue anyone I would... I'd feel guilty if I'd see someone waving to the beach asking for help and just leave them there... It'll only make this sport more friendly and safe if we help eachother out.
my first time in the ocean I was so happy to be on the board I did a 500m tack out to sea then dropped my kite and couldnt relaunch. 45min of swimming and 2hrs of un tangling my bar taught me a good lesson. I spent the next windy day just practising relaunching and got a lesson on how to self rescue.
Had someone just dragged me in I doubt the experience would have had the same effect.
Most people seem happy to help just gets frustrating when people put themselves in situations and expect others to deal with the results.
ive only been kiting for couple months (so not very good) but saw a board out deep so worked really hard (body dragging and drinking lots of st kilda beach water) bringing it bak in to shore, eventually bloke comes takes board and barely even said thanks.
i did it bc someone did it for me and i appreciated it and would therefore do it again for someone else (not that same guy tho, he was a wanker!),
we should def make buying beers for such events as a standard thank you!
If you want help then ask for it. Its quite easy, either yell or wave someone in. I have never refused to help anyone that asked.
Only exception is when I'm asked to launch/land a kite thats 50m+ away (on a normal wind day).
Self launch/self land/self rescue, learn it!
