VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I was up at Nitinat over the long weekend and could not help but notice how many beginner Kiters there are up there now and how much of a hazard they have become to other users, especially windsurfers. I have nothing against Kiters but some responsibility needs to be taken for run away boards and kites, it is the responsibility of the user to make sure that they have control of their equipment and if that equipment causes damage or harm to another user when out of the users control then the user needs to be ready to pay $$$ for damages!! Gear is going to get wrecked and or people hurt from Kites crashing on water or land as well as from boards that are left in the water while the user is dealing with the kite....a kite board in the water if very difficult to see and can easily damage a windsurfer board or person.

These are just some observations from being up there for a few days and nearly getting nailed by a kite crashing hard onto land as well as almost having my windsurfing gear hit by kite and narrowly avoiding kite boards that are sitting in the water with no one near them.

How about a leash like surfers or skiers use to control their gear?? And how about some control on these kites in high traffic areas; if you cannot control it pick a different sport.

Whomever is teaching these beginners that it is ok to leave gear sitting in the water just offshore should change it up as what they are doing is very dangerous to other users.

Rant over....thanks

HAhahahahahha

Boy are you going to get some flack.
Good luck with that.

And wouldn't be great if nobody had to work and we could sail every day. Better yet... Imagine if kook st was tropical warm during the whole year.
Uh ohh... My alarm clock is ringing. Time to wake up!

BK wrote:Imagine if kook st was tropical warm during the whole year.

What? It isn't?

Humour aside some good points (though not new) are brought up here. I rescued two Kite boards on Sunday, swam them in on top of my gear from 50m out. Neither had a kite and/or kite owner anywhere near so I just left them on the beach. One was white and somewhat visible but the other was black and pretty much a hidden dead head for highspeed windsurfers or kiters. I would hate to take one to the shins at mach 3.

These roads on the Island are getting just crazy eh?
All the new drivers you have to watch out for. Bikes all over the place. Pedestrians walking in front of you all the time! Dogs, cats, racoons and deer to avoid. Golly!
Maybe if you cant avoid all those things you should just stop driving...or pick a different sport eh?
There is a whole big lake out there. You know how to go upwind, beginners dont. How about you avoid the high traffic areas?

At Nitinat, in past summers, as a newbie, I usually tried to be off the water with my kite before the real traffic picked up early-mid afternoon and thankfully had many support people help retrieve my board, kite and me after my many kitemares (thanks, AC and Krissy/Marie to name a few). Over the years, I have rescued many on my windsurfer (Pasta included) and been saved from crazy disasters. Part of the learning curve and time on the water for anyone taking up a new wind addiction.

Kiteboarding has become one of the fastest growing sports and lucky we have more options now for summer thermals on the island in Port Alberni, just a short drive from Nitinat.

Wild West Watersports is open for kiteboarding lessons and have received positive feedback from recent students that it's a breath of fresh air to have such a wide open inlet with minimal kite traffic (this first season anyways). All the way up the canal past China Creek to down by Harbour Quay...as far as the eye can see!

Great to have such a supportive and connected windsurfing and kiteboarding community to share the stoke and help each other out on and off the water.

There are some good points brought up Emearg. I'm a beginner kiter as well, but can launch safely, ride, but still lose my board on occasion. I now have a leash I use, but with the leash comes a danger, so I can see why people won't use them.

Now, I did notice an unusal amount of beginners out there this past weekend as well. Some pretty sketchy stuff to say the least, but man it was INSANELY busy! I tend to pick the less busy times of day (early and late) to go out. I see Emearg is a windsurfer and it sounds like he started at the pro level. I'm glad you are a natural and that you never had to learn to windsurf. That's awesome! There are lots of people out there who start from scratch and have to "learn" to kite. The only way to learn is to get out there and get some practice. Now I can't relate to those who say this past long weekend might have been the wrong weekend to start learning at Nitnaht due to the shear traffic. But how do you tell someone they can't? If you try it out let me know how that goes!!

Now from personal experience, I've drifted down to the windsurf beach and have tried to land my kite with ZERO help from windsurfers. Not saying that none have helped in the past, but none have helped me. They sit there and stare and laugh like its a joke. If I could, I'd always land my kite at the kite beach, but shit happens! One day my buddy saw I couldn't get out of the windsurfer alley and came down the beach to catch my kite as I was out there a long time. I got to the beach, started to put the kite down in the water and a windsurfer put his gear down right beside my buddy, I landed, and the lines got tangled around him! WTF! Don't tell me you never saw that!! But whatever...

Yes some, not all, people who try this sport go about it the wrong way. But we can all spot the beginners from a mile away, so why not give them a little more space? That's my 2 cents. I do hope no one gets hurt of course due to a stray board or crashing kite. That's always my biggest concern. Ah BK...I sure wish Kook or Gordon's WAS tropical!!!!!!!!!!!!

I dunno, I think our new poster has all the issues nailed pretty good there. We have just become very tolerant is all....because we don't mind sharing wind, wave and stoke. Lots of windsurfers became kiters and they were already accepted. Given any other environment, a kiteboarder might end up tarred and feathered. Makes me think of those fishermen's evil stares when windmachines cut across their boat's paths at PA.....

I have tried to take Sandy's approach as I always felt i was crashing someone's picnic...and sometimes u are .. and u just don't do that. Yes, I agree Marty we need to all take some responsibility, shit happens to us all, we need to learn, all that.... and i don't mind helping catch a kite, tow someone in, no issues....on the other hand, I don't feel an obligation here dood

ZERO help from windsurfers. Not saying that none have helped in the past, but none have helped me. They sit there and stare and laugh like its a joke

when i learned to windsurf, nobody swam my rig to shore for me either and I got laughed at plenty, still do

it's the "well, I'm here now and will do as I please, screw everyone else" thing that's maybe gotten a bit out of line in our world....why aren't beginners taking lessons, get leashed (u getting hit with yer own stick is better than me smoking it at Mach 2, rig a smaller kite), have the go-joe at least for hiviz, ensure they have a partner to assist you landing/launching/rescueing, time their outings a bit better??

....or is it really "screw everyone else" maybe it is just that.
U launch on a long weekend at noon as a beginner upwind of families and all other beach users???? U don't give a shit. Period.

you should really drift further down to land your kite below the windsurfing beach if you can. a lot of windsurfers honestly don't have a clue what to do with a kite.

I would love it if we could do downwinders past the main windsurfing beach, but there is a shadow there and kites fall out of the sky. Then if you dont self rescue quick enough, you are headed for the hatchery.
The teaching up at the lake it top notch and its not the students that are causing problems. Its people trying to teach a buddy/gf or someone trying solo that the issues are happening with. I am all for teaching a friend... but maybe when its not peak season middle of the day.

Good call Marty....you're right. I've gone to the hatchery twice...2 times more than I wanted too!!!!!!!!!!!! But I am really good at self rescue!!!!

Wow, I guess the Windboarders and Kiteboarders share the same love for the wind and water, too bad it stops there.

I haven't been out on the water yet and I'm hoping to jump into the Kiteboarding sport as a pro, just like emearg, but if I don't, I sure hope that one of the many pro's (windsurf or kiters) that may have had another pro offer a kind and understanding hand to them in their time of need do the same for me in exchange for a heart felt smile and thanks. Once I'm on top of the pro circut, i'll be sure to return such love in spades.

All though GO-JOE's are really stupid looking, they should be a must have for learners with any chance of losing there board. Use it until you have the confidence to drag to get you board and stop losing it so much. At least windsurfers or anybody can see it in the water before there on top of it!!!

Big bright helmet to match your Go-joe would also be a good idea?

gone4lunch wrote:Wow, I guess the Windboarders and Kiteboarders share the same love for the wind and water, too bad it stops there.

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hey 1-post guy thats never even been on the water, dont make assumptions on what you read. go out to the real world you will see that we mainly get along fine. mainly.

well some interesting responses.....some being rational some making it personnel....

For some please reread my intial post another way, substitute windsurfer for kiter and windsurfing gear for kiting gear - i would expect the windsurfer to take responsibility for damages that their gear or their mistakes may cause to others as well; be them kiters or windsurfers. If it is easier to relate pretend i am talking about you being responsible for your dog running all over a kite and puncturing holes in it, who is going to pay for that??? dog owner or the stupid person that left their gear lying there??
This post is not an anti kiter post coming from a windsurfer, who was once a beginner and who is still learning lots of new stuff in this sport, it was only meant to point out a certain atitude that seems to be becoming more pervasive on the water as we get more users out there. Everyone learns a sport at some point but when you do it should not be to the detriment of others...I at one point will likely learn kiting as i love windsports and i know people that kite who really enjoy it, at that point i will certainly be doing my best to keep clear of other users and will be employing some sort of device to either leash my kite board or make it more visible on the water.

To the Kiters lurking out there....IF you lost your kite board and a windsurfer, or other kiter, ran into it at full speed and damaged their equipment would you be offering up $$$ for damages or would you be saying tough shit too bad you could not avoid the deer on the road sucker??
OR if you kite came crashing out of the sky and landed on someone would your atitude be that the victim should have been looking upward for kites?? or that the gear should not have been there???

I agree that many windsurfers dont help land kites, i believe that is because they are uncertain how and dont want to F anything up.

Anyways i know this is my 2nd post now, i am not trying to get into an internet pissing match about this it just seemed that this was an issue that does not seem to be addressed and is only going to continue with more and more users out there....unfortunately the gear that kiters use seems to be a little more dangerous to other windsport users and thus i personnally felt that they should be taking some extra precations for safety than say a windsurfer has too.

I have no problem giving a beginner kiter more space just as i would to a windsurfer, i also try to sail outside of the busier areas but one does have to come back to the beach eventually as well as leave their gear on the beach.
Access will eventually be an issue as with most activities and there is no reason that kiters and windsurfers cannot work together to help ensure that places like Nitinat continue to exist; having mutual respect for users of either sport is the only way this will happen it cannot be a KITERS vs WINDSURFERS atitude - which some will think this is all about.

Have at her!!!............flame on.