VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Due to recent events at Jordan river there is now a no tolerance policy for kiting in the waves with surfers out. Light wind kiting is the culprit, as above 20kts, the surfers tend to go in.

There has been years of building relationships and understanding between the surfers and kiters out west, but the issue has come to a head. Last year, a kite was dropped on a 70 year old surfer in a busy line-up. Last week, a kiter ran through a crowd of 30 surfers, moms, daughters, sons, and local surfers alike. The surfing community is enraged and quite frankly have every right. It is an unacceptable risk for kiters to be amongst surfers, especially in light wind. This is accepted etiquette worldwide and in many places it is the law.

There is no point in mentioning names, that is not what this is about, so don’t bother asking. What is done is done. Bottom line: don’t plan on kiting out west with surfers in the water anymore. Even those who have been relatively responsible are now painted with the same brush and it is up to us to now to rectify the situation. This isn’t about being an entitled local -- this is about being respectful, safe and responsible water-people. Jordan River has a reputation for angry locals and even violence; the situation has now given such people a rallying cry to act. Please respect everyone in the water. We now have a lot of work to do to earn back the respect of our fellow water-people.

Whodunit?

Marty, that is unfortunate. There have been a number of posts on this site about similair concerns in other spots. What do we do about it?

How do we self regulate before we get regulated out of using areas?

How do we get the senior (in experience not necessarily age) kiters putting some pressure on the yahoos who don't use common sense and ruin it for everyone else?

There were some folks on FB asking questions about kiting LB and SC in what sounded like sketchy forecasts. I directed them to BWD. Tony tried to talk sense into them. They seemed undeterred.

Tempy, there are a pretty close knit group of kiters out west and we are all in concurrence that this cannot happen again. We will certaininly be educating people not in the know. It doesnt need to be a "Heavy", just clear and direct communication.