Was at Cott on saturday, hanging in the carpark overlooking the cliffs and surf. A guy was out and couldn't relaunch his kite after it dropped. After a while he drifted in to the surf impact zone, then he released the kite. The kite got hit by a few waves, then drifted in to the flat water just in front of the rocks ashore and just stayed there cooperatively waiting for him. The kiter then swam in with his board and got up on the rocks, dumped the board and then jumped back in to retrieve the kite.
Here is where it gets interesting .... instead of deflating the leading edge and rolling up the kite (where it could have been handed in a nice neat package to his mate standing on the rocks 3 metres away), he figured it was a better idea to pull the kite to the rocks, climb up and then drag the kite up over jagged rocks where it was totally obliterated in a matter of 1 minute.
Couldn't help but get the camera out of the car (sorry buddy if you're reading this and have to relive the tale). Sorry for your loss, but it could have so easily been avoided !!! cheers
Should be repairable - here are a few pics of a mates kite that fell prey on a big day last year. This kite was fully repaired by Moti Levi for a couple hundred bucks.
I guess you know to do next time rather than dragging the kite across sharp rocks?! What was going on to think that was a good idea?
well thats what you get for being too lazy to wrap up and do a self rescue!! it always amazes me to see how many people dont do a selfe rescue when they should. situations like this 1 could so easily be avoided if people would just learn to do a simple self rescue.
maybe he should head down to one of kitehards FREE self rescue lesson days.
also it lookes like he is bloody lucky he didnt catch a surfer or a swimer in his lines too
just looking at the photos again that isnt you poor relli is it?? (its hard to see the poor dudes face in the photos)
Hey Marno
I agree with you.
Its a valuable lesson to see and learn from, for the un-informed !
Who ever it was .... Needs some Humble Pie
A picture paints a thousand words !!
Massive stuff up no explanation necessary
It can be repaired easily enough, its part of the funn
Cheersz
Next week on Seabreeze...
FOR SALE
12m North Kite. Black and Yellow, few minor scratches, no bladder leaks, complete with pump, bag, bar and tangled lines, $1000 ono.
Wow! Bummer! I saw this guys kite go down several hundred metres down wind of me. I was on the Blue Ozone way upwind.
Part of this problem was caused by the guys rigging up at the Phone Box. Can you guys not read the friggin big sign right next to the stairway that says "NO KITING ON THIS BEACH - RIG 100M FURTHER SOUTH?"
If you can't water relaunch the kite, don't go out! Especially not 200m upwind of jagged rocks. If you had been kiting from the correct beach, you may not have ended up with a confetti kite. If you cannot self rescue, maybe attend one of our free clinics coming up before the season kicks off.
Harsh lesson to learn, hope he learned it.
Good winds,
Yep that would be me..... major fark up!!! Ha I didn't realise how photo genic I was, bloody paparazzi can't leave home without getting hassled!! Anyways here's how it all unfolded. Was having a good kite with consistent wind and was well aware of reef and sharp rocks at cove. Unfortunately the wind dropped to nothing, kite dropped into the ocean and conditions changed from 17-20knots to a slight puff in a matter of seconds. So couldn't relaunch not from lack of trying and was drifting into dangerous waters towards cot groin, reef, rocks, surfers and bigger swell. So after much consideration decided to pull the safety and swim it in, unfortunately this is where I had another mishap and my safety snapped sending my kite into rocks and getting smashed by the swell with my handle and lines still attached. So swam in, kite was sliced and diced, lines wrapped around rocks and kite wedged on the rocks in an awkward position. So once I got into shore assessed the situation, I realised the kite was badly damaged. So i timed my jump back into the water to retrieve the gear and dragged the kite in, no time to release the bladder just time enough to get it in before the next bigger set come through.
I want to thank the french guy who came down to help, without him I wouldn't of been able to retrieve the lines and get the kite out. Some people are doer's and some people just take photo's. cheers mate hope I can do the same for someone another time!
dude the 5th line snapped just above the handle bar which was attached to the safety. i pulled the safety when i got in trouble, kite then got pulled towards the shore by the waves thus snapping the 5th line. what's so hard to believe???
I reckon Markass is one of these super rich share trading guys that make so much money they don't really need to give anyone an excuse for a fark up. They just buy another one, or pull another from the boot of the maseratti.
Its probably standard practise to just throw the kite away at the end of each session, Mark you should be congratulated for picking up your rubbish.
the poor ba5tard not only had a bad session and trashed his kite, but someone took photos of it and posted them on a public forum without his knowledge, so that everyone can have a laugh and stick the boots in.
wavegimp even has the gall to call him a liar and then ridicule his choice of kite.
talk about a bad day at the beach
I'm in Melbourne, but I miss you guys......
Great read. Anyone who sails the phone box deserves bad karma.
Marno, the only one that needs a "burning" here is you. I can't believe this sh1t. You go taking photos of some bloke that has obviously had a very bad day out and post the photos all over a public forum under the guise of "saving someone else from making the same mistake." What a crock of sh1t. I'm sure you stood there and thought, I'd better grab my camera as I could help people in the future if I record this. Pfft. Then you go on with it telling the bloke it didn't happen as he claims it did. What do you care anyway. Whether it happened the way you say or the way he claims, he doesn't need someone doing their best to humiliate him.
Oh, but I forgot. You're doing this for the greater good of all kiters out there aren't you. How noble.
dude steady, leave the poor bloke alone just bad day, hwo does bitching about what happened and whos telling the real story bring the blokes kite back, just let the bloke drink his sorrows away and look forward to buying a new blade!
Fark, it seems you can't get away with anything in WA without someone putting a picture of you on seabreeze and laying the boots in!
I have long held the view that kiters will evolve to be worse than those whinging moaning know it alls we good heartedly call poleys.
And I think we have proof of it above.
I kind of regret the old days when people who kited were just all super stoked about the sport and always trying to help each other, and everyone knew that they didn't know everything and everyone made mistakes, often costly financially and physically.
New easy to fly kites have opened the doors to tossers, braggers and old women.
The guy trashed his kite, leave him alone......unless he set up at phone box, in which case no sympathy.
I'll have to leave you guys too it, bitching and moaning you would have thought i sunk the titanic. anyways just get out and enjoy your kiting and if one thing has come out of it, it's that there are def some minority w#nker kiters out there.