I have just started kiteboarding and decided to give a flat water spot a shot as learning in the surf is getting quite frustrating. So I headed off to Ballina, and long story short, I ended up on the other side of the river heading towards the oyster rocks. In a quick moment of self prevesation, I decided to ditch my board and land my kite on the nearby beach to save my self being dragged over the rocks. Bad idea! The kite overshot the beach and crashed into a tree tearing a 40cm hole, while I got cheese grated by every rock in sight. By the time I peeled myself off the rocks my board had vanished (if anyone finds it let me know). Now stuck on the other side of the river I realised my center lines had been snapped. Lucky some entertained fisherman caught onto the excitement and came to my rescue.
So now I have a torn kite, snapped lines, no board, some pretty nice scar brewing and a few questions.
Can a 40cm hole in the middle of a Naish Ride (2 strut) be repaired and still fly alright?
Can the center line of a snapped 4 line kite be joined back togeter with a simple knot? If so, which knot.
Should I quite while I'm ahead?
Cheers.
Kite fine. Easy repair.
Line no, get a set of new front lines.
Should you give up, no. Sht happens and has happened to all of us.
Get it sorted and get out there again.
Everyone has a story. Now you do too. Learn from it so it never happens again. Fix your gear and move on. You will in time learn how to repair most things if you are handy. If not, plenty of experts around to do it for you. Scars are the witness to the stories we all carry.
We all have at least one kitemare as we where learning. Maybe several others as we progressed and got more experience. This is a pretty good one but I have heard and seen worse.
If you can't repair yourself, Moti Levy on the Gold Coast... Free courier pick-up from Ballina. Plenty of good locations; Lennox, Patchs Beach, Evans Head. All surf I know, but that's whats in your back yard, the earlier you start practicing in the surf the easier it will be. If you're looking for a little flat water, try Sharks Bay Iluka, good from a Easterly, right around to a North West. The beach can be messy with sea weed sometime, not good when launching. Always kite with a buddy, especially when learning. Message me sometime, always keen for a splash.
Keep going mate, you won't make the same mistake twice. Also when you are up and planing make sure you are always looking 100m or so ahead so you have time to plan your next moves so that you do not run out of time / water.
Also If you slowly bring your kite up to 12 you should slow down enough so that you can than stop. If you are struggling with that or it is really windy sometimes this can be hard when learning. I had a few death runs in big winds when I was learning and particularly when you are not on a proper edge it can be hard to get back in control at times like that just turned the kite down into the water which stops you pretty quick. Then relaunch and go again.
Best of luck
River mouths can be pretty seductive with all the flat water but the current/tide can catch you off guard and stuff you up. Nothing like your board trucking upwind at 5 knots with the tide to ruin your day as a beginner. Till you get your technique sorted in the river mouth try only going in the hour before to an hour after the changing tide, that way if you drop your board you have a better chance of getting it back. There's a bucket load of advice in the newb forum as well that you can decypher for yourself.
+1 to eppos comment. **** happens, learn your lesson (stop yourself before you get in a ****ty situation) and chin up. We've all been there, I call it "character building". Talk to ppl at your local so you get a hand when you need it. Take care of yourself bro !
