Kitesurfing Calhoun and City lakes(wack & wbl)

[Dean Rizer]

4-5 years ago a volunter group of 10-12 concerned kiters met with the purpose of establishing safe kiting guidelines for specific launch sites, The Wac, Ramsey, Medicine Lake etc. This came on the heals of some boaters complaining to the DNR about kiters in the launch area at Waconia. The idea was to have frequent users of specific launch sites develop saftey guidelines for for the sites they used as there are specific do's and don't recommmendations that don't apply equally to all sites. Volunter's for each site were going to try to have a launching instructions handout published for each specific site as well as trying to have permanent signage placed at the site. All went well until it was time to implement the group recommendations. We were not able to get volunter's for each site. Some felt they were being asked to police the sites and just did not want the hassle.
The problem does not appear to be kiters who regularly check this site. The problem is getting information to kiters new to the sport or new to the area. I think that's why some type of permanent signage at the busy launch sites may be helpful.
To Tighe's point, I think we should be overly concerned about not doing harm to other lake users who have no understanding as to the hazzards of a rogue kite. We the kiting community should never ever put others at risk especially at multiple use public places.

[bmr]

To All Reading,

BTW regarding:

We originally created the ban after a kiter was unable to relaunch his kite and got pulled into the SW bay near Thomas beach. His kite was up on shore and he was in the water. Lore has it that people on the trail were walking over his lines and a mom and stoller even went over them.

Just to clarify...that wasn't me...I was the _ with the jellyfished kite in the water being towed in by a motorboat while tangled in his own lines!

If I remember right, that same year (2001?) there was also another guy who slammed his kite into the bridge while he went for a swim in the canal or whatever that is. And no, this is not lore, I heard it directly from the horse's mouth.

( http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UT ... 13111&z=17 )

[rookie]

I also agree that we should finalize this discussion on the ban on the 3 inner-city lakes. We’ve added allot of new members to the community. So to show how strong the committee is for keeping the ban , I don’t think we need to discuss this matter any more, it’s a very common sense topic. I believe that the experienced kiters, who also knows the lake scene here, can voice there opinion here. Every person that I talked to is in agreement to keep the ban. If the opinions are close to a 50% ratio, we should have a meet and vote, but if majority comes in for the ban. I think its safe to say we shall keep the ban in place.

Im strongly against kiting in the summer on three inner city lake! Im ok with the winter as long as they stay 2 line lengths away from the paths.

Nate did have a point; Maybe we should consider banning anybody who cant stay up wind on the two lakes, Waconia and white bear?

Im also in agreement for an association. Only to preserve and gain launch sites in our community and to keep everything safe to prevent any loss. We wouldn’t have a north flats in spi if it wasn’t for the association. We can not keep anybody from kiting the inner city lakes or pulling jumps right next to kids swimming on the beach. Unless we have an association. We will never have a beach designated to kiters unless we have a association. It has to come, look around at other places, Chicago, east and west coast, Corpus. there banning kites on the beaches because of the liability. The places that are surviving have associations. Ive only been up to ready a couple of times last summer. But could not believe that we were kiting in and around all the swimmers. Its just a matter of time before an accident happens. The city or state would then ban kites! It would be wise to come together as a group and be pro active to secure some beach area up there designated for kiters, and possible gain some new locations. I picture ready beach being half designated to kiters. Imagine driving half way down that sand road that runs parallel to the beach, you come to a gate like spi, everyone whos in the association has the combo to the lock. We put wood chips down on the road and a turnaround at the very end. A satellite, tables, grills, and two bouys to keep the swimmers out. ? The north flats at spi started out as a dream too! Ride on, Rookie ~

[Stroh]

.

[BSMITH]

I agree with Mr. Stroh. I think we need the suit. If the DNR is calling, we should have someone who has some public relations experience fielding the call. ...a real "smooth smoothie" ...definitely not me.

[bmr]

LOL

[Nathan B]

b boy, ha! nice bmr

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr alright everybody lets hit the brakes here. I think these are all issues we need to address and discuss and appreciate everyones concerns and value everyones view.

sorry for the miss direction and smatter. there are some issues at hand we would like to talk about, if you would like to join us we are having a beach clean up and a discussing.

I think we need a little team building here haha jk.. for real tho lets get on track.

Reddy Creek-Beach Clean Up BBQ @ Malmo after...with discussing.

Lets clean up our beach and waters and preserve them and our sport here in MN. then we will meet at Malmo and have a BBQ and aside from the BBQ we will have a meeting where we can express the issues at hand. there already has been some people stepping up to the plate to volunteer to add some administrative skills to organize and help keep structure to the meeting.

and Stroh, no suits! jk...that be funny ha..ever seen the vid Damitri M. dude in a suit kiteboarding.

[rookie]

a great article on how to keep your beach open....



http://www.thekiteboarder.com/2010/12/h ... each-open/

[JimPat]

We really like the idea of a beach cleanup day in Mark's honor. However, May 7th won't work for us because it is the annual House windsurfer/kiteboard swap. Is there another date that will work?

[Bryce]

Oh yeah the swap is a big one. We might get more people up there if it was april 30th or may 14th.

I could make it to the 30th 7th or 14th.

[Nathan B]

ahh sorry for pulling the trigger on the date.... lil early for the 30th and def not the 14 as that is fishing opener.. so we are left with the 21st or 28th of may? vote for one please.

[krazykatie]

the 28th is Memorial weekend. We plan on hanging out up at mille that weekend anyway esp if its windy! So there's my vote.

[wilderclimberdude]

I will be in Hatteras for both of those dates. But would love to hear what was discussed.

Dan

[JRN]

Thanks for bringing this to light again, Nate. As Dr. Mark's tragedy proves, there is never a bad time to talk about safety. Last time this subject came up, it was hard to agree on a meeting date, so you, Randy L, & I met 3 times, but nothing materialized. At that time I suggested an on-line informal poll: 1) Do you want to voluntarily ban Calhoun? 2) Would you like a kite group to act on our behalf, provide liability insurance, and promote preserving our launches, promoting safety, & provide public relations to the region? 3) How much is it worth in the form of a annual membership fee? If Mike would be willing to allow us to take a poll on this site, we would at least get an idea of the level of interest. I also think we're overlooking a resource and organization that's already built:
Michael Fox & Fleet 8. He knows alot about oraganizing & has vast experience insuring events. I'd like to hear everyone's ideas, any time, any place. Just name it. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail
& we can discuss this in a calm and rational manner, and work towards a practical solution. JRN

[Tighe]

The polling idea is one I've been mulling over as well. Unfortunately there no longer is the original post that started this thread. Nate was suggesting that there is a large portion of our riding community that does not check Lakawa. If that is the case, then polling would only collect a partial picture. Maybe a poll on all local forums. I think the convenience and anonymous nature of the poll might bring in a greater reflection of the community than a meeting. The system only allows one vote per user.

Meetings are always challenging for large groups. 80-90% of the state's riders live within a hour of the Twin Cities. Meeting in the Twin Cities makes sense just from a fossel fuel perspective, let along schedules, etc. Unfortunately this puts a significant challenge on those that live around the state, if they want to get their voices heard.

Combining the meeting with another activity is a good idea, though the closer the better.

Mark offered a Webex account, which I'm pretty sure you can embed polling and online questioning. With that option anybody could log into the meeting at any time. As weird as it is to think of meetings and associations associated with kiteboarding, it's even weirder to think of going into a conference room with technical assistance and conducting an online meeting.

Nate what do you think of the polling idea? I like your first two simple polls Jim. Keep it simple.

Mike if this route is chosen and you want some help setting it up in the forum, let me know.

Again though I think we should post the polls to all local forums to get the greatest reach. It's probably best that we encourage everyone to submit only on one forum.

thoughts?

[Professor Robae']

Thank you all for the thoughtful discussion. I have been windsurfing and kiting on our area lakes for over 35 years - primarily Waconia and Minnetonka. Quite frankly I have been horrified by the following: Kite lesson givers, Newbie’s, Noobs, Kooks, and the DNR threats.

Bottom line: If someone costs us our lake access there will be hell to pay. My opinion is that you cannot try to learn to kite at our inner suburban lakes. How can area teachers promote this? What the heck are you guys thinking???

My personal preference is to kite in the winter and usually windsurf in the summer. Why? The Nirvana of windsport in regards to kiting on the H20 is very difficult to achieve in the metro lakes considering the challenges of the shifty, puffy winds, boats, swimmers, docks, trees, weeds, ect. Go for it if you have the tools and knowhow, and I applaud the ones that do. But do not put other's lake access in jeopardy: THIS HAS TO BE THE BOTTOM LINE...

Teaching, learning and kiting on Calhoun? - this is absolutely absurd!!! Teaching/ learning at Waconia when you are directly upwind of a public boat launch and a family beach??? Are you insane??? What could possibly go wrong???

If you want to teach/ learn this sport you must be in shallow waters with no hazards downwind, period. I will not be at the meeting in Malmo but I hope these thoughts are considered - I know many who agree but do not post here.

With Best Regards,

The Professor Robae'

[Nathan B]

there will be no poll. especially online or this site, we are cleaning up our beaches and our site Access for Kiteboarding. I have been called so I have some issue's if you want to show up and hear what we have going on you can come if not no biggy it is the first meeting of at least 4 and it is a beach clean up of the beach we use. from there we will lay out some issues and get a guideline of what is going on. and when we are at reddy will will mark out some issues with swim areas and launching and landing zones. there are many reasons why I have asked to have these meetings at the sites. then once we express the issues we can move forward from there in a direction that is needed. thank you.

First meeting, is a clean up at reddy creek and bbq at malmo . Looks like we are going for the 28th of may.

Thank you Rob! I have been teaching Kiteboarding in this state longer than anyone but Tighe you could say and this is where we differ, I am just as hungry as anyone but not at the jeopardy of our sport or our access's! no. promoting inner city lakes, Wack and Bear included as beginner spots and teaching on them will only harm our sport in the long term. I understand the argument of how it can be done but fact of matter is we are in a metro and its no different than calhoun so we just cant ban a lake.. because on a North wind calhoun is much safer launch then wack.. and the rigging at wack is outa hand.
Robb your thoughts will def be considered as our second meeting will be at Waconia and we will pick a date you can be there to help express these issues at wack. I would not be apposed to having a meeting at Waconia before the 28th?

[Tighe]

heyya Rob.

Wanted to ask you about something you said. You and others have said that Waconia should be off limits for teaching. Is that all teaching? For years I taught 202 or riding lessons on Waconia. These were riders that have done the 101 class up at Mille Lacs, demonstrating set up, launch, land, self launch, flagging, self rescue and body dragging experience. THE ENTIRE 202 lesson on Waconia would then entail taking that student out into the lake and work on riding skills. I'm sure you were there when these took place. Do you consider that type of lesson unsafe?

I personally do feel that there is not enough shallows near the boat launch to support the early lessons, what I referred to as 101 lessons above.

I am legally prevented from teaching now, though I think we as a community should ensure that we not close off teaching options too aggressively for instructors, because they are the ones creating the safe riding practices in new students. I always felt that Waconia and White Bear were actually really good spots for the 202 (riding) lessons off of the jetski because the chop was significantly less than on Mille Lacs.

I know a lot of you have been out when these jetski lessons have taken place. Did you feel that any of these practices were unsafe to you, the student or to others?

Thoughts?

[JRN]

Other than just saying,"NO," can we please have the reason why polling is a bad idea? Wouldn't we all like to know where the majority stands on this issue? At least that way we'd know whether it is worth putting out the effort. Comments?

[Tighe]

the effort is minimal. I agree it would be a great way to take the temperature of a large number of people. Does not have to replace the meetings but rather just gather a bit of info prior to the meetings. There is a feature in these forums that allows the administrators to send an email to all registered users. A short email suggesting users go to the site and vote could take the poll from those less frequent Lakawa users. I think though that it would probably be a good idea if other forums in the area did a similar poll.