VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I was kiting at cordova spit yesterday, when my chicken loop quick release popped under tension, as it has a tendancy to do... anyway the result was my kite shot off downwind without me...
I swam back to the spit, and we watched it as it flew away downwind towards sidney. We spent a few hours looking for it with little luck. Any sittings or any information of any type would be greatly appreciated, I will be offering reward money as well.
Thanks in advance for any help.

That was such as shame… Although it was pretty neat watching the kite crash, re-launch and fly all by itself. Made a couple nice tacks too. Any of you windsurf dudes in Bazan Bay yesterday see it fly by? Good thing it didn't hit anyone...

Bar and lines still attached?

Yeah, bar and lines still attached... the chicken loop released unexpectedly.

Oh man.. That sucks! I feel your pain.
I had to eject from my rig once, but Windsurf247 went and got it for me with his windsurf gear.
Which reminds me, I have to thank that new daddy guy again. He cut up his feet on barnicles doin it to.
I hope you find your gear

Thanks windependant, I was definitely in some pain there yesterday, - however I need to extend a formal thank you to the valiant rescuer of my wind ravaged kite.
Tactile took a drive down there after work today, and miraculously found it down on the beach, around those large secluded properties. He managed to untangle the mess of lines that I can only imagine. I know what 10 minutes in the surf can do to lines ... I really can't imagine 8 hours in the shore break. Anyway a big thanks to Alastair for his efforts. I wish there were more success stories like this, hopefully we'll be able to find his board out there, or someone on here will hear of someone who found a board...

So Todd there's a reward?!? A big reward!?! I hope it involves beer and lots of it

I did a little pseudo-trespassing (empty lot) on my way home from work, made my way down to the beach and presto, there it was right in from of me

Everything will need some inspecting before flying, especially the lines. It was all wrapped around 2 huge logs, tied and pinned underneath against the rocks. Kite looks good, 1 small tear and a little dirty but pretty good considering the conditions yesterday.

So it's a happy ending after all

Alastair

Nice !!! Globe: Time to rethink your setup?!...Maybe a swivel & safety line to a loop on your spreader bar...

Hey Globe .... at least when you lose your kite in Comox .... the further it goes the closer it gets to the pub .

hahaha ya the pub is pretty much motivation to loose your kite - clearly that’s why it happened so often
and ya there will be some changes to my bar shortly, i'll be rethinking my set up for sure.
....possibly even an outboard motor for the long swims back

Hey, not to be contentious here globe, and I am truly happy that your kite is back in your possession, hopefully in one piece, but in your post, I didn't notice any mentions of a saftey harness or leash attatchment which would have prevented your kite from flying away, did you have anything like that?

hey ksd - I bought the bar off of paul who had it set up to spin, ie - no leash - and some interesting modifications - I've been riding it like that for a while, while waiting for a leash from the states. Think i'll go back to my other bar until that arrives, not worth the hassle of chasing after kites when something goes wrong .

yeh, you know spinning the bar out is really handy, and I am looking forward to using my new spinning bar. But with that said, I am still hooked in with a leash, just set up to spin now. For me, I learned to spin (my body not the bar) both ways to untangle my lines as my wrist leash would always wrap around my chicken loop if I spun out my bar. Frankly I think it made me a better sailor as I can spin in any direction on any tack if need be (heh maybe not gracefully ). what kind of bar you usin now? I may have spare parts to rig up a saftey for the interm. Have you looked at the new O.R. bar? it is setup to spin even with 5th line I believe. I know it cost $$ but would definately be cheaper than you losin a kite or a lawsuit should someone else be injured, or in the worst case, a beach being closed out due to an accident involving a runaway kite.

heh, you didn't mention if your kite was still in one piece? if it was, man you must have connections in high places, one minute on columbia beach rocks & small barnacles tore the #@$@#$@ out of my new sixteen couple years ago.

Hey Dale,
ya my other bar is actually the newer OR one, I just like'd Paul's setup better because it had the mickey mouse ears in the middle which was nice to untangle my center lines, they seem to get spun up pretty high quite quickly at times. I also prefer the positioning of the sheeting system, much easier to reach and how when you let go of your bar it doesn't sit so far away, but I've since modified my newer OR bar, but still haven’t managed to bring the sheeting system any closer... check goosespit.com to see Pete’s modifications, I've done something similar to what he did. Thanks for the offer on the leash, I'll probably be able to find something to throw on there. And ya... leashes for me from now on... definitely not worth putting a beach in jeopardy of being closed, nor is it worth the abuse on my gear.

GLOBE: Why not rig a leash from a FRONT line through the bar to an attachment on your bar ?