I experience 1st hand the speed of the outgoing tide today at Raglan. It was probably under 10 knots and I was self launching (by the drift method) near the harbour mouth - the south west wind was enough to take me towards the middle of the harbour mouth but insufficient to flip the kite on its back. Rather than letting the kite go on its leash and swimming back to shore when it was in clear swimming distance I choose to pull the kite towards me and attempt to sail it back to shore holding both wing tips apart with different hands. Unfortunately the self rescue technique was insufficient to combat the current. (it had worked for me a fortnight earlier as I crused in on a 16 metre in simaler circumstances).

3/4 hour passed, the group of kites watching me held of calling the coast gaurd because it looked for a while as if I would make it back to shore- I came close but the current took me away. Certainly I was getting cramps in my legs when help arrived. My backup plan (at that point) was too keep warm and wait for the tide to turn. No doubt, hypothermia and coma would have set in prior to making it back to shore by that route - even though I was wearing a wet suit and a 2nd titanium covered shirt.

Certainly I am a basic kite boarder, but in two years of kite boarding I have always been able to get myself back to shore with out impinging on anyone. A general reluctance to be over powered and a ready willingness to deploy the leash has kept me from two much trouble - -but Raglan is quite different to anywhere else in New Zealand. This is just a comment too warn against being under powered in this location - and a comment that this is somewhere that should never be kited alone. And that life jackets have their place in this sport. Seano advises in this situation to deflate the leading edge, keep the struts inflated, role it up like a roll, and use it as a basis for a raft to paddle back tp shore with.

Good on Ya mate!!!

Seems you have met Eddy & you're developing an aquaintance.... we all do, so don't be discouraged.

Kiting in Raglan when you're powered is unbelievably good.....

Kiting in Raglan when you've dropped your kite in the water & the wind's not strong enough to relaunch is unbelievably bad.

Always keep a weather eye out for atmospheric changes - what are the clouds doing ? Developing or decaying? Has the temparature changed warmer or cooler?
I'm not going into any more detail on meteorology here, but I strongly advise you read up on how it all works. Understanding what the winds going to do next becomes intuitive after many years of sailing experience

Decision making is the key to self-rescue, have a plan & Know when to use it. Practise in the water rolling your kite with struts inflated & L.E deflated ( remember to put L.E bung back in! )
Tie the bundled kite with your harness and leash - keep it all very tightly rolled as any unravelling will create masses of drag.
Slide your boardbetween kite and harness/leash hop on & paddle across the direction of current/rip.

You were so close to the beach at one point you would have got in if you'd leashed out your kite and swum like f@%k

I Rang 111 and asked for police, then requested "Raglan coastgaurd"
This call is then redirected to Auckland Coastgard & they liase with Raglan voluntary coastguard whilst asking you details of where you are.... WAINAMU beach is what its called on the charts. when describing victims location on the bar use terms like NTH, STH of bar or main channel etc.

When the helicopter arrived there was one awfull moment where I thought you had drowned!

Give the Raglan voluntary coastguards a nice fat check & put it down to experience...

Great to see you posting this & hopefully saving other kiters from doing the same thing...

Eventually Coastguard is going to ask for kiteboarding to be regulated & we need to form an association to be ready for this.... Any skills at administration anyone???

One thought - there must be 30+ regular windsurfers in raglan & about 30+ kiteboarders.

I have not been the only boarder to have drifted out and require rescuing - I know of one other in the past month.

In this case, though the surf rescue club were having a boat training session and came to my aid - the coast gaurd were arriving on jet ski's and the police also sent a westpac trust helicopter along. (this was at about 6pm). I shudder at the cost of it all, but an estimate for just a single rescue would be well over 2000$.

Nearly all sailing clubs - even in small resevoirs feature a roster for a rescue boat - far less precarious conditions than raglan.

Given the frequency that these incidents happen at raglan - is there a role for purchasing a boat as a consortium and organising our own rescue. I reckon it would be beyond our scope to pick up people once they have hit the bar and in the swell but picking up people straight away as soon as they are drifting down is quite achievable.

Plenty of experienced and good kiters have not needed rescue in raglan - but quite a few have....


Would local kiters be able to respond or be directed to this post - just as a way to sample opinion.

Kiters and surfers do a great job of rescuing loads of people that may be about to drown (mostly swimmers) all around the world.

The number of surfers rescuing swimmers outweighs rescued surfers by a huge amount for sure. I think the number of kiters rescuing swimmers would outweigh rescued kiters ...

Sean has probably (Well I know he has..) rescued loads of people. I have dragged a kiter, a windsurfer and a swimmer out of the shit in Raglan.


___________________________________________

Just some thoughts/ ideas..

Buddy up with a mate and look out for each other - a kite is great for rescuing people. Backcountry snowboarders do it , divers do it...

If you don't, or have never surfed seriously (or have been a surf life saver) you need to learn about rips - your local surf lifesavers will sort you out.

If you think swimming a few kms in the sea would be quite a task then think twice about going out anywhere near outgoing tides on estuaries. The Raglan elevator and the word lifejacket go together well - legend waterman Laird Hamilton calculates risk - he wears one when the going gets tough and gets maximum respect

At Raglan - don't wait for them to get sucked out on the elevator rip past the bar>>

Go get em without pondering for the next couple of minutes whether they will be ok... sit in the water and get them to hold onto your harness handle (If on a kite make decision whether it is a good idea to let kite go onto kite leash or what ever- probably.. but your call - a kite has good float so don't just cast off without thinking you may want it as a backup plan...) - then rock the kite side to side with enough force to make way against the current or whatever - safely back to shore. I don't think it is a good idea to power up the kite too much cos dragging 200kg of body through the water could snap the lines and put the rescuer in the shit too... - just controlled and calm (don't stand up and ride) and the old classic of don't panic (conserve your energy for rescue).

Reward rescuer with preferred expensive beer

Donate to the Westpak helicopter that is not directly funded by the government and relies on public donations
www.rescuehelicopter.org.nz

Sorry to blab on, but anyone that has come very close to drowning or whatever will explain how they think diffently to before, regarding water safety. Rip it up...

near drowning realy sucs,but not as much as the real thing 8)

Johnienz: Irrelevant posting.

KT boarder: I have been asked by the secretary of Raglan Voluntary Coastguard that you get in touch with them A.S.A.P.

Ph. 825 8885

i don't know about all of your expirences but the guys that kite out at raglan are always helping each other. Sometime Tony the owner of G.A.G has a boat down there, and the always someone looking out for kiters in trouble.

One of the locals across the road from the carpark offered the use of a double kayak if anyone gets stranded on the other side in a wind change

Awesome post mate, good on ya for raising the topic and sharing you experience with us.

I guess at some point in a saga you have to weigh up the relative cost of equipment and your own life.
It is often a very hard decision to let the kite go and swim in. Then go for a boat to rescue your gear.
This of course depends on wether your safer on your own than with your kite.

Getting tied up in lines after deflating the L/Edge is a dissaster when it happens.
Also, having the dacron casing fill with water not to mention the bladder is also a huge issue. One litre of water weighs 1kg and many litres fill the case. So you cant drag it anywhere. But it can drag you.

These two scenarios do not always happen, but they all too easily can and do.

Also note worthy is that it is much easier for kiters to help pull you in on your own without your kite and then return and drag your fully inflated kite in for you. Than one that is incredibly heavy with water.

The water conditions will play a big part in the saga too.
Flat, choppy, surf, or a slight current can all have a different effect on your self rescue technique.

Risk analysis, and accident prevention play a bigger part than rescue techniques. But both are very important and should be on the mind.

So glad to hear you are ok after what must have been a pretty bad experience.

Let us know if any more formal rescue procedures are put in place in Raglan.

Cheers Lee

Just be aware of conditions & look out for people in need of help; If you can help out thats great - way better than boosting obliviously 50M or so down channel....
Keep a regular look out for what others are doing.
Stick together with a mate if your heading out.
Make sure your "help" doesn't make things worse!
Deflating your L.E. & rolling up is a last resort & only worthwhile if you can make better headway paddling like that; Better to keep it inflated & ALWAYS stick with your kite for its bouyancy & visibility.

Interesting Lee's 2 cents worth, as he is one Auckwakka never seen down here, surprisingly he didn't use the posting for a bit of a Best beat-up. Well done Lee, keep it up mate.

Heres a little time lapse (5mins ish) of some dude dropping his 20m in the drink at Raglan. This may have been an example to Mark and myself as he was previously talking it up about how much safer tubes are at raglan...


www.getsomeskills.com/pfs.php?m=view&v=1-raglan6.jpg

www.getsomeskills.com/pfs.php?m=view&v=1-raglan3.jpg

www.getsomeskills.com/pfs.php?m=view&v=1-raglan2.jpg

www.getsomeskills.com/pfs.php?m=view&v=1-raglan0.jpg

There are also a few other pics of ppl down at Raglan whilst i was 'talking it up' on the beach.

www.getsomeskills.com/plug.php?e=gallery&f=42