Does anyone out there know what ended up happening with the bloke that lost his kite and had to swim about 1km back to shore at Swanny beach on Tuesday afternoon. I'm a kiter and a Swanny surf club member. When i got down to Swanny beach on Tuesday afternoon for a swim, i saw a black kite somehow slowly working it's way offshore, already about 1km out. I asked a few kiters who'd landed if anyone know what was going on (or was i gonna have to grab a paddle-board and go rescue the person). When I asked around, another kiter on the beach informed me that the kiter had made it back to shore, and gave me a few more details about the kite etc. With the kite abandoned and drifing out but also north towards City Beach, I figured the City Beach ranger would have spotted it, and be starting to get worries, cause he'd not know that the kiter was safe. Also, water police might have got a call and have been starting to get worried too. Anyway, long story short, I got in touch with the water police who were about to launch a rescue boat (someone else had already informed them of the situation).
So, does anyone know if the bloke who lost his kite ended up getting in touch with the water police to inform them he's ok, (the water police needed to know this) and also, has anyone else on the more northern beaches found a '10 Cabrina Crossbow (black in colour) - cause i'm sure the owner sure would like it back.
I guess moral of the story that i learned is that if your in an incident like this - the general public are watching us out there, and the water police need to know ASAP if you ditch your kite but get back to shore ok, or kiters as a whole will end up in a bit of strife with the authorities over unnecessary search&rescue missions. Maybe something for WAKSA to discuss regarding protocols / general safety advice????
