I decided to write about a recent poor decision I made at the beach. I share this with the hope that someone reading may gain some insight, and not have to learn this same lesson the hard way. Moving forward, I will be much more willing to eject from my kite, period. April had been a good month, averaging two sessions a week locally, then came May where I only had one session the whole month. On June 15th I was down at Richmond Beach in the afternoon. The tide was very low, lots of exposed baseball sized rocks covered with green slime and barnacles, but there was wind. I was stoked to get out…….in a hurry (big effing mistake right there). Craig and Mike were also at the beach with me, but I was the first one to get set up and launched. The wind was light enough that I needed my 14m Rally, my biggest kite. So, I get launched, I get across the logs no problem and now I come to the slimy rocks. I don’t like having my kite straight overhead, especially at RB, which can be notorious for lofting people, but I couldn’t pick my way across these rocks with the kite pulling me sideways, so I raised it up……and instead of lofting, there was a lull in the wind and that 14m started to Hindenburg. Now, sometimes when you start to get slack, you can back pedal and regain tension in the lines, or, I’ve even ran at my kite as it started to power up again with only a slight tumble on the sand. This time I was stuck in the middle of those darn rocks and that’s where being “in a hurry” really came back to bite me. I should have not hesitated to eject my safety and just taken the extra 20-30 minutes to gather up my lines and my kite and re-rig. Instead, I had the foolish notion that “I can catch it” when it powers up. It all happened so fast. The guys said I “super manned” it across the beach (of slimy rocks). When I replay it in my mind I just remember being yanked, then laying there on my stomach realizing I needed to roll over and deal with my kite, which was now happily bobbing on its wingtip, just waiting to be re-launched. Well, that wasn’t going to happen.
The guys came running to see if I was ok and really just took over. I just needed to sit for a minute and take stock of myself. They gathered up my gear, rolling up my lines and my kite. I was pretty banged up with a gnarly cut on my right palm and I hurt all over. Steve had come down from the parking lot when he saw my kite go down and the guys go running and he helped me get all my gear back up the hill. I really appreciate all three of you guys who helped me that afternoon. Oh, and FYI to anyone needing urgent care in the Richmond Beach area; there is a new Swedish Primary Care facility in that QFC parking lot on Richmond Beach road………they’re by appointment only. Their urgent care is at their campus of what used to be the Stevens Hospital in Edmonds. I got six stiches in my right palm and they took an x-ray of my right shoulder since I couldn’t raise my elbow. The doc said I’d probably torn something internally and to see an orthopedic doc if the weakness persisted.
The MRI showed that one of the rotator cuff tendons had torn loose from the bone. I had shoulder surgery on 7/27 and have another week left in my sling before I can start physical therapy. What an eye-opening experience this has been for me. I’ve been active my whole life, and have gotten banged up here and there, but never anything very serious. Maybe I was just complacent about how quickly things can go wrong, and how badly a person can get hurt. I’m very thankful to not have been hurt worse, and that no one else got hurt either. I know moving forward I’ll be much quicker to push that safety. I hope this story helps someone else decide to eject when there is slack in the lines, at least if you’re in a spot where you can’t do anything to manage it.
I should also say this has not dampened my love for kiting. The people I’ve met, friends I’ve made, and this sport have helped to make these northwest winters bearable. Something to look forward to when the storms move in. I hope to be able to reach up and grab my control bar (with both hands) before the end of October! See you at the beach!