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Does anyone know what happened to the kiter at Crissy Field yesterday? Apparently a tugboat and a pilot boat were involved in a rescue of a kiter. We were wondering if he called them on a handheld VHF and if he was self rescuing, etc.

Thanks

Kiter A called in VHF for kiter B who was being subamarined by his kite in an out of control hard kite loop untill he punched out.

And in the shipping channel too!

It seems to me like the Crissy kiters need to get there S&*^ together. I am hearing about way more rescues than I remember from the past. If you are not 100% self reliant, don't kite there. And I would probably say no crazy freestyle at Crissy.

Terry is a very experienced kiter at Crissy. No matter how skilled you are equipment failures are going to happen and you will need to be rescued unless you're staying within the swimmable zone when they do.

As the amount of kiters who ride Crissy frequently increases statistically so will the rescues.

Being skilled is good, so is having new up to date equipment (which Terry does), as does kiting with zones 1 & 2. They're all risk mitigation tactics but in the end if you ride there long enough a rescue or two is going to find you unless you're Loscocco who is a wizard

Aloha wrote:Terry is a very experienced kiter at Crissy. No matter how skilled you are equipment failures are going to happen and you will need to be rescued unless you're staying within the swimmable zone when they do.

As the amount of kiters who ride Crissy frequently increases statistically so will the rescues.

Being skilled is good, so is having new up to date equipment (which Terry does), as does kiting with zones 1 & 2. They're all risk mitigation tactics but in the end if you ride there long enough a rescue or two is going to find you unless you're Loscocco who is a wizard

I am no wizard... and i too have been rescued before. Avg about once every 2 years or so.

I once had to rescue Loscocco from 50 buck naked men on bikes

Aloha wrote:They're all risk mitigation tactics but in the end if you ride there long enough a rescue or two is going to find you unless you're Loscocco who is a wizard

It's got to be the magic OR 8m!

Not I kiter, a windsurfer, but I thought to chime in. Unfortunately you cannot be 100% self-reliant at Crissy, especially if you go to the North Tower or outside. If the wind dies you are in a 2-4 knots current, depending on the day, and you simply won't make it back without help. Actually if you are close to the bridge (or toward Alcatraz) you won't make it back even if you are in a slack!

Safe sailing at Crissy calls for staying "close enough" to shore so you can feel the change in wind and go back. Doing that in 20+ years of sailing I did my share of long walks but never needed to be rescued (well .. with a windsurf you do float so it easier to slog back).

My impression is that kiters are rescued less than a couple of years ago, or maybe there are fewer sailing there, that also seems to be the case. But still it seems to be a relatively frequent event. Often it is not a big deal, I have seen many drifting just 100 yards in front of the beach (there is a river going on there in a flood, you cannot swim against it) and be rescued just south of the sailing club. But in general it is a bit worrisome. Keep getting stranded, add a big ebb, late hours of the day ... and something can go really wrong.

I have had the pleasure of getting to know the Coast Guard, NOAA, Tug boats, and posing for pictures for Tourists of the red/black ferry boats while awaiting rescue. All because of relatively new gear equipment failures. All line breakages. Just turn it into an enjoyable moment. This works as long as you're not feeling threatened by a tanker, shark, sea lion, bridge jumper, hypothermia, deafening fog horns, etc.

Another moment waiting for work stuff to finish...

Give me ring when you're heading to Crissy, and I'll supervise your session. Oh yeah, this is NOT a free service...