barfly
Since 31 Mar 2005
1210 Posts
Seaside
BRACKISH
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 Fri Jul 14, 06 11:50 am Kite story from Oz |
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Not sure if this has been posted before but this is true and he's a very good friend of mine. Good reading! (FYI a "sepo" is an expatriot in "Australian").
Thursday 5 September
Kite Mag staff writer - Leasha Wilhepu
South Narrabeen was the sight of the latest Kite surfing beginner war story.
Literally. Kite boarders, according to the local expert Jas O-matey,
depend upon the internet and other cutting edge technologies to determine the wind conditions. Thursday arvo conditions were looking to be a bit
disappointing. The wind for day had been inconsistent hovering around the
12-13 knots on the Sydney harbor. O-matey stated that this is slightly below the speed that a kite boarder wants, but still worth "givin it a go". Apparently, the inconsistent wind conditions didn't deter local sepo, and beginner kiter John "I don't need a leash" Harlow, from givin it a go. Witnesses at South Narrabeen recount the days events. Big Air Macka says, "yea mate, saw this dude launch his kite. Looked a little unsteady up there but his mate was giving him some help, so I thought good on him for givin it a go." Another kite board master, Spin Meister Chris, had a different opinion, "Mate, there ain't any room for sepo kooks on this beach. The wind
was jackin up and he deserved what he got."
Witness say that Harlow continued to proceed from flying his kite on the beach to attempting to ride his board out a sea. He was able to 'body drag' out past the breakers, which luckily for this beginner, were quite small. His mate, O-matey, said that he was doing well - he maintained control of the kite, positioned his board proper and managed to stand up vertical. O-matey says, "He was up, not totally steady, but up, a huge step forward in the kite learning curve. But, he forgot the golden rule of kiting 'fly the kite first, ride the board second'. He wasn't up long before his kite nose dived into the surf."
The victim, Harlow says, "Mate, I got the lines a bit tangled, had to wrestle with 'em a bit, but I thought I had it sorted when I almost re-launch the kite from the ocean (at this point Harlow was about 1/4 km out to sea according to witnesses). After one attempt a re-launch, when the kite towed me directly out to sea and a considerable distance down wind, I realised I was unable to get the tangle out. The instant I got the string tangle close to being released the kite decides to take off and launch completely. I was caught by surprise and lost the control bar, you see, I didn't have a SAFETY Leash." Last time Harlow will kite with out a safety leash, I reckon.
Harlow said he swam further out to sea and down the beach to get a hold of his renegade kite. He ended up about 1/2 km off shore. Harlow said afterward, "I realised I was in for a long swim. I had my kite, my board, my sanity and I was comfortable with the swim a head of me. The waves did
seem to be getting bigger and the wind was not really that on-shore. The
next thing I know, the Australian Army elite squad SAS was pulling up along side me in an IRB"
SAS Lieutenant Jack Black recalls the situation, "Lucky for this poor bloke, we were conducting our regular surf IRB rescue training runs at Narrabeen. We do this in full fatigues, ya know knives, guns, rescue gear, the lot. We need to be ready. Turns out we got to rescue a helpless bloke... sepo no less. The Captain, Kyle Gass, blue the emergency whistle and four of us ran to the IRB, immediately commencing operations to rescue a maimed or incapacitated civilian in ocean waters." Captain Gass stated, "mate, we don't fuck around, when a life is at stake, we immediately commence precautionary rescue techniques."
Black continues, " This poor bugger was paddling one armed toward the beach, maybe covering a meter per 5 seconds, when we cruise up. His kite-like contraption was a pain in the ass to onboard, and I had to yell at the bloke to undo his board leash after yanking on it a couple of times. I guess the sepo didn't understand Australian. Anyway we completed operation maimed civilian rescue without a hitch. The bloke, Harlow, had a grin on his face the entire time. Must be a sepo thing. I asked him if he hired his kite, he said he owned the thing. In my opinion, he wasted some cash on that thing - either that or he is just plain stupid. We brought the vic into shore without incident. He seemed thankful enough, but I reckon he was probably more embarrassed that anything. Well, we gave him a story to remember."
After talking with Lieutenant Black and Captain Cass and other Kite boarders, this author came to the conclusion that this Harlow character, along with other 'more able' kite boarders are some serious Tenacious Dudes. |
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