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DROCK999

Since 31 May 2007
852 Posts
Left Coast
Opinionated
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Mon Jul 12, 10 11:11 am |
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Sol-flyer wrote: | the sandbar is a complete SHIT SHOW |
quote was a little off, fixed it though _________________ BIP- "YOUR GIRLFRIENDS FAVORITE" |
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Gman

Since 11 Feb 2006
4911 Posts
Portland
Unstrapped
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Mon Jul 12, 10 1:13 pm |
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some impressive displays...
was eating lunch on the grass at the event site Saturday and out of the periphery I see a guy self -hot launching in the dead middle of the spit (80 yards from the water) thinkin thats kinda strange but maybe he has some plan
hucks himself 8ft up and about 30 yards - he was moving around after (damn just another 50 yards and he would have landed in the water...) _________________ Go Deep!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2pBpQolKE |
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Moto

Since 03 Sep 2006
2698 Posts
Still a gojo pimp!
Moto Mouth
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Mon Jul 12, 10 4:32 pm |
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vancougar wrote: | Totally agree. There's no messier place to kite than the sandbar. I don't know how all those kites don't make even the most experienced kiter nervous. The only time I'm down there is on a weekday afternoon. It's like going to Meadows on a pow Saturday. No thanks. |
You got it right on. Can't stop laughing about the Meadows on a Saturday pow day. Bwahaha - what a effin joke is all I can say. My favorite are the dudes that roll out of PDX at 7:30 hoping to score some fresh tracks on a big Pow saturday - Yeah right. Have fun waiting in that 3 hour long traffic line into the parking lot (assuming they still have parking available). Then after they buy their tickets and ride their first run (after waiting in a 40 minute long lift line) they get their first run in around 11:15 - after everything has been tracked out - and they are all miserable and bitching and complaining and try and make it miserable for everyone else. The last few years I have been skipping big pow days on the weekends. Totally sucks - but Meadows and their 40 minute long lines can suck my nuts. _________________ Still rockin gojos, *ssless chaps, and ankle weights! |
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Moto

Since 03 Sep 2006
2698 Posts
Still a gojo pimp!
Moto Mouth
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Mon Jul 12, 10 4:37 pm |
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Scribble wrote: | Sol-flyer wrote: | I just gotta say the area upwind of the sandbar is a complete SHIT SHOW |
I totally agree with this. I do not kite at the sand bar this time of year because of it. I usually hall ass up to the bridge or wells island, BUT I'm sick of getting dirty looks from the instructors that are parked in the middle of the kiddie pool or directly upwind of the sandbar as I come in to land. It's not my fault that I have to thread the needle between all the lessons going on just to get in to the sand bar. I thought the instructors were supposed to stay out of the public's way.
Andy |
It sucks cuz I used to absolutely love the sand bar. Was there every saturday and sunday during the season (would bring my mountain bike in case I got skunked and hit up surveyers ridge). Now, I don't go there anymore during the season. That place is absolutely crazy - it really should be renamed "Thunderdome" We could have signs and shit that say "Enter at your own risk" - That would be more truth in advertising. A lot of people I have talked to feel this way. I run into people at pretty much every kite spot that say they are trying to avoid the hood. This past weekend ran into a guy at Jones that said he lived in the hood and drove to Jones cus on the weekends - "the hood is just stupid" (his words, not mine). _________________ Still rockin gojos, *ssless chaps, and ankle weights! |
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forrest

Since 21 Jun 2005
4330 Posts
Hood River
Hick
CGKA Member
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Mon Jul 12, 10 5:43 pm |
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Damn! What a thread.
For the record, "showing off" happens way down wind, in the shittiest, most dangerous place to ride. Don't be jealous of the better guys, get your shit together and come ride with us.
2nd For the record. If the schools are precluding your access to and from the Sandbar, please document the event with a camera phone or some other proof and send it to the CGKA. The CGKA has the ability to work with the schools to find further solutions to the crowding issue. So far I think things have been going okay, but if you don't let the CGKA know about the problem nothing will happen to fix the problem.
3rd thing I have to say if you're a beginner: "END YOUR ADDICTION TO SHALLOW WATER" Shallow water is way more dangerous for you, doesn't help you when you crash your kite, and it just perpetuates your kookiness. Broaden your horizons! There are a ton of other places to kite, but the water is deep. If you don't learn to cope with deep water you're going to be stuck kiting at the Sandbar forever! |
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kitemare

Since 23 Mar 2010
265 Posts
Seattle, wa
Obsessed
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Mon Jul 12, 10 5:55 pm |
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Wow, those were quite the comments. Kinda made my day. The only reason why I was there was because I was in the middle of giving a lesson and my student had dropped his leash while we were switching the kite over. I would never just mow the yard near the sandbar unless I had to.
[quote="jbruxer"] kitemare wrote: | a higher than average number of other "self taught" kiters |
jbruxer wrote: | [How do you know they are self taught and not just people who have already taken lessons and are out on their own trying to get things down? We have all been in the same position before where we are still a bit nervious after taking lessons and make stupid mistakes that cause the kite to go down.....and if you can actually say that this was never you then you are full of $hit. |
The reason I know they are self taught is because all the schools here have enough sense to teach their students to leave a safety buffer around them. The guy in question who provoked my initial post was flying a LF Havok and had already "bounced" off the top of several other kites, crashed into another kiter's lines causing a 3 kite pile up and then went out into the channel for a while before he came back in and crashed into me while I was searching for a leash.
Jbruxer, I have had a kite go down on someone, just once last year in the evening. The wind was fading and I was on the beach walking back towards the event site and the wind just completely died, my kite fell a little, and even with grabbing the center lines and yanking on them, the kite fell enough to touch someone else's lines before I could get the kite back up and into a clear area and land it. So yes, I have crashed a kite on someones else's kite and it turned out just fine.
Normally I am fine if someone has an accident and they crash their kite near me, that's perfectly normal kiting. I'm even ok with people who teach themselves or have a buddy teach them and they crash their kite near me. I just ask them if they are ok and wait for them to relauch before I continue with my lesson. My concern is with the people that repeatedly crash near you, and after you politely ask them to leave more space in between themselves and you and your students, they continue to fly right next to you and keep putting their kite where it either hits or almost hits your kites or someone else's kites on multiple occasions. They are the ones I have questions about.
As to the deflating of the kite, I have only ever done this once and he was going to kill somone. PERIOD. This was last year and I was in the middle of giving a lesson so I had been watching this guy for at least 30 minutes. In that time he had almost hit several other instructors and their students. (crashing within only a few feet) He got into a kite tangle with another kiter, flew his kite right next to everyone and after most of the instructors asked him to leave, he tomahawked his kite over my student (literally crashing 4 feet in front of us) and I had just enough time to push my student and myself underwater before the kite hit. Once we surfaced, I grabbed his kite and deflated it. I think what I did was just. _________________ Respect the kite, respect the beaches |
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mxwllms
Since 26 Jul 2006
110 Posts
Boring, Or
Stoked
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Mon Jul 12, 10 6:07 pm |
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I am an Instructor at the sandbar and i had a man teaching his girlfriend scream at me and flip me off because "people dont need lessons in the shallows"... try keeping track of two people on a lesson in the deep water with only one jet ski... its no fun for the instructors or the students... thats why people want lessons at the sandbar... just a tuff weekend out there with the crowds. Good job to the locals out there for staying cool. |
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Campbell

Since 07 Sep 2008
409 Posts
Camas, WA
Obsessed
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Mon Jul 12, 10 6:14 pm |
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This is straying from the topic a bit but the schools should really take a lesson from other kite schools in deep water locales who ONLY use either jetskis or dingys for their lessons. Having taken lessons in both scenarios, I can tell you that I had such a better time, and more importantly learned so much more away from the mess that is the sandbar that I have strongly dissuaded my girlfriend from supporting the local schools and drive down to floras instead. Sad but true. Not only would this better prepare the students for deep water, but it would also free up that real estate for everyone else in addition to being the far safer option. |
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mxwllms
Since 26 Jul 2006
110 Posts
Boring, Or
Stoked
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Mon Jul 12, 10 6:26 pm |
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you must realize every school gives the option for jet ski support and going upwind with it... some are scared of deep water and some want to learn in groups only... so its not an option all the time. and im not going to tell anybody that they need to go in deep water if they dont feel comftorable... this is kinda fun! i havnt said much on here for the last 4 years but i see why you guys do it. I was really missing the high school style gossip  |
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pdxmonkeyboy

Since 16 May 2006
6081 Posts
forever labled as the
retired kiter & motorhead Unicorn Master
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forrest

Since 21 Jun 2005
4330 Posts
Hood River
Hick
CGKA Member
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Mon Jul 12, 10 7:22 pm |
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So, I saw the dude who was flying the Havoc. I was out teaching a few of my friends and damned if he wasn't harassing us, but he didn't realize. He stopped right downwind of us to rest and I asked him if he was okay, and if he knew he was blocking us, to which he said no and promptly moved along.
I feel that the problem is really just education here. These guys (he had a partner in crime) probably have a home spot somewhere that is all to themselves, and have never ridden in a crowded area. |
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forrest

Since 21 Jun 2005
4330 Posts
Hood River
Hick
CGKA Member
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Mon Jul 12, 10 7:24 pm |
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Oh and MonkeyBoy, you're hardly ever at the Sandbar so you might not have the exact picture of some of the problems faced by the everyday Sandbar user. |
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bwd

Since 04 Aug 2007
385 Posts
Obsessed
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Mon Jul 12, 10 9:07 pm |
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Quote: | and im not going to tell anybody that they need to go in deep water if they dont feel comftorable |
? am confuse by this!
If someone is not comfortable in deep water,
I would say tell them to stay the hell away from rivers and oceans and go take a bath!
Seriously, wtf?
Another opinion: jetskis just help produce more incompetent kiters faster!
And contribute to excess costs! |
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Moto

Since 03 Sep 2006
2698 Posts
Still a gojo pimp!
Moto Mouth
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Mon Jul 12, 10 10:06 pm |
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bwd wrote: |
If someone is not comfortable in deep water,
I would say tell them to stay the hell away from rivers and oceans and go take a bath!
Seriously, wtf?
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LOL!! _________________ Still rockin gojos, *ssless chaps, and ankle weights! |
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blowhard
Since 26 Dec 2005
2027 Posts
Windward
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Tue Jul 13, 10 6:02 am |
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wow the gorge is sure sounds like fun
I wished I lived in a city
we had a dozen kiters out yesterday
none of them in my way
and no excitment of any kind
ceptin losing all my shit and swimmining in
(shit the water is freezing) hands started to go numb after 20 minutes or so
man I sure miss the old days with all the dudes getting yarded
help bring back C kites
they'll make a kiter out of ya  |
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mxwllms
Since 26 Jul 2006
110 Posts
Boring, Or
Stoked
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Tue Jul 13, 10 2:57 pm |
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yeah i should tell them to get f*cked and go home... i hate money anyway |
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mxwllms
Since 26 Jul 2006
110 Posts
Boring, Or
Stoked
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Tue Jul 13, 10 3:05 pm |
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oh and helping people who are scared of the chanel is just terrible isnt it sounds like you need to get a little more friendly sir  |
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