Basic kiteboarding gear maintenance

When the wind is amazing and the sun is shining, the last thing you want is gear failure to totally ruin a great kiteboarding session! Am I saying you should inspect everything each time you set up for a ride? Well, yes.

Kites: Leaking

The most common malfunction is leaking. If you leave your kite in your car during hot days, expect this to happen sooner than later, and go ahead and buy some Aquaseal for re-gluing all your valves. Otherwise, make sure the valves are fully closed and locked down (Velcro, etc.), and if your kite has a "click-to-close" system between the leading edge and the struts, make sure they are closed before launching your kite.

          

 If your kite begins to lose air while you are riding, hopefully you will have enough air left in the other bladders to make it back to the beach. (Note: if you cannot make it back to the beach, you will need to do a self-rescue.)

Kites: Bridal lines

The areas to look out for are where the pulleys (or rings - Epic kites) rub against the lines. Make sure they are working properly by moving them back and forth, using water if necessary to clean out sand and dirt in the pulleys. Check the bridal lines for wear, looking for any fraying of lines.

Broken bridal line

Boards: Loose screws

To be clear, I am NOT talking about the kiters, although we get accused of this quite often. The loose screws I'm referring to are the ones holding down your bindings or footstraps. Eventually these screws will begin to loosen up and you don't want to be 1 mile out in great wind and realize your bindings are falling off of you board. Almost all of them tighten down with a basic Phillips head screw driver, so keep an extra one with your gear, and tighten them regularly.

Kiss The Sky Kiteboarding

Know your riding spot!

Tampa Bay is such a great place for kiteboarders because of the good clean wind and the plethora of flats for kiteboarding sessions. But we are seeing a lot of incidents of kiters getting into trouble because they aren't familiar with the lay-out of the riding spot.

In one case, an inexperienced rider got into deep water and then crashed his kite, and found that in the light wind could not relaunch his kite. So he began drifting towards the rocks downwind of the launch site. After about 15 minutes, when he got close to the shoreline, another kiter ran out into the surf to grab his kite before he was pulled onto the rocks.

Another kiter ran aground on a sandbar, causing his board to stop, which then sent him over the board into a faceplant in inch-high water while still being pulled by the kite.

In another case last year, a rider crashed on top of a submerged oyster bed. He took a trip to the emergency room and went home with about 35 stitches in his hand, arms, and legs.

These incidents are completely avoidable. How? KNOW your riding area.

If you are trying out a new riding spot, look at Google satellite photos - you can see color changes from shallow to deep water. Come find a Kiss The Sky Kiteboarding instructor - we keep print-outs of google maps on hand and would be happy to show you the area before you launch.

Also, ask the locals. Many times, kiters come in from out of town and ask me before going out "Is there anything I should know about this riding area?" I am SO happy they asked, and I get to tell them about thedeep water spots, the channel with the strong current, and the hidden dangers (oyster beds, submerged boat, sandbars, etc.)

Googlemap satellite photos of 4 riding spots in Tampa Bay near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge:

http://www.kisstheskykiteboarding.com/kiteboardinglocations.htm

Kiss The Sky Kiteboarding

Wonder BOARD!

 Light wind wonder!

 Photo: Former Kiss The Sky Kiteboarding student Ryan Gandy, out for a Tampa Bay dawn patrol session, with a Blade kite and his new home-made board, the Light Wind Jedi (name to be decided). I tried out the board, and it's awesome! Nice going, Ryan!

Kiss The Sky Kiteboarding