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Dave Whettingsteel said..
I was down the mouth of the Bowes with binoculars and 4wd at 0600 this morning looking for him. Bit disappointing I didn't get to pick Matt up, but am super happy someone else did!! I really was not expecting such a good outcome. Pretty amazing to see the amount of resources put into the search effort. Makes you proud.
Shoulda gone specsavers
That's probably why i missed him, i was checking the beach looking ocean side and Matt was cuddled up in his kite inland. Never thought of that, expecting the worse i think.
Am so happy for Matt, his family and friends.
Select to expand quotecauncy said..Dave Whettingsteel said..
I was down the mouth of the Bowes with binoculars and 4wd at 0600 this morning looking for him. Bit disappointing I didn't get to pick Matt up, but am super happy someone else did!! I really was not expecting such a good outcome. Pretty amazing to see the amount of resources put into the search effort. Makes you proud.
Shoulda gone specsavers
Thanks for the comment Mick.
Question: was this fella doing this downwinder by himself ??
and
how does one "miss" coronations ?
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
Question: was this fella doing this downwinder by himself ??
and
how does one "miss" coronations ?
Bit Early Eppo...........Majority of the kiting community are happy a fellow kiter has been found alive after been lost for 16 hours.
I'm sure you boys will rip this to death on the forum over the next few days.
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
how does one "miss" coronations ?
I did the downwinder half an hour later. The swell was sizey and no one was at spot X (closing out) and was pretty much breaking the whole way, so my group totally thought Coros was Spot X until we saw the little buildings.
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
Question: was this fella doing this downwinder by himself ??
and
how does one "miss" coronations ?
Big swell and super windy. If he just happened to do a long port tack just when he should be coming in you might miss it? Especially if you're not overly familiar with the area.
Too early? Fact is he is okay, and thank Fck for that.
So you could miss coros if you don't know the area...
was he doing the downwinder on his own in a raging swell in a place he doesn't know ?
Select to expand quotequikdrawMcgraw said..
Was the kite very comfortable to sleep in?
North kites are well known to be the most comfortable kites to sleep in.
Select to expand quoteKitersElbow said..quikdrawMcgraw said..
Was the kite very comfortable to sleep in?
North kites are well known to be the most comfortable kites to sleep in.
cabrinha makes the best hammocks though
special area
5km further to go from Spot x 0akagee bay to Coronation and Coronation to Bowes river has to be the same from Drummonds to Coronation .
With this in mind and assuming you lost your kite with in the coronation area say with in 1km before or after HOW LONG WHERE YOU IN THE WATER ? WHAT TIME DID YOU MAKE LAND FALL? . I came in approx 20 mins 30mins after the sun had set and was doing 2km 3km out to sea runs past the third reef and into the blue only turning to come in on the back of Rhino or long dragon tail that stretched from Drumonds to Bows. I was prtty wild strong high tide 3to 4 m swell and 25to35. I knmow breaking something that far out your in strife, with out a board and this is what gives me some grace , if i snap a mast and ditch the rig ive got a 7,10 board and 86 liters to work with , loose that and your Boogamumage.
Gotta ask the question ,,,,, Did you see me or any windsurfers i late ?....... before, during or after sunset .
Looking forward to your survival story that's fair way north where you ended up fk that
Were you kiting that alone is my main question.
If you weren't who had your back, because you have got to wonder? We always kite downwinders with at least one person looking out for you normally more.
If you were alone, in that kind of swell, in territory you may not know (or even if you did know) then WTF!!!
Absolute relief you are okay for sure. We all agree on this. But ....
incidents like this are not good for the sport especially the downwinder crew. Gives ammunition for more nanny state regulations.
In light of the considerable resources involved in a search and rescue operation, questions along the lines of Eppo's strike me as pertinent. Indeed, it is in everyone's interest that the risks (and the occurrence) of situations of this nature are minimized.
I bet you he found some cracking waves along the way, that he won't share the whereabouts with to the haters.
Just had a very detailed report of incident on Channel 7 Sydney,including interview with survivor...probably be on perth ch 7 sunday night news if someone wants to download onto seabreaze.
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
Question: was this fella doing this downwinder by himself ??
and
how does one "miss" coronations ?
Pretty sure was part of a crew hence a mate alerted police/ rescue,
Last years Midwest windfest
100 kiters did the big downwinder
one missed the finish at coros and we sent the safety quad to look for him, bernard said he was 9/10klm north of coros when he came across him
I kited over 90 klms on that gig with tacks as safety kiter
following up the rear, not a soul on the whole trip along ,
unhabited coastline, then bang your at coros, kites n sails everywhere after 30 odd klms , got me flucked how anyone can miss it,
but as saying goes there's always one,
but in conditions like that afternoon it'd be completely understandable if matey was out back of say windmills area, some nice big ones there, then got rolled, he'd be a good 10 plus klms before he got in, in crossoff even further, and did well if he did a self rescue or packdown in those conditions, a good reminder though as
never lock my struts off unless in these conditions
and you might need as much floatation aid as you can get
Couldn't find it on the channel 7 website but found it on the blue virus..
www.facebook.com/7NewsCQ/videos/374322070010384/
Lucky bloke and a good outcome.
That 9 News report said clearly he was doing that downwinder solo. If true, that is a pretty remote downwinder to attempt alone, especially in those conditions...
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
Question: was this fella doing this downwinder by himself ??
and
how does one "miss" coronations ?
I've seen some one miss it before also 
Select to expand quotecauncy said..
following up the rear,
Normally that's what plummet likes to do!
Select to expand quoteKitersElbow said..
That 9 News report said clearly he was doing that downwinder solo. If true, that is a pretty remote downwinder to attempt alone, especially in those conditions...
well he wasn't.
The news have no idea and make up lots.
There will always be somebody who is last in any downwinder, yeah?
Some people here are pretty harsh - but I remind you all about the safety warnings a few of us gave to those doing remote downwinders where beach access is very difficult - and all the heroes took the p!ss. It is dangerous and needs respect and safety gear
Select to expand quotequikdrawMcgraw said..
All those risks...what a fuqn legend
Agreed. ??
that is until all downwinder crew will need to purchase and wear more safety gear than a doomesday prepper ....
nah I don't buy the "last one in the lineup", nor it would it be easy to get out of sight in a big swell. You must always have everyone you are with in sight and to always be making sure everyone around you is good. That's just common sense.
But hey need the facts first I suppose.
I used to organise some downwinders in the relative safety of port Phillip bay. One thing I did was buddy everyone up, so if there were 14 of us, that's 7 pairs, looking at each other and staying fairly close to each other. I cracked the ****s at people when they didn't know where their buddy was lol.
glad this guy made it back ok, cool story to tell, but a bit silly, if he had a buddy the self rescue would have been a cinch and he wouldn't end up 10 km past his destination
At least it was a legitimate search. Unlike the muppets abandoning their kites, swimming in and not telling anyone. Happens several times a season on Perth metro beaches.
He's clearly not the sharpest tool in the box... When he made it to land, the best thing would have been , to walk south down the beach until he found an area that actually had people , Don't try and walk to the highway.
Never do a downwinder where you have never even seen the destination before.
Even my 17 year old son has done this stretch alone ... Its not that difficult REALLY!
