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A couple of days ago, Mrs Weetabix pulled a drowning kid out of the pool. His mom was only a few feet away, but he wasn't making a sound, and she didn't realize that there was a problem until Mrs W had him out of the pool, coughing up water.

Take a look at this article. What I found particularly sobering was this line:

It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).

I doubt that this will save many kiters - we're generally decent swimmers and there are usually other indicators when we get into difficulties. However, as regular beach users (and hopefully competent swimmers) we have a duty to look out for other beachgoers - particularly kids whose parents might not realize that they need help.

I saved a bloke once. he was about 1km out and couldn't relaunch. the sun was going down and the seabrease was going to turn off any second. But this bloke wasn't fussed at all. I'll be right he said. any way i convinced him he wasn't and body dragged him back to the beach. took about 20 mins.

Thanks for sharing that.

plummet wrote:I saved a bloke once. he was about 1km out and couldn't relaunch. the sun was going down and the seabrease was going to turn off any second. But this bloke wasn't fussed at all. I'll be right he said. any way i convinced him he wasn't and body dragged him back to the beach. took about 20 mins.

Good thing that you insisted.
Often kiters don't realize that if they have been ridding for a couple of hours they may be a bit low on energy and get hopelessly tired after swimming a few hundred feet.

When I offer help the answer is nearly always no thanks.... so I kite near by for a bit and offer up help again and insist that it's no problem and that it would make my day.

To give you an idea of how important it is to accept help or insist on giving it ... one guy I was dragging in got a terrible cramp about half way in. He said it was so painful he had to ditch the kite. I managed to get him back no problem, but had to chase the kite downwind and bring it in at another beach. It could have been nasty if he was on his own with that killer cramp.

Another thing that I like to do is ask if the kiter in need wants to self rescue and I offer to keep a close eye on him or her and take over if it does not work out.

Anyway my point is when offering help it's good to insist a bit.

I saved a 3-year-old on an inflatable toy that was travelling offshore at high speed, his 6-year-old sister swimming next to him, also drifting offshore, their mum having gone to the local cantine to buy herself cofee. I was swimming, helped them out to shore, their mum never realised what a close call this was... I am very happy to have realised the risk of them drowning if I didn't act.
Good post, yes, if we think "danger" we have to act and help, drowning is super-quick and doesn't look like it until it is too late.

I once watched a woman drag a kid out of a pool after he'd fallen in and clearly couldn't swim. His mum didn't notice because the lifeguard was hitting on her. Pretty sure he didn't get any further than that.

A friend of mine just saved a kid in the Cauipe lagoon...looked like the kid could swim but then panicked and my kite buddy, who just made pictures of kiting friends, throw the cam aside and swam to the kid, and it hugged him and cried.

The mother was maybe 100m away and still does not know this happened...

Already shared on FB...this article can save lives!!! PLEASE share!!!

Mr_Weetabix wrote: ↑

Sun May 27, 2012 5:56 am

A couple of days ago, Mrs Weetabix pulled a drowning kid out of the pool. His mom was only a few feet away, but he wasn't making a sound, and she didn't realize that there was a problem until Mrs W had him out of the pool, coughing up water.

Take a look at this article. What I found particularly sobering was this line:

It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).

I doubt that this will save many kiters - we're generally decent swimmers and there are usually other indicators when we get into difficulties. However, as regular beach users (and hopefully competent swimmers) we have a duty to look out for other beachgoers - particularly kids whose parents might not realize that they need help.

I would like to bump this thread up because it's old and many people have joined the sport since, and know how to kite but know almost nothing of the sea, waves, currents, weather and safety at sea.
Personally I pulled a dead boy out of the water once when I was kitesurfing (the boy was a beach-goer) and assisted in search for 3 drowned teenagers another time (water was turbid so jumped a lot trying to see if I could see the bodies from above). It's no fun.

I see so many even fairly competent kitesurfers behaving like they are having a party in the safety of their local gym. If I see someone crashes and they did not relaunch within a minute, then I'll do a drive-by to check them out. If I see a beachgoer swimming far out I approach from downwind real slow and have a 20-second chat (done it a dozen times, they always turn back).

When on the water keep an eye out for each other at all times, it's not a chore, it's just common seamanship.

The more people read this article the better!

Drowning can go completely unnoticed in front of people very close to the victims. For us, who spent a lot of time in or near the water, we must have a sharp eye detecting potential life threatening situations.
In Icarai lagoon, two teenagers drowned about 10 feet from shore, where family and friends were sitting. I was teaching at the other side of the lagoon, when I heard the screaming. By the time I got there, despite my rescue and revival attempt it was to late. Ironically we gone to the other side, not to disturb the local people enjoying the lagoon. To this day, I regret this decision...