this did not go well,, defintely not as planned. broke rope slider during gybe/foot switch. worst possible time.. worst possible place as i was as far out as i go during cold weather,,, i don't ever go further out than i can safely float in before hypothermia gets me. manage to hang onto bar although it was fully powered up on the cleat plus unhooked,,, would do a few things different now but at the time, well, things go fast. i grab the cl and let go of bar to reduce power, hoping to hang on to ride in unhooked. while holding on to the cl, i reach up to depower kite but it's pretty far away, plus when i let go to do that, the kite started going down fast,, i reach up to steer and it speeds up, and rips out of my hands, going to the safety line. it's obviously a foil kite and it flops/deshapes all around as it descends,, pretty much a disaster. no way i am going to relaunch so i figure get the board for flotation and so i don't lose it,, I do have a very floaty impact vest on so didn't need board but thought it might come in handy. manage to swim upwind to it. the next bit goes pretty good. get on board, and start wrapping up the middle line that went to safety, then start wrapping up the other lines, nice and neat so far, until i get to the bridles. they are freaking everywhere. like being attacked by intelligent seaweed. i now wish i had wrapped them all together around the bar instead i tried to use kite as a sail. not working. lines get arouind mast, 4 loops around my ankle, jesus fucking christ. should have practiced this for sure. now i start gathering bridles and try to wrap around the ends of the bar like normal... duh, not enough room. figure i am close enough though so decide to undo vent to deflate kite and wrap it up. also not so easy since the bridle has wrapped around my ankle. in no danger though really,, could just remain still and float in since my original plan was my ultimate back up, glad i had it, surprised i had to resort to it. sitting on the board was not working great so i got off and tied my leash to the single hook. note to self,, put a small loop on back of board for this very thing. so i am about resigned to float in when a buddy risks having his kite go down in the lighter wind and comes out and drags me, and my board and my half wrapped up kite/water anchor close to shore. kite is full of water, weighs a ton,, i stagger thru the rocks with 4 loops around my ankles, can't even take full steps, get it all sorted out,, have great 2 hour session with back up harness, go home.
so my next plan is this
have back up rope next to slider rope.
wrap up the damn bridles all the way to the tips of the kite to keep them out of the way, then open flap and roll up kite,
put a loop on board with an extra leash perhaps to let it drag behind me hopefully, has anyone done this? my board already has a mind of it's own so not sure.
carry some sort of stretchy bag to stuff kite and bar into.
have something to lash bag to board or to my back so i can lay on board and paddle in with it.
any other tips?