We just lost over half of our kite boarding area thanks to

[kitester]

Thanks to back door politics of the south fl kiters we just lost over half of some of the best learning and kiter friendly areas in north Florida! Efective oct 1 there will be no kiting allowed in the "pond" area and all the areas south of zone 8 will be off limits. All the years of hard work and compromise have been flushed down the toilet. Thanks guys. You suck!

[KiteboardingTampaBay]

Wow man. I know your (and others) efforts span many, many years up there to preserve access.
I'd be interested to hear more about how S. Fla. kiters played a role in getting more kite spots shut down.
I have a feeling these idiots around here are soon going to get a few spots shut down too.

[kitester]

The keep it on the down low and don't tell anyone about it really screwed us here. No heads up till it was a done deal. Sneaky double bill so those who opposed it were never aware of the other bill that passed. No one ever pointed out that the legislation was constitutionally illeagle. All a cover up to protect s. fl. Kiters who apparently cant keep out of surfers and away from swimmers (as i was told directly)All of it was unnecessary and it was all pinned on one spot near an airport. Why did we need state wide legislation? We did not. Now even the bill that was to protect the parasailing public is invalid constitutionally. It violates dual purpose.

[kitester]

Not to mention ...where was the sunshine law?

[Toby]

Sorry to hear this guys.

Can you explain in more detail to what happened?

No chance to go against it with more power?

[longwhitecloud]

I know this happens (has happened) in other countries too. Someone decides they are the self proclaimed guru and "represents" kiteboarders (at least tells "the man/council" that lol) as part of an association/club/whatever. Rather then get the word out immediately so that anyone and everyone can put in their own submission and spread the info virally/via social media. Ego maniacs? - who knows...lol

[knot_moving]

I'm in N FL. Dont recognize those areas by those names, where are they?

[kitester]

Hi Toby,

Want a name? Well it was Rick Iossi. He decided to take it upon himself to negotiate away our best riding area without even asking us for input . When I became aware of the issue and posted it on the forum I was told to keep it quiet and not upset the "special plans" Rick made. When he finally returned my calls he explained that there was an attempt to insert the FAA regulations word for word into the parasailing legislation. He told me that south fl kiters have been uncontrollable and inconsiderate. They ride in and around swimmers and have actually hurt surfers. He said that he had been down playing and covering up this sort of behavior. He said the public got tired of it and they were just looking for another way to shut down kiting. Then he went so far as to say that he had looked on google earth and saw only two areas that might be affected. Since he did not know anyone that road at Huguenot park it was of no consequence and therefore could be given away. We don't tolerate inconsiderate behavior up here. I have met a few of the "i can do what i want to and the rules dont apply to me" crew. I have been told to f&/# off by people who dont care and dont respect what we have worked so hard for. It's too bad that that attitude seems to be a continuing problem in s fl. Most of the kiters down there may not even be aware of it. BUT if you kite down there and saw this type of behavior or you are a trainer and don't focus on safety and access FIRST in your lessons, if you ever turned a blind eye you share some of the blame. I guess kiters else where paid the price.

[kitester]

Huguenot park, if you re not aware of of it, is located at the mouth of the St. John's River at the north jetty. It is a city operated park. When we have a kiter that rides in a way that puts our access at risk. We first ask them to follow guidelines that are both generally accepted everywhere and guidelines that are specific to the park. If they refuse to ride responsibly we then tell them that they need to ride away from people. If they still don't, we call the park manager and point them out so he can explain it to them. If they ignore him they are asked to leave the park. If they still refuse the officer on duty will arrest them and impound their gear. Fortunately we have not had to go that far yet. Most of the inconsiderate riding revolves around the areas where baby birds fledge onto the beach during the summer. In the past we asked riders to avoid the areas of highest concentration and ride away from the large flocks or "special" birds thar are closely monitored by the environmental lobby. For the most part we have been successful. This year the baby birds fledged out in an area that most kiters had been going to in past years so there was some confusion about where an acceptable launching spot might be. It even changed over the summer. It's a very fluid dynamic that we have to work around if we wish to maintain access.

[Skydive1]

Legally it may be Oct 1 but they are watching us now. I had not heard about this yet and yesterday I was South of Zone 9. When I came out of the water there was a cop waiting for me. He told me they were not going to enforce it but they will shut the park down to kiters if they see people in the restricted area. I believe they will be putting signs up but in the meantime let people know no kiting South of lifeguard station 9 or in the pond. Hopefully we can at least keep the point. Maybe in the future we can regain use of the rest of the park.