http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120628/NEWS/206280325

Looks like I will be joining the battle against kite bans! Right now just Kiteboarding but is my buggy next?!

Yes, it will be

I can't open the link though ...

www.capecodonline.com

Direct link:
Kiteboarders dispute Eastham ruling

ATB,
Sam

Hopefully the olympics brings kiteboarding more acceptance as an officially recognized sport. Surfing also faced similar threats back in the day but no one complains about them getting too close to swimmers anymore. All we need is proper acceptance and recognition so we can also have our designated spaces on the beach that should not be violated by swimmers/pedestrians just like they have their area and boats have theirs.

Of course, kitesurfers should always maintain proper distance since one can easily travel downwind into people/objects/etc.

More regulations in any way ultimately means less freedom.

"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither." - Benjamin Franklin

I'm a resident of Eastham (part owner of a cottage there). I get electronic copies of all the town meeting minutes but hadn't seen that yet. That's a bummer but I'm in agreement with the town. I personally give up flying during the summer at beaches because crowds make me nervous and I don't want to risk injury to others or self. First Encounter gets lots of family beach traffic and while I've never seen more than 2 kites there at one time, if there were 20+ riders during the summer months, that could be an ugly situation as the beach is full of kids and families.

There are plenty of less crowded / resident only beaches in Eastham to launch from. Smaller and more difficult to get a kite launched and landed in but if they want to fly in the most crowded beaches because of ease of access... well this is what they deserve.

If kiteboarding is out then the towns will flip if they see someone riding a board or buggy in the midst of people. Better to not push that issue during normal beach hours / days.

When this happened to us we looked at the average winds on our beach in the banned season.

The history showed we were fighting for an average of 7 kitable days ! Most of our real winds happen in the winter when the ban is not observed. Sounds like this beach is best on a north. Might be worth looking at how may " kitable " days you are actually giving up?

It is the lifeguards we respect so observe the ban. With no lifeguards , who will lay out fines?

Sounds like BR is right, the "kiteable days" plan sounds good. See if fighting the ban is worth the effort.

,... At least its not a complete ban.

Arrrgh!!! Just told by I’m guessing a renegade employee that I cant fly on the fields at my local park. These guys sit outside and have watched me since last fall when I started out. I’m there every morning for like an hr tops.. and out by 8;15 and on to work. Never an issue before??? He said I can fly in the parking lots (asphalt or lose stone) I think they are trying to kill me!! Guess I got a little fight as well……..if I had an effect on anyone in 8 months it was from a ¼ mile away.

Quote:

Originally posted by B-Roc I'm a resident of Eastham (part owner of a cottage there). I get electronic copies of all the town meeting minutes but hadn't seen that yet. That's a bummer but I'm in agreement with the town. I personally give up flying during the summer at beaches because crowds make me nervous and I don't want to risk injury to others or self. First Encounter gets lots of family beach traffic and while I've never seen more than 2 kites there at one time, if there were 20+ riders during the summer months, that could be an ugly situation as the beach is full of kids and families. B-roc- It will be discussed at this upcoming Tuesdays town meeting- Several instructors and interested parties who have businesses in teaching or retail are going to see if it can be reversed. I was told it came from ONE COMPLAINT. No written complaint either, no name no proof. HHHMMM????? It is an unwritten rule that you wait till after 5pm here on Cape to use a public beach for kiteboarding. There are plenty of less crowded / resident only beaches in Eastham to launch from. Smaller and more difficult to get a kite launched and landed in but if they want to fly in the most crowded beaches because of ease of access... well this is what they deserve. If kiteboarding is out then the towns will flip if they see someone riding a board or buggy in the midst of people. Better to not push that issue during normal beach hours / days.

oops- included my comments with B-roc's post above.

I can't get down there on Tuesday so I will be interested to read the bullets.

I get the fact about no riding before 5 and the crowds do thin out but the Bay beaches always have people on them until dark to watch the sunset, skimboard or swim, etc. I'm sympathetic to those who want to ride but if I were at the meeting I'd represent for the town not the kiters.

I don't want my wife watching the sunset or my kids playing wiffle ball to get wacked by some kite line or kite because its a windy evening in the middle of July or August.

Kiters can have the beach for 9 months out of the year. I think its fair to allow the tourists (whose money supports the town and beach infrastructure a lot more than the kiters do) have the beaches for 3 months.


But that's just me.

I showed back up at my local launch and got to meet w/ a supervisor. Little intro and some chit chat explained that his park was as important to me as maybe life itself.. showed him my equipment and explained what safety and respect ment to me.......and bango....Got my field back! Greatest country in the world!!! Thank you Laurel Hill Secaucus, NJ. we kiteheads are welcome again........for now.

So which cape beaches have the best hard pack in August? I'm thinking about sandy neck and barstable harbor at low tide. I'll give the clammers a wide berth

Quote:

Originally posted by Suds after thuds So which cape beaches have the best hard pack in August? I'm thinking about sandy neck and barstable harbor at low tide. I'll give the clammers a wide berth

I'm not as familiar with that part of the Cape. Orleans on out to P-Town is more my neck of the woods. What I can tell you, generally speaking, is that there is not much harpack at all on the Cape nor are there many beaches that don't have tidal pools at low tide. The only beach I'm aware of that has what I would consider to be hardpack on the outer Cape is Skaket Beach in Orleans. That sand is great but its also a beach with heavy family traffic (here is its webcam http://www.morebeach.com/cape-cod-beach-cams/skaket-beach).

I believe beachrights rides at Mayflower beach and may have other suggestions for better beaches around his end of the Cape.

Bigfoot tires would be best for a buggy. 8" ATB tires on 99% of the Cape beaches would be a tough go IMO.

Quote:

Originally posted by abkayak I showed back up at my local launch and got to meet w/ a supervisor. Little intro and some chit chat explained that his park was as important to me as maybe life itself.. showed him my equipment and explained what safety and respect ment to me.......and bango....Got my field back! Greatest country in the world!!! Thank you Laurel Hill Secaucus, NJ. we kiteheads are welcome again........for now.

Way to go! The good relationship is key.

Enjoy flying.

Philip

Wow B-roc- surprised at your opinion. I guess I thought most on this forum would be against any ban.

I feel all on this forum are respectful of "John Q Public" and would give a wide berth to keep people out of harms way. Why should kiters have to fly in 30-40 degree weather just to satisfy tourists? If an injury has happened then that needs to be addressed but to ban just because is unfair. You mention Skimboarders- why are they ok? Surfers, sand castle builders? Yes, we are involved in "action sports" but that does not green light a ban. There is no injury or property damage and they are banned. Seems unfair to me.

B Roc I'm a little surprised by your attitude on this issue. I love the cape and have kitesurfed the gut which a great spot. Anyways I'm not a local I'm a tourist and when I travel I want to kite. I spend just as much money for beach access as anyone else and I'm even willing to pay more for special permits( spent 70 dollars for access to triton park on the Chesapeake) which I have done for some of my local haunts. Anyways there is no reason swimmers and kiters can't coexist on the same beach. Just takes a sign with a defined launch area that can educate both kiters and beach goers what's what. That sign should include some guidance on beach space use during set up, breaks, etc and also riding areas. I think a ban will just cause you more problems in the form of outlaw kiters who just don't give a #@%$#!.

So far though nothing is written I like how Dewey beach, de works. I went out with some friends a few weeks ago and we got out early and walked down the beach so we were far from the normal beach goers. As the day progressed and the beach crowd started to incroach on our area the lifeguards told people to move away from where we were riding. It was great and when that stopped being practical we decided we had enough and stopped for the day. IMHO an outright ban is unreasonable and a huge loss of potential revenue. :dunno:

My point may or may not have been misunderstood. I am not in favor of a town wide ban on all beaches. I am, if necessary, in favor of a ban on public beaches during tourist season. As I said in my earlier post, there are plenty of smaller, less accessible resident only beaches which one can launch and ride from. I have no problem with kiting at these locations.

First Encounter is a nice beach with tons of parking which is why it is heavily used by families and tourists on vacation. If kiters are laying out their lines and taking up tons of space on the beach or parking lot or walking through crowds to get to the water or landing on the edge of crowds or riding near small children and kids who may be swimming under water…. Well I find that unacceptable.

Some of you have mentioned “self-policing”. I’m all for that and (since I can’t get to the meeting on Tuesday to hear first hand) I assume that was being done but apparently not as effictively as necessary.

I don’t kite during the summer on any beach. That’s a choice I’ve made because I don’t like flying in or near crowds. But that’s just me.

If the “word is going out via text and email that FE is rideable” then the word is going out to locals. No one is getting a text from CT, RI or NY, etc. that “the wind is up” and packing their gear and heading to the outer cape to hit it for a session. If the locals aren’t being mindful of the safety of a hundred beach goers, I can’t blame the town for stepping in when self-policing isn’t working to the level of beach safety / satisfaction that some mom or dad wants to see enforced for the safekeeping of their kids, etc.

The article says its not uncommon to see 20 kites in the air. I’ve never seen more than 2 during the summer months but I don’t frequent FE during the day (though I could see kiters if they were riding at FE from the beach I do attend when on the bay side).

It doesn't matter if you’re a kiter and you’ve paid your parking fee. There is no way the "20 kiters" support the town in any way close to the way that the 20,000 tourists who come down each month do.

Sorry if that upsets some. I’m passionate about kiting but I don’t think we need to wait for any person to be injured or property to be damaged to say, “now we could use some help with guidelines or restrictions”. If some kiter (tourist or local) offended or endangered some beach goer, the tourist-centric town of Eastham would be crazy to support the kiters over the tourists during the prime / only revenue generating months of the year. That’s just a reality of small tourist town politics / economics.

If you want to come to the Cape and kite, I think that’s great. If you can’t, likely it’s the locals to blame for not self policing and yielding to the public. As I’ve said there are numerous beaches less than 5 minutes from FE that can be used (I know first hand as a kite shop used to give lessons from 2 of them near me). Sure, the parking is more challenging, the beaches smaller and the access a bit tougher. But once you’ve launched you could ride from Welfleet to Billingsgate to Dennis (I’ve seen that done) with no issue or danger to anyone but yourself. Locals should know this. Locals should also enforce this with tourists who come to kite in the midst of the public.

I don't want to position this as a locals vs. tourists issue. That's not my stance. I want to encourage tourism - kiting tourism would be great. I'm just not in favor of EVER possibly endangering a non-kiter just so some Wahoo can hit it when the wind is up. When common sense fails to prevail officials step in. Not saying that's what happened at FE, I'm just saying.

If the towns of Welfleet and Dennis want to encourage and support kiting, that is their perrogative and its great and kiters can go there. If the town of Eastham wants to support families on its beaches, that is also great and their right. As a kiter that bums me out. As a town taxpayer I totally understand.

GREAT NEWS!!


Selectmen changed course on kiteboard ban last night due to kiters offering to "self rule" the beach.




By Doug Fraser


dfraser@capecodonline.com


July 04, 2012

EASTHAM — Kiteboarders and windsurfers can enjoy the waves off town beaches again after selectmen voted this week on new regulations that relax an earlier ban.

Early last month, after receiving complaints and questions from swimmers and other beachgoers, the town's recreation commission made a plan to regulate the two sports and keep them out of swimming areas.

On June 6, selectmen voted to ban kiteboarding and windsurfing at all the town's bay beaches from June 15 through Labor Day.

But advocates asked to be placed on the selectmen's agenda Monday and had their own proposal for reconsideration. Town Administrator Sheila Vanderhoef and recreation Director Mark Powers also had draft regulations, which, among other rules, established a designated area at First Encounter Beach for setting up and launching windsurf equipment and kiteboards.

Selectman Aimee Eckman, chairwoman of the board, estimated there were about 15 kiteboard enthusiasts in the audience Monday night. She thought their suggestions were similar to what the board ultimately passed by a unanimous vote.

"They were great," Eckman said. "Everybody seemed to agree."

The board established a launching area at First Encounter Beach and set some other restrictions. Boarding equipment and kites cannot be left unattended in the water or on the beach.

While under way, boarders have to yield to swimmers and waders and remain 200 feet beyond a buoy placed to mark off the swimming area. They cannot use Bees River from June 15 to Labor Day.

Kiteboarders and windsurfers are required to check in at the gate house at First Encounter Beach, where they will be shown where they can go and receive a pamphlet containing the new regulations.

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Good deal. Glad it was resolved so the beachgoers, tourists and kiters can get along and benefit the town.