X-OldHeader: From Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com Thu Jun 12 08:33:27 2003 Return-Path: <Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com> Received: from opus.labs.agilent.com (root@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com [130.29.244.179]) by jr.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_25183+JAGae58098)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id IAA11012 for <wind_talk_ls@jr.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Thu, 12 Jun 2003 08:33:27 -0700 (PDT) From: Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com Received: from msgbas2x.cos.agilent.com (msgbas2.cos.agilent.com [192.168.148.34]) by opus.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_25183+JAGae58098)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id IAA17304 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Thu, 12 Jun 2003 08:33:27 -0700 (PDT) Received: from imo-m08.mx.aol.com (imo-m08.mx.aol.com [64.12.136.163]) by msgbas2x.cos.agilent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8457220B4 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Thu, 12 Jun 2003 09:33:25 -0600 (MDT) Received: from Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis.com by imo-m08.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v36.3.) id v.17b.1b9b352b (30970) for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Thu, 12 Jun 2003 11:33:18 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <17b.1b9b352b.2c19f73d@aol.com-DeleteThis.com> Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 11:33:17 EDT Subject: Re: Rescuer Rescued To: wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com X-Mailer: 7.0 for Windows sub 10641
Soheil,
Thanks for keeping watch over us. I did drop just far enough from
the kitesurfer that I had trouble hearing the exchanges.
You are absolutely correct about people relying too much on the
Coast Guard. Right now we have a great Commander at Station Golden
Gate who loves to have his crews out doing rescue. He will be
moving to a new command in about a month and we will have a new
commander who may have new ideas about rescues.
As to kiters and windsurfers, I think the current negative
atmosphere is shaped by the minority of people... both in terms of
kiters who are operating in an unsafe manner and in terms of
windsurfers who don't want to share the space. There are a few real
bozos out there doing some dumb things. You tend to remember the
guy who launches his kite among a crowd of kids and yells at a 4
year old to get out of the way, but you don't remember or notice the
other 10 guys who walked up to launch in a clear area. We do need
to have more people trying to talk to and educate the bozos. It
doesn't always work, but often if you are nice about it, it does
work. I've noticed some of the more regular kiters getting better
and sending the kite up high in traffic or pulling a snap jibe when
it is clear they are heading into a crowd where it will be difficult
for everyone to maneuver safely. Do we need some new rules? Maybe,
but let's think carefully about it and be fair. If some surfers had
their way, windsurfers would have never been allowed on the coastal
waves because surfers were there first and a windsurfer could run
over as surfer. In the end, we can make more rules to deal with the
worst offenders, but we aren't likely to have the Coast Guard out
playing traffic cop. The reason that driving on the freeway is
realtively safe is not only because of traffic laws, but also
because 80-90% of the people are concientious. Even with traffic
laws, there will always be a few jerks. New rules or not, we need
to more education (meaning SFBA, SFKA, etc. will start hitting cars
with flyers) and more community building to get more people on the
conscientious side of the divide.
Peter
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