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Here is my equipment-related routine I run through when I rig up. I
haven't dealt with the environmental conditions check in this email
but I always assume gusty unstable conditions and try to keep the kite
low. I also try to stay away from downwind obstacles or people. The
other response deals well with weather conditions. This checklist is
long and comprises about 3 trips up and down the kite lines. However,
it's pretty quick and most importantly, is a good way to check that
things are safe before launching.
1) Pump up kite and lay it out with LE bladder facing about 45 degrees
to the wind. The wind is sideshore where I launch so the kite faces
partly upwind and partly towards the water with its leading edge
bladder.
2) Make sure I have enough sand on the kite to keep it down.
3) Lay out my lines so that my bar ends up less than 30 feet from the
water. This is important so I spend as little time on land with the
kite as possible. My lines are laid out perpendicular to the wind.
4) Carefully trace my lines out from my bar so that they are running
true to my kite. I do more than one trip here if my lines are really
fudged up. I am real careful about this.
5) Attach the kite lines. Front lines to the inside bottom, back lines
to the outside top (4-line inflatable kite). I am anal about this step
and make sure that I have no twists, that the inside and outside lines
are not swapped (they are marked), and that the right/left is not
crossed.
6) Check the larks heads, stopper knots, pigtails, and pigtail
attachment points on the kite.
7) Walk my board down to the water near my bar and make sure it is set
up for easy access to it once my kite is flying. Make sure the waves
can't take it away from th shore too.
8) Make sure my bar, leader lines, and leash are running true. Check
the larks heads, leader line knots, and leash. Check the chicken loop,
harness lines, and bar.
10) Make sure my harness is on and I am ready to go.
11) Walk back to the kite, sand the kite up on its end and fold over
and sand the tip heavily. I have seen kites blow away so I make sure I
have enough sand on the tip and that the kite is facing correctly that
wind won't roll it over on its side while it's standing up. This can
make the kite dump the sand and roll down the beach. Also, make sure
that the sand is on the folded wingtip and not on the kite itself. If
the sand is not on the folded over part, the sand stays on the kite
after it's flying and can make the kite dip in strange ways, bounce
back down to the sand and power up hard in the power zone or roll down
the beach after it bounces.
12) Walk the bottom lines all the way back to my kite bar. Make sure
they are running true. Make sure that they are not caught on any
crevices of the kite or major obstacles on the beach (kelp piles,
driftwood, rocks).
13) My top lines will be blowing in the wind from the top wingtip of
the kite so I can check them visually for trueness all the way back to
my bar.
14) Make sure the beach is clear and safe for me to launch.
15) Clip my kite leash onto my harness, making sure it's running true.
16) Pick up bar and make sure kite lines are running true.
17) Slowly walk backwards with bar in hand, making sure my lines are
perpendicular across the wind. If you are too far downwind of the kite
you can make it fall over on its leading edge before it goes airborne.
This can cause it to bounce around on the beach and power up at a bad
time or it can drag downwind on the sand with medium power until it's
dead downwind of you, bladder down. The first scenario is worse than
the second. If you are too far upwind of the kite it can launch very
hot and with lots of power. This is also bad.
18) Once my lines are tight and not caught on anything on the beach, I
pop the sand off the bottom and slowly raise the kite up the edge of
the window. If the lines look good I go all the way up and over to the
other side of the window where the water is (I launch with my back to
the water). If you are self-launching it's still good to have a
kite-savvy helper around in case you need to drop the kite fast. This
isn't always an option though.
19) I get the kite up through the top of the window slowly and with
low force and get it down to about 30-45 degrees above the bottom of
the water-facing window.
20) Walk to my board which should be close by.
21) Make sure it's clear to hit the water (no other kiters nearby, no
big shorepound imminent) and grab my board and get into about
thigh-waist deep water and go.
Hope that helps. This is the routine I've developed and it seems to
work well for me. Being anal about lines running true is core to this
check.
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