Conflict on the beach

Photo: Nicholas Johansen

Conflict between fast-moving kiteboarders and swimmers at Rotary Beach could result in disaster, says one enthusiast of the sport.

The south side of the popular Kelowna beach is permanently closed to swimmers, to give kiteboarders and windsurfers room. A single sign marks the designated “no swimming” area, but some say it goes unnoticed.

Claude Malenfant was visiting Kelowna from Calgary last week and spent a few days kiteboarding. He said the swimmers he saw were oblivious to the dangers of his board.

“There were people in the water, even though it says no swimming, and they see me coming and they just stand there,” Malenfant said.

He said the repercussions of getting in the way could be serious.

“People are unaware of the danger of being cut by lines. You can get your arm cut off, you can get your neck cut off,” Malenfant said. “It’s a very bad attitude to think, ‘OK, when there is an accident maybe people will care.' You want to prevent that from happening.”

Barry Planedin, owner of Okanagan Beach Rentals, which operates from Rotary Beach, said he doesn’t know why there isn’t a clearly marked, cordoned off section of the water that separates swimmers from kiteboarders.

“How can you possibly look at that as an average reasonable human being and go, ‘you mean my kids aren’t allowed there, but they are allowed there?’” Planedin said.

Ted Sophonow, operations supervisor for the City of Kelowna, said there have been a few complaints over the years about the situation, but not many.

“As far as swimmers, obviously we expect them to obey the signs and stay within the designated swim area for their own safety and the safety of others,” Sophonow said.

He conceded that beach-goers might not be aware of the restrictions.

“Maybe we need to improve the signage. I’ll talk to our staff about it,” he said. “Staff talking to the people and educating them may be all it takes to improve the situation.”

A local kiteboarder agreed the issue stems from a lack of education.

“It's extremely rare that I see someone who refuses to leave the wind sports area when referred to the sign,” John Calder wrote on the Okanagan Kiteboarding and Windsurfing Facebook discussion board. “We educate people at the beach, and then there are usually no further issues.”

Sophonow explained the south end of the beach is permanently closed to swimmers even when there are no boarders around, as it would be too difficult to enforce if it wasn’t a black and white closure.

Boarders on the Facebook page have no issue with people using the area when there’s no wind, however.

“It would never make sense to reserve a launch area 24/7 because of the rareness of the wind,” wrote Clayton Arnall.