Penticton News

A couple of kite boarders learned the hard way that maybe they should stay away from the water when one of the Okanagan's notorious spring cold fronts is working its way across the valley.

A Penticton fire crew was called to Skaha Lake during Wednesday's afternoon windstorm when a Kaleden resident watching from his house thought the two were in trouble after their kites had collapsed in the wind, in the middle of the lake and about a mile offshore.

The fire department deployed its marine rescue boat to a nearby marina where the crew ran into an instructor who told the crew she did not believe the two were in trouble, but said she'd go out and check.

It turned out the boarders weren't in trouble, but the wind was too strong for them to deploy their kites again after their initial collapse, according to Capt. Howard Grantham. "They were carrying out their "safe procedure" to get back to shore."