Category: Color in the Sky

Wind! We Got Wind!

After a long string of windless Sundays and some low temperatures thrown in, we have sunshine, mild temperature and WIND!  We joined four other kite fliers to celebrate the gorgeous day.  I decided that rather than haul everything out to the field (a job which seems like it takes a small moving van) I would selection a few kites to fly and leave the rest home.  All the while hoping I make the right choice and have the right kites for the right wind.  I put in my bag some kites that hadn’t seen the sky in a year or two.  They definitely needed the air time.

I first put up my twin tail dragon.  The last time it flew was about a year ago and the wind was so strong I didn’t get the tails wound up neatly, they were just stuffed in the bag.  So my initial job was to untangle and untie the tails.  Lesson learned – no matter what, roll up your tails before packing away a dragon kite.  Once in the air, it flew beautifully.

George Peter's Twin Tail Dragon by Into the Wind

The next kite I put up was my mesh diamond with roses.  This kite was given to me a couple of years ago as an anniversary present.  My husband gave me roses that will never wilt.  One of which is a yellow rose, my favorite.  It really is a shame I don’t fly this one more often.  It is easy to assemble and flies great.  It just hangs in the air for all to see.  Must mention that this kite is no longer available.  Maybe that’s why I like it.  I should try to remember and fly this one on each wedding anniversary.  Must make a note on my iPad.

Wili Koch's Mesh Diamond by Premier

My husband flew one of his latest acquisitions, a Premier powersled.  He got the largest powersled with the optical illusion/quilted pattern in rainbow colors.  The powersled is a real “puller”.  We found that out as we watched the large kite anchor being pulled across the sand.  And there was a lot of sand already in the anchor.  That’s one reason we really like sand bags and sand anchors for our single line kites.  they may get dragged a bit but they don’t fly away or run the risk of injuring a passerby.  We got out the shovel and added sand and the kite stayed put for the rest of the morning.

Powersled 24 by Premier

The rest of the sky had color from several of our friends kites.  Including one unconventional training of a Sky Flake and a Firefly 2.  Both of these kites are made at Kites Unlimited in Atlantic Beach, NC.  Both will hang in the air like they were pinned there.  But they will dance and bob around if you give their lines a tug now and then.  Neither of them like to fall to the ground and will rise before hitting the ground when the line is pulled and released.  It makes a good show for spectators as they think the kite is falling and it magically rises up again.  I’m not sure if they ever had been trained together before but it worked pretty well and they both behaved themselves.

Sky Flake and Firefly2 by Kites Unlimited
Vamp Devils by Flying Wings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At last my Vamp Devil did not fly alone.  Usually I’m the only one flying this quad line kite.  And, quite often, I think I’m the only one who really likes this kite.  But on this day, another Vamp Devil was in the sky.  It was the one from the kite shop, Kites Unlimited, and the owner had it out to give another quad one flier a chance to try it out.  Luckily, I had mine with me and we flew together for a short time.  Also, luckily, I had the camera and a photo assistant with me so we could get photos of the two.  It was fun.  Next time, we will have to have lines the same length so we can interact more.  That means I will have to untangle my longer lines which right now look more like a bird’s nest than a set of kite lines.  Ugh!

Fair Winds All

Happy New Year!!!!!!

It’s time to start anew.  Computer problems, holidays happenings and uncooperative wind have reduced my kite flying these past months and brought this blog to a halt.  My apologies to those who have come here looking  for my ramblings about kiting experiences.  I’m going to begin again and, hopefully, inspire some of you to get out and fly a kite or two.

New Year’s Eve brought an attempted night kite fly.  I say attempted because with the setting of the sun there was also a setting of the wind. To nothing.  Several of my kite friends gathered at the beach but we all left our kites in our bags.  What we did fly were some sky lanterns.  These are balloon-shaped biodegradable paper bags with a small wire framework holding a small fuel source.  The lanterns are lit and the heat from the burning fuel fills the paper bag and causes it to rise.  The lit bags rise into the air and float gently away.  Several of these launched a the same time make a wonderful night display.  Sky lanterns are used during festivals in China and Southeast Asia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Year’s Day was the annual, informal kite fly on the beach.  It is informal because it is just a number of kite fliers filling the sky with color on the first day of January.  It is not organized like a festival.  We merely all decide what time to arrive at the beach and then show up.  The length of time spent flying is up to the individual.  I was, unfortunately, unable to attend this year.  But reports from those who were there tell me I didn’t miss much. There was no wind.  Even the fighter kites had a hard time staying in the air.  I shouldn’t really say I didn’t miss much.  I did miss visiting with my friends from out-of-town and those from in-town who I don’t get to see often.  Apparently after most of the fliers left, the winds did pick up.  A rokkaku did get away from its owner during a rather strong gust.  The line became entangled in some power lines about two blocks away from the beach.  It was retrieved with no ill effects.  I wish I could have been there.

My New Year’s kite fly occurred on the second day of January.  The winds were up and down, strong and weak.  But that wasn’t going to stop me from trying.  A couple of friends were already on the beach when we got there.  We put about ten kites in the air.  Some of them were on their maiden flight.  My friends are also kite builders and innovators and had some new designs to try out.  All were successes to one degree or another.  And we had some good discussions about the builds and the styles and possible improvements.  Two mesh deltas flew fairly well but were kept low due to the addition of line laundry in the variable winds.  Also in the air were several Hatas, a small barn door kite, a dragon variant, a flo-tail delta and my two power sleds.  Lots of color.  But we spent most of the time picking things up when the wind went down and putting them back in the air when the wind picked up.  It was nice to be on the beach whatever the wind was doing.  Then it was off to the kite shop to check in and visit some more.  Yes, there is a lot of talking going on when one is involved with kites.  Finally hunger signaled it was time to go home.

And today the wind has increased to beyond what I care to fly kites in and the thermostat has dipped to below what I care to stay outside in.  So I spend time at the sewing machine finishing up my latest kite project and planning my next one.

And I wish for you…

A Happy New Year to everyone.  May it be a year with health, happiness, new kites and …

Fair Winds All

Kite Festival Weekend Starts Now

I haven’t had a chance to fly kites for almost two weeks.  Last weekend my daughter and her husband came home and we spent as much time with them as we could.  They brought us some rather “shocking” news.  Shocking in a good way.  They are going to have a baby.  Which means I am going to be a grandmother.  I’m beginning to feel old.  But I get to help decorate the nursery.  My daughter is decorating with, of all things, kites.  So I am going to build a special request kite to hang on the nursery wall.  I’m going to start as soon as possible so it will be ready.After all, I only have seven months until the due date.

This weekend is the Carolina Kite Festival.  Today it started with an all-day kite building workshop.  I got my kit early so I could finish it for the workshop.  For some reason, I had a hard time focusing on this kite.  But I did get it done on time.  I spent the day at the workshop answering questions, talking with participants and getting the pattern ready for my next build.  There were twelve sewer there to build the kite.  Most hadn’t sewn a kite before.  A couple were old hands at it and finished without any problems or questions.  There was only one person who didn’t finish the kite and she had to leave early.  The kites were in a wide range of colors but all the same pattern.  Although some of us made changes to the pattern to personalize the kite.  Tomorrow at the kite festival we will all fly them at the same time.  It should be a pretty good show.  I took my kite out to the parking lot and held it by the bridle to see what it would do in the somewhat gusty winds today.  It flew like a champ.

Tomorrow the festival starts in earnest.  Unfortunately, the weather doesn’t look like it will cooperate.  Possible rain with extremely strong winds.  And the temperature has dropped about ten degrees from what we have been having.   t almost seems like this year’s festival has been cursed.  First we had to change venues because our regular location was damages by Hurricane Irene and had to close until the first of the year.  Thankfully we were able to get the required permits to hold the festival at the public beach access in town.  Then we had to arrange with some of the smaller local motels for rooms for attendees.  And they did step up and help out.  To make things worse several of our regular attendees had family crises and would not be able to come this year.  So we have a smaller work crew with just as many jobs to fill.  And a smaller number of regular fliers to put kites in the air.

But the goal of the festival is to have fun and enjoy the camaraderie.  And, of course, to introduce kiting to the general public and get them to join in.  Many people come to see the kites and are usually amazed at the variety of dies and shapes and colors.  And many bring a kite or buy a kite and join in.  This is what it is all about.  This year we will have a show of the large kites, kids’ kite building, candy drops for the kids, a show of the favorite kites of our kite club and friends and several mass ascensions.  A mass ascension is when everyone flies the same type of kite at the same time.  It makes for a great show of the different varieties of the same type of kite.  We will also have an area for people to learn how to fly stunt kites.  And maybe some of the attendees will coerced into putting on a display or two.

It’s all weather-driven.  So there is no set schedule.  Good weather, a great show.  Bad weather, we make do with what we can.  It is a lot of work and planning.  But when it is over, we look back and say “It was fun” and start planning for the next one.  So wish us luck and good weather.

Fair Winds All.

Never Believe The Weatherman

Beautiful morning this past Sunday.  Temperatures were mild, sun was shining, brilliant blue sky with only a few clouds and the weatherman said the winds were around 10 mph building to 15 in the afternoon.  Never believe the weatherman.  I went to the kite field looking forward to a day when I could put up some larger kites and anchor them and then practice with my Vamp Devil and try out my new Mojo on longer lines.  It looked like a perfect day for kites when I left the house.  I was so ready for this day I arrived early, before anyone else.  Great.  I could get my stuff up first and have a show in the air for all the other fliers to see when they arrived.

So I hauled my cart down to the beach and began.  The wind was only about five mph or so.  I managed to get the parafoil up after a long launch and a lot of work on the line.  Another flier arrived and put up a couple of delta kites so I left my mesh delta in the bag and tried to put up my Buka-Dako-Esche.  I hadn’t flown this kite in a few months and had forgotten how many spars it had and how to put it together.  Each spar comes in three pieces and there are three spars in the bag plus the vertical spar that I left attached to the sail.  So when I first put it together, I had one spar left over.  Where did it go?  There were no empty pockets or sleeves.  So the call for help went out.  Luckily, our local kite shop owner showed up and he showed me where the last spar went.  Yes, I had missed a sleeve across the top of the sail.

Buka-Dako-Esche by Premier

Never believe the weatherman.  The kites went up and the kites came down.  We put the kites back up and they stayed up for a while and they came back down.  The winds were weak and erratic.  Even the larger delta kites were having problems and they are usually the easiest kites to keep in the sky.  Our resident KAP flier didn’t even try to put his camera up.  The way the wind was acting, there was no guarantee that his camera wouldn’t be bouncing off the sand instead of flying high.  And I didn’t get a chance to play with any of my stunt kites.  There are only a couple of weeks before our kite festival and I need more practice.

Delta Kites Drifting Down

It was with some frustration that we all packed up our kites and headed to the kite shop.  Even though the kite flying wasn’t the best the day was beautiful.  It was hard not to just settle in the sand and watch the gulls and pelicans play in the waves.  But there were things to do and places to be.  So never believe the weatherman when it comes to the wind.

Fair Winds All.