A Little Catching Up

The latest kite fly was again cold and very windy. So windy, in fact, I only put delta kites in the truck and grabbed our heavier lines. When I got on the beach, I quickly decided that two of the deltas I brought would have more pull than I cared to deal with that day. So, once again, I only put up two kites and spent the rest of the morning visiting with the other fliers.

We had a couple of out-of-town flyers joining us and they made a point of putting lots of kites in the sky. Looking upwind, kite anchors were popping up all over the beach with no rhyme or reason. Well, there was a reason. We didn’t want to have a lot of tangled kite lines.

One more community kite fly coming up and then it’s off on a trip to Maryland for the Maryland Kite Society Kitebuilders Retreat. This year we’ll be building Chris Hanson’s Solar Cell kite. I’ve still got the appliqué to do on my sail pieces but I, at least have them all cut out and the patterns transferred. I should have no problem getting them done. The big task after that is just planning what I need to take. As usual, I will probably take more than I need. Thank goodness we have a truck.

Looking at the calendar, it’s going to be a busy Spring and early Summer. Hopefully, that means I’ll have lots to write about. So here’s to good winds and good weather.

Fair Winds All

And Sunday Was A Beautiful Day

We finally made it to a local community kite fly. The winds were low to moderate which made it hard to decide what kites to haul down to the beach. As we get older, we find ourselves only picking two or three kites to fly and not pulling the cart with a ton of stuff. Most times we make the right picks but sometimes we don’t have the right stuff and have to decide whether to walk back to the truck and change kites or not. This day we picked kites that would fly at least for a while. Until the wind died completely.

Weather-wise it was a great day to sit on the beach and watch the waves, the birds, the boats and, of course, the kites. Temperature was comfortable with a hoodie and there was sunshine, blessed sunshine. Just a small group of the regular flyers were there. So relaxing.

I did put up my kite show kit. I love how I can handle the lifter and all the associated line laundry by myself. The lower winds actually added a new aspect to the kite show. The crab was often just barely above the ground, so it looked like he was scuttling across the sand instead of flying above it. I also flew a new delta kite. Really wanted to put the tube tails on it but the wind was not quite strong enough.

Some of the serious stunt kite flyers may take offense but there are times when it is just seems like too much work to put out the lines and assemble a stunt kite. This was one of those days. The quad line kite stayed in the bag. Instead time was spent visiting.

Hopefully we will have the chance to fly on Thanksgiving Day before feasting. We will see.

Fair Winds All

A Week Off

After the busyness of kite building and kite festivals, we took a week off and went on a vacation. This meant we missed the usual community kite fly last Sunday. Turns out it was canceled due to cold weather and high winds (which made it even colder). However, we took a number of kites with us to fly on the beach at Myrtle Beach, SC. The weather didn’t cooperate much better there.

We had a couple of days of rain. In between there were days of low temperature and very high winds. Yes, I wimped out and stayed indoors on those days. Then there were the sunny days with very low winds or moderate winds being blocked from the beach by the condominiums. And the condominiums line the beach from one end to another. So frustrating.

Yet, we tried. Got out the light wind bag and pulled out several kites. The Skate would go up and then glide gracefully back to the ground. The Dunton-Taylor box flew the best but would over-fly in a gust and do a nose plant in the sand. The Dunton-Taylor box with banner tail did not over fly but did mimic the Skate and glide down shortly after launch. So much for flying on this vacation.

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All was not lost, however. On those rainy days we went to the local kite shop, Klig’s Kites in North Myrtle Beach, SC.

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Be prepared to get a crick in your neck as I’ve never seen so many kites hung from the ceiling and the walls as there are at this shop. We had a great visit with Lauren while we were there. She is very knowledge about kites, fun to visit with, had some places and people in common with us and doesn’t mind at all when she has to use a ladder to get a kite down that you are going to purchase. In fact, she had to use the ladder several times during our visit. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time there and are looking forward to our next visit.

And so until the next time we fly (which we hope will be soon)

Fair Winds All

The 31st Carolina Kite Festival

This past weekend was the 31st Carolina Kite Festival at the Sands Villa Resort in Atlantic Beach, NC. This festival is sponsored by my local kite shop, Kites Unlimited & Bird Stuff, Etc., also found in Atlantic Beach, NC. We had no idea how this one would be attended as Hurricane Florence hit us hard and many people are out of work and out of their homes. Also, many of the hotels and condo units were damaged which made accommodations in the area harder to find. But it didn’t deter most of our regular out-of-town flyers.

The weekend started with very high winds and chilly temperatures. It rained the Friday before and was cloudy most of the day Saturday. The winds kept a lot of the attendees from flying their single line kites as no one wanted to have a broken kite. Luckily, the winds were blowing steady down the beach which made it much better for the large kites to fly. And there was a grand show of large kites.

The weatherman was both right and wrong about the weather on Sunday. The sky cleared and the sun came out which warmed up the afternoon. But the winds never let up, came across the buildings along the beach and became more turbulent. Fewer big kites were flown. But there were more people with their single line kites out on the field.

A couple of our special guests this year were Ray Wong and Randy Tom. Both are makers of art kites and hail from California. And both brought kites to be sold at the kite shop.. Photos of their kites are on the Kites Unlimited & Bird Stuff, Etc. Facebook page.

The Bay Area Sundowners Kite Team came from San Fransisco to perform both days. They are always a joy to watch. They perform routines flying stacks of thirteen hyperkites in red, white and blue. Many spectators come year after year to see them perform. Saturday’s wind was a little too high but they gave it a try anyway and did a good job. The slighter winds on Sunday were better and the team flew a couple different routines throughout the day.

On the third kite field, the stunt kites were flown. Dual line and quad line stunt kites were in the air as the wind and the whim of the flyers allowed. Along with all the flying, there was a kids’ kite building table for children to decorate and assemble a small sled kite and a candy drop from a high-flying delta kite. A few brave souls even went out on the beach Saturday night to fly their kites with lights on them. I emphasize “brave” as it was very cold after the sun went down.

Although it seems that I spent most of my time running around with my camera photographing the event, I did get to fly a couple of my single line kites, a friend’s quad line kite and visit with kite flyers I hadn’t seen in quite some time. The festival was deemed a success and plans are already in the works for next year’s event. For more pictures and some video from the festival, check out the Kites Unlimited & Bird Stuff, Etc. Facebook page (Kites Unlimited & Bird Stuff, Etc.).

Fair Winds All