Tag: Carolina Kite Club

I Am A Kite Addict

As per usual, we arrived at the beach for the weekly kite club fly and the flag was glued around the flagpole.  There was absolutely, positively no wind.  No one even opened a kite bag. Speaking of kite bags, I got a new one this week.  It’s a black MLD bag with red pockets.  All my long kite bags are black with red pockets so I can readily identify my bags from my husband’s.  Instead of flying, I decided to repack all my bags and do a kite inventory.  At this writing, I have four bags done: Large Dragon Kites, Vintage Dual Line Stunt Kites, Dual Line Stunt Kites and Collector Single Line Kites.  I have one bag left for Single Line Kites.  Of course, I could not have gotten all this done alone.  I had a helper.  Though I’m not sure how much help Miss Kaylee actually provided.

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I thought I was doing pretty good and then I remembered the kite bag in the back of the truck.  It is my traveling bag for the kites I take to the beach.  At the moment, it is full.  There are definitely more single line kites than will fit in one bag.  Ohh, My!!

Miss Kaylee
Miss Kaylee

And, now that I think about it, there are quite a few other bags that I also need to inventory. This includes a flat bag for hatas and dragon kites, a bag for Revolution and quad line stunt kites, a bag for the hyperkite stacks, a bag for the Trlbys, a bag of line laundry, a bag for ground display items and a bag of banners for festivals and events. I think I need to find a Kite Fliers Anonymous group to deal with this addiction. Fair Winds All.

The Summer Season Has Arrived.

Yes, it is official, the summer season and the tourists have arrived.  We went out to Fort Macon State Park for the weekly kite club fly.  The plan was to fly only red-white-blue kites for Memorial Day.  We went especially early as we knew traffic would get crazy later.  And, boy, were we right.    The parking lot was already about half full when we got there and people kept streaming down the walkway to the beach.  A larger than normal number of fishermen were arriving, too.

As per usual, the winds were extremely light.  That seems to be the curse of the Sunday morning.  The large Premier powersled wouldn’t fly.  Though not for want of trying.  We didn’t even try the double-box delta.  What did fly was my original Joel Scholz Eagle.  It took a little work but once it was high enough, it sat in the sky.  I also tried to get up the Eagle parafoil I built several years ago.  There just wasn’t enough wind.  So most of our red-white-blue was left sitting in the sand.

JS Eagle
Original Joel Scholz Eagle

 

NoWind

Premier Powersled 14
Premier Powersled 14

Just on a lark, we got out the smallest powersled.  Again, it took some work but it did fly for a while.  Because of the low, gusty winds, the kite had to be attended every minute but that was no hardship.  At one point the wind dipped and the powersled dove for the sand.  Just before hitting, it flipped and climbed again.  Funny thing was the sled had turned upside down and, against all logic, was flying in that position.  Apparently the tunnels and the sail were able to contain just enough of the wind to maintain lift.

Upside Down
Upside Down, Inside Out

After about two hours, we decided it was time to go home.  Traffic going into the parking lot was backed up the road.  The park rangers were acting as parking attendants, keeping traffic moving and finding open spaces for the new arrivals.  The signs were out at the swimming beach that the “Lot was Full”.  The parking lots at the primary Atlantic Beach, NC water access were also full and the traffic coming on to the beach was bumper-to-bumper.  We were leaving at the right time.

Fair Winds All.

Tropical Storm Force Winds

Tropical storm Ana lies off our coast.  While it will come ashore south of here, the outer winds are reaching here and along with them are the rain bands.  The rain comes hard but doesn’t last long.  Then there are long periods of sunshine and then more rain.  The winds are too strong to fly kites and the rain chases everyone indoors.

MIle of Hope - Atlantis Lodge - Atlantic Beach, NC
Mile of Hope – Atlantis Lodge – Atlantic Beach, NC

Saturday morning the Carolina Kite Club was supposed to bring kites to the Mile of Hope outing for children with cancer and their families.  The families get to spend the weekend at the beach; visiting the local sights, building sand castles, playing in the sand and flying kites.  The kite club members fly some of their showy kites and Kites Unlimited provides kites for the kids to fly.  Tropical storm Ana changed those plans.  The winds were too strong for the kites of the club members and many times too strong for the kids’ kites.

Trial Flight of Kids' Kite
Trial Flight of Kids’ Kite

Several club members came to the beach and test flew a kids’ kite.  It went up and almost immediately came crashing down.  Too much wind.  Meanwhile, another kite club member put up a ghost delta.  While it did fly, it was dancing all across the sky.  And the spar that was supposed to extend straight from one side to the other of the kite was bent in a “U” shape.  The surprising thing was that it did not snap in two.

Bent But Not Broken
Bent But Not Broken

The weather did not improve for the weekly club kite fly.  The winds stayed in the 20 to 30 mph range with some higher gusts.  And the rain bands came through producing heavy downpours all day Sunday.  So instead of flying, we hung out at the kite shop.  The next kite event isn’t until June.  Hopefully it will be a slow season for tropical storms and/or hurricanes and we will have some good flying days between now and then.

Fair Winds All.

Celebrating The Earth With Color In The Sky

The Carolina Kite Club joined Fort Macon State Park in celebrating Earth Day.  Local groups and organizations set up demonstrations and exhibits concerning ecology, conservation, animals and nature in the visitor center.  The club put up a display of kites and banners on the nearby beach, all of which were easily visible while driving into the park and walking about the Fort.  Quite a few people walked down to the beach to see the kites close up and talk to the fliers.

Earth Day at Fort Macon State Park
Earth Day at Fort Macon State Park

Large flowforms, power sleds and deltas dotted the sky.  Many of which had long tails which added to the display.  Because it was a special occasion, the park ranger brought one of his trucks onto the beach to be used as an anchor for some extremely large inflatable kites.  We were able to launch a large gecko, a smaller trilobite and a large crab.

Flowforms, Deltas, Power Sled, Rokkaku
Flowforms, Deltas, Power Sled, Rokkaku

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Gecko, Trolibite and Crab
Gecko, Trilobite and Crab

All of this was a major feat as the wind was not in our favor.  The weather predictions were for 10 to 15 mile per hour winds.  What we got were 5 to 7 with periods of no wind at all.  I gave up trying to fly my collection of Xelons and flew a couple of  Skates, a Dunston-Taylor box and a Fled.  All low wind kites.  Some stunt kites were up for a while but no one flew anything  for long.

The sky remained cloudy all day and toward the end of the event, it tried to rain a little.  Just enough to make us all take the kites down and pack them away.  As the last of the large kites were being stuffed into their bags, the wind jumped up to around 25 miles per hour.  The sand was swept across the beach with such force it looked like clouds skimming the surface.  We were thankful that there were no kites up, especially the very large ones, as they could have easily broken loose and been lost.

Sand Blowing Across the Beach
Sand Blowing Across the Beach

All in all, it was a good event.  Kites were up and we got to visit and catch up with some of our out-of-town club members who came to add to the “color in the sky”.

Fair Winds All