Tag: Fort Macon State Park

Where There’s A Will…

We are not flying now as the weather forecast was accurate. It is 23 degrees with a 15 mph steady wind with gusts. Only real men fly in these conditions. I am inside and warm.

This was the announcement made by our local kite shop last week regarding the weekly kite club fly.  And I have to agree it was very cold outside.  But we were desperate to fly as the past few weeks had ended up being practically kite-less.  So off we went to Fort Macon State Park equipped with two special kites.

These kites were made in a workshop at Kitemania South in Treasure Island, FL a couple of weeks ago.  And they were test flown there between rain showers.  They were the perfect kites to fly on a cold windy day.  And so we flew them, inside the cab of the pickup truck where the temperature was a balmy 70 degrees.

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Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Fair Winds All.

What A Kite Flier Does …

… when there is no wind.

Once again it is a weekly club fly day and, again, there is no wind.  It is a shame because weather-wise it was a beautiful day.  Sunny and warm.  So one drives to the flying field in the hope that a wind, any wind, will blow.

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And we stand there looking at the empty beach.  Wanting to put some color in the sky but unable to do so.  There is no wind.

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Then there is the repeated glances at the flag on the flagpole.  Surely it will move soon.  Even just a little bit.  But, no, there is no wind.

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Back in the parking lot, the kites are in their bags.  Standing forlornly at the back of the truck.  There is no chance they will go much further than that.  There is no wind.

So what does the kite flier ultimately do?

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Well, we head to the local kite shop, Kites Unlimited.  Once there, we visit, commensurate about the lack of wind, browse the store to see if there is anything new and catch up on some of the kite gossip.

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And make those repairs that we’ve been putting off for far too long.

This is just another no wind day.

Fair Winds All.

 

The Wisp II Arrived

Much to my surprise, the Wisp II arrived early.  I was hoping it would come before we left for the Mile High Kite Fly at Beech Mountain, NC.  In fact, it arrived a week early.  Kudos to Into The Wind for the extremely fast delivery.  So my red Wisp II, my husband and I went to the beach today to try it out.  The winds were really low to nonexistent so it was a great trial for this kite.

The Wisp II is a dual-line, low wind stunt kite.  It is rated for two to five mph winds.  I tried it out on fifty foot lines to get a feel for it before leaving for the festival.  It was so much fun.  Even when the wind stopped and the flag at Fort Macon was wrapped around the pole, this kite kept on flying.  It felt like there was nothing on the other end of the lines.

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The Wisp II by Into The Wind

Beech Mountain, here we come.

Fair Winds All.

Five At Once

My acquisition of new kites has continued.  I obtained two more White Bird dragons on eBay this week.  Months and months go by and White Bird kites are hard to come by.  Then there is an influx of them as people empty their kite bags for one reason or another.  So the latest additions to my collection are a 25 ft. Rainbow dragon and a 25 ft. Sun Face dragon.

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White Bird Sun Face Dragon
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White Bird Rainbow Dragon

The Rainbow dragon completes a set of Rainbow dragons of varying sizes.  Putting them up at one time should look pretty impressive in the sky.  The Sun Face adds another unique sail design to my collection.

The hard part about getting new kites is not being able to fly them when they arrive.  We had house guests for the weekend and we missed the weekly kite club fly at Fort Macon State Park.  This seems to be happening more and more often lately.  Though I’m not complaining, I do have to get my kite fix or suffer withdrawal.  So this afternoon I went to the beach and flew all of my latest White Bird additions.  Five dragon kites in the sky.  What a wondrous sight.

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Five At Once

The two on the left are the latest additions.  The middle kite is the White Bird Golden Gate dragon.  The two on the right are both White Bird Friendly Dragon dragons.  I think of them as the brothers and, true to form, they fought in the sky, tangled their lines and brought each other down.  I had to separate them.

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White Bird Friendly Dragon Dragons (The Brothers)

It was a great day at the beach.  The wind was not too strong and the temperature was not too hot.  I would have liked to stay longer but I was given a dinner invitation that I couldn’t refuse.  It meant I didn’t have to cook and I didn’t have to do the dishes.  And if you’re wondering how one person flies five kites at once.  Here’s our secret (which is not really a secret at all).  Sand bags made from inexpensive nylon backpacks.

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Fair Winds All.