Tag: kite fly

A Happy Mother’s Day

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What better way to spend Mother’s Day than to sit on a sunny beach and fly kites.  After getting a Mother’s Day message from my daughter and grandkids, we gathered up kites, lines and anchors and headed for the beach.  This day I had in mind a color and style theme.  So I grabbed my Power Sleds and matching line laundry.  All of them in my favorite combination of red, white, black and gray.

I was lucky enough to get the my set of Power Sleds in matching colors before the pattern was discontinued by Premier Kites.  I believe there are two more sizes of Power Sleds, one smaller, the Power Sled 10, and one even bigger, the Power Sled 81. I never saw the Power Sled 10 in my colors and the Power Sled 81 is larger than I feel I can safely handle.  My smallest is the Power Sled 14,  then there is the Power Sled 24 and the Power Sled 36.  They are still available in a variety of colors and patterns.

I have several line laundry in the same colors but the wind wasn’t strong enough to give enough lift to hang everything on the kite line.  However, I did put out my Spikey Bird.  I like to put sand in his feet to hold them on the ground so it seems like he is actually standing below the kite.

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After everything was flying well, we sat and watched the waves and enjoyed the sun until it began to go down and the temperature became a little chilly.  I had my Mother’s Day dinner in the crockpot when we left the house so I knew it would be ready when we got home.  It was a peaceful, restful Mother’s Day, though I did miss not being able to see my family in person.  The time will come when we can all be together again.

Until then…

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Fair Winds All

We’re Free To Fly

The beach accesses have been opened.  Parking is at a premium as not all the parking lots have been opened.  The stay-at-home order has not been lifted but that didn’t keep the people off the beaches.  It looked like a holiday weekend with cars parked everywhere and people scattered throughout the public beach.

We, however, had a more private place to fly our kites, away from the crowds, with lots of room for kites.  We love putting up a small personal festival when we fly and this kite fly was a combination of a test fly and a kite show.  The afternoon couldn’t have been better, with good winds, mild temperatures and plenty of sunshine.

The first kite up was the newly finished Sun/Moon Giant Hata.  Instead of fuzzy tails, it has a combination of ribbon tails and a streamer tail.  The wind was in the teens and I was afraid it may be too high for this kite.  But after some bridle adjustments, it went up and hung in the sky.  A very satisfying fly for the first flight.

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Then next kite up was the first flight of the newly purchased Killips foil.  It was a little smaller than we expected and was so easy to handle.  And it really made a statement in the sky.  We’re looking forward to its next flight with some color coordinating line laundry beneath it.

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So after successful first flights, it was time to add lots of color in the sky.  One of the things I like to do is put up kites with a common theme.  It could be having the same sail pattern or having the same colors or being of a common style.  So for this fly, I decided to fly all of the HQ Xylon kites.  There are four in this series and only one is still available.  This just makes me even happier to have all four and fly them all at once.

The last kite up is a real show stopper, a large flo-tail delta.  The tails seem like water rippling in the sky.  And the colors draw the eye and cause the casual strollers to stop and admire it.  And take pictures.  That’s what makes it so satisfying to put up several kites instead of just one or two.  It draws people’s attention and makes them smile.

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So here’s to having more days like this day, to fly more kites and create more personal shows.  And for the state park to open up soon so the community kite flys can begin again and there will be more of us to share in the color in the sky.

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Fair Winds All

 

 

 

Last Day For Driving

March 15 was the last day that we could drive on the beach.  So we made a point of going and flying a kite or two a couple of times during the before the end.  The winds had changed and come from the north.  Which meant they passed over and between the houses before getting to the beach.  Not the best wind for kite flying.  There was a weather front moving through too so it was partly cloudy to cloudy.  Not very pretty but still beach days.

Only flew a couple of kites, the Illustion Delta by Skydog and the Prism Flip kite.

Also flew a small, very old rokkaku that I received as a bag raffle item.  I was really surprised it flew at all.  The sail is printed on heavy ripstop-like material.  After flying it that one afternoon, I see some modifications that can be made so it will fly better and more stable.  I am adding it to my “to do” list.  Though at a low priority.

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Hate to admit but I forgot to put my camera in the truck and had to take photos with my phone.  I really dislike using my phone for photos and, as you can see, if the kite is moving around high in the sky the quality goes down.  Sorry.

The following day was sunny though the winds were no better.  I did get the Illustion delta kite up for a while.  And got a better photo of it.

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Because driving on the beach is no longer permitted, our flying location for the community kite fly will change next week.  It’s back to carrying our kite bags from the parking lot to the point at Fort Macon State Park.  Believe me, the number of kites I take along will be reduced and more selective.

Fair Winds All

 

 

Flying Days

So we’ve had two days in a row of kite flying. Can you believe it? One was the community kite fly day and the other was a day too beautiful to stay home.

The weekly community fly started out chilly. It never really warmed up much but was rather pleasant since the wind was low. No wind chill. Yes, the wind was low so it somewhat restricted what kites I flew. I pulled out two of my go-to light wind kites bag. The Skate by Into The Wind and the Dunton-Taylor Box. Both jumped around in the sky as the wind was coming out of the north and having to pass over and between the beach houses.   tried to fly my Emong, a glider kite by Flying Wings, but it preferred to glide back down rather than catch the wind and climb. 

It just felt so good to be back on the beach with kites in the air. A sure sign spring will arrive soon and we will be flying more often. And, believe it or not, the following day was even better.

The temperature jumped up at least ten degrees and the wind picked up and came off the ocean. The best kind of kite flying wind. We put off a few of the household chores and headed back to the beach. This time with the intention of flying some new acquisitions.

This was to be the inaugural flight of the cellular kite I built at the Maryland Kite Society Workshop. I named it Sunshine (for obvious reasons). And I wanted to fly the mermaid kite I made at the Keystone Kiter’s Workshop last year, the Tametomo. She hadn’t seen much air time.

During the Maryland workshop, we picked up some kites to add to our collection. And, of course, we had to put them up as soon as we possibly could. John got a square-headed Skydog dragon kite. It has the Skydog logo on it and matches his Skydog rokkaku kite. I got a Joel Schulz parrot kite by Go Fly A Kite. Both are in perfect condition. And both loved the wind and looked great.

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Here’s hoping for more perfect flying days to come.

Fair Winds All.