Finding Time To Fly

This past weekend I was on Ocracoke Island, NC for a photography workshop. The weather was the best we had had for several weeks. Sunny, warm and with moderate breezes. I really hated missing the community kite fly. I also hated the thought of not doing any kite flying at all.

Not really knowing what the schedule was going to be for the weekend, I still threw some kites in the back of the truck. Who knows, there might be some free time during the weekend. And, heaven forbid, I not go to the beach at some point. So it was that on Saturday I skipped lunch with the workshop participants and took myself to the beach for a “kite fix”. Since I wasn’t going to have a lot of time, I left the stunt kites behind and only took a couple of the smaller single-line kites.

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The wind was coming from the east which meant it would be rather turbulent coming off the dunes and going to the ocean. The first kites up were a train of tropical bird kites by Into The Wind Kites. There should have been three but one needed some repair so only two made it into the sky. The only other kite to fly was my Drumbox kite. All the kites would go up for a while and then settle to the sand. But I made the best of it.

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While I was loading everything back into the truck and preparing to rejoin the photography group, a gentleman walked up to me in the parking lot. He told me he and his wife enjoyed watching the kites and appreciated my efforts. This made me feel so good. And just re-affirmed that a short kite fly is better than no fly at all.

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Fair Winds All

Missing A Good Day

Fort Macon State Park is open. Although the fort itself is closed because of damage from Hurricane Florence. The early report concerning the weekly community kite fly was encouraging but we couldn’t verify the information because we weren’t there. Whereas kites are important, grandchildren are more important. And our youngest granddaughter turned three. There was no way we were going to miss the party. As seems to be the rule, the day was perfect for kites and we were absent. No doubt we will hear about it when we stop at the kite shop.

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The good news is the Carolina Kite Festival will go on as planned. It will probably have a different “feel” than other years because of the hurricane recovery. We have no idea how many participants can or will come nor what kind of accommodations will be available. But there will be color in the sky and camaraderie on the sand. Of that we can be sure.

Fair Winds All

We Want To Fly!!

It’s been almost a month since we’ve been flying our kites. Seems like forever. There are some new kites still in their packaging, waiting to be freed to touch the sky. And why have we been keeping them captive? It’s the weather.

It has just been too darn hot to do much of anything. The regular flyers have been staying home and the new flyers, who have stopped at the shop and bought a kite or had a kite repaired, have avoided the heat and humidity on the beach, too. To top it off, there has been little to no wind. The most activity the kite club has done is stand in the parking lot looking at the flag on the Fort Macon flagpole hanging straight down and sweat.

Hopefully, things will change soon. We want to fly!!

Fair Winds All.

The Cool Cabana and No Wind

The heat has continued throughout the week. After almost succumbing to it on the Independence Day holiday fly, we’ve decided we will not go to the beach without some sort of shelter. Most people use a 10×10 foot pop-up tent. Considering we have to walk from the parking lot, up the road and to the beach, that option is rather cumbersome. So we invested in a new kind of beach shelter – the Cool Cabana. It is a smaller tent with only a center pole, like an umbrella, but it has four corner legs that are weighted down to make the shelter stable in higher winds. It is light weight and super easy to erect and take down. It provides just enough shade for two chairs and a cooler.

The lack of wind made the heat even hotter. What we should have done was leave the beach and return to the air conditioning. That was the easy way out and not for us this day. The small hardcore group went down to the beach and nursed our low-wind kites into the sky.

The Skate by Into The Wind and the Penguin Critter Kite by Skydog Kites

The Laima by Flying Wings, the Skate and a vintage box Delta

The one kite that defied the odds of flying was a vintage box Delta with wooden spars. By no stretch of the imagination should that kite fly. It was too heavy for the winds available. But it did. Just goes to show what a good design can do.

Just for fun, one of our club members tried to fly the new Skeleton kite. After all, the box Delta flew so maybe there was a large enough sail to get that kite in the sky. Unfortunately, it was a no go. But it was fun to watch as it danced crazily before settling to the ground.

With the heat index rising, we decided to call it a day and head for a cool place. Hopefully the extreme heat will move on and the winds will come up and we can soon fly and fly and fly to our hearts content.

Fair Winds All.