Tag: Photography

What You Do When You Can’t Fly

The community fly day came with a clear blue sky, a bright sun and an empty beach.  However, it also had a cold temperature and no wind.  Probably would have flown despite the cold if there would have been some wind.  Instead the day was spent in front of the sewing machine.

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Six panels needed to be appliquéd before leaving for the Maryland Kite Society’s Kitebuilders Retreat.  So the afternoon was spent pushing material through the sewing machine and praying that I wouldn’t make any serious mistakes or the machine wouldn’t jam up on me.  Last year, the worse happened and my machine ended up in the repair shop mere four days before leaving for the workshop.  This year, happily, everything ran smoothly.

All six panels were sewn and the excess material was cut away on three of them.  Things were gong so smoothly,  I kept looking over my shoulder waiting for something to happen.  It was just going too good.  The last of the panels were cut away the next day.  And, amazingly, after having a late start, I was finished early.

So now I just have to get all of my supplies, tools and miscellaneous together and ready to put on the truck.  And take a last look at the weather to figure out what clothes to pack.  It is going to be even colder.  I just hope there isn’t going to be a snowstorm while we’re there.  It’s been a while since I’ve driven in snow and I know I’m out of practice.

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Fair Winds All

 

 

 

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.

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Premier Mesh Delta
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Brasington Stealth Delta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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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

Where Has The Year Gone

The past year has flown by and it has been a busy one.  But I didn’t realize it has been a year since I had written anything.  And it hasn’t been because we haven’t been flying anything.  There have been festivals and workshops and just everyday flying.  I just haven’t been writing.  So here’s to beginning again and hopefully doing better.

Winter weather makes kite flying “iffy”, so the first beautiful day was late January.  Winds were very strong and gusty but steadied out as the morning progressed.  If fact, it was so nice on the beach, we could have stayed out all day except for the fact we had no food or drink with us.

Because the wind was so strong, I only put up three kites.  I only flew one of my latest builds because I didn’t want to risk broken spars and torn skin.  I knew my rokakku could handle it.  So after some bridle tuning, my Birds rokakku took to the air.  To keep it company, I also flew my Green Dragon dragon kite and one of my power sleds.

 

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The Birds
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Power Sled 24 by Premier Kites
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Green Dragon by Skydog Kites

 

The power sled and green dragon are patterns that are no longer available.  So glad I purchased them when I did.  I have the same power sled color scheme in two other sizes of power sleds.  Here’s hoping this weekend was a sign of the weather changing in our favor and there will be more frequent kite flys to come.

Fair Winds All

 

A Time Of Quiet Desperation

The weather has truly been against us as far as the community kite fly.  And this day was no exception.  Early morning rain, cloudy skies and high winds made it dark and gloomy and questionable for flying.  However, there were a couple of desperate people who were willing to take a chance and put a kite in the air.  I got some heavier line and flew my Illusion delta with its tube tails.  It handled the winds very well.  My flying buddy put up the little Spinner kite.  It just hung in the gusty winds and spun itself into a blur.  The line vibrated in a shallow repeating shallow sine curve.  It really is a fun little kite.  Because the temperature was mild, people were out walking the park.  And that little kite drew a lot of attention.

The kite build I began in the last post has been put on hold.  Instead, I am going to the Maryland Kite Society’s Kitemakers Retreat in Ellicott City, MD next month.  I’ve never been to this four-day kite building marathon and am nervously looking forward to it.  Several of my kite builder friends have been encouraging me to go, so this year instead of going to Kitemania in Florida, we’re going north.  The featured presenter is Ron Gibian and I will be making a kite of his design.  This is the 40th retreat so there are going to be some special activities.  The gem for a 40th anniversary is the ruby.  So one of the events is to build something with the anniversary/ruby theme.  So I am starting a banner with ruby gems on it.

This banner was meant to be, as a friend of mine was clearing out her stash of fabric and gave me some large pieces of nylon banner material.  And, by coincidence, they were red and black.  I’m hoping this turns out well as I’ve never made a banner before.  So I’ve checked out some banner patterns and instructions and examined some commercial banners to see how they’re made.  I think my idea will work.  Keep your fingers crossed.

The Beanie Babies as weights idea was stolen from another kite builder friend.  My bean bag weights were packed away and I have two drawers full of these little creatures courtesy of my grown daughter.  Like most children, they leave half of their “stuff” behind when they move out to live their own lives.  I hung on to these and will have them for the grandchildren when they come to visit.  Maybe I can send them home a couple at a time until the drawers are empty.  Or at least reduced down to only the ones I’m using as weights.  What do you think?

Fair Winds All