End of Season Spectacular

Well, the 2009 kiting season has come to an end for the Windriders. It was a season of very windy Sunday flies. October was no exception. The nominal wind speed was 25 kms with gusts up to 35 kms. The weather was spectacular though. It was bright a sunny and almost warm when the sun was not near a wispy cloud. The trees were very colourful and the kites in the sky complimented them with their vibrant colours!




Kerry and Doug doing a Rev routine.


One of Donna's eyeballs got away, Fred had to run after it.

Peggy's kites seem to like the water. Here is the dramatic rescue of her elephant kite. No elephants were harmed during this rescue!


At around 3:00, kites were being reeled in and people started to head over to the "Yacht Club" for a Chile/Sausage dinner.

The little ones were dressed in their costumes.

Stephanie served up delicious chile and sausages on a bun. There was also salads and desserts.




During the gathering, a slide show of 4 years worth of my kite pictures were being projected on a screen. There was also a paper bag auction for various kite related items. After everyone's bellies were full, Bob drew tickets to the lucky winners. It seemed that Kira and Mara (Mark and Michele's twins) and Vaino were the lucky winners as their tickets seemed to be picked often. Congrats to everyone who won something.


This event was very well attended and I hope it will become an annual event. The weather at the end of October can be very unpredictable and having a dinner makes the year end fly a great ending to the season.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make the dinner a success, Stephanie Bowes (Great Food!), Nancy and Bob Luft, Fred and Donna Taylor, Jim Anes, Russell Wade, Vaino Raun and Mary and Paul Kort! A special thanks to Bob White, because of your passion for kites, it keeps this club a fun and enjoyable experience.

Thanks to everyone who came out to fly during the 2009 flying season. I look forward to next year when I will see all of you again. I really enjoy sharing the wind and skies with each and every one who has the passion of kiting. Have a warm and cozy winter season, see you next year.

September 2009 - Here Comes The Sun!

I arrived at Lakeview park at 12:00. The sky was dark, the winds were 15 to 20 kph and Peggy was already flying kites. A delta was staked and flying at about 200 feet, She another one in her hands. Fred and Donna arrived next and put up their canopy shelter. I took a picture right away, before the potential of it flying away.


I assembled my cellular and tied it off on my trunk lid. I then put up my Cross Deck with the tail I won during the draw at Canal Days.

Donna brought out her new googly eyes.

At around 1:00 the rain started and lasted about 1/2 hour. We quickly pulled our kites down and talked under the shelter while the rain was happening. Bob Luft arrived just as the rain let up and we all quickly put kites back in the air.

Here's Donna with the Windrider Rok.

Terry and Tyrone arrived and put up some newly bought kites.

The clouds are starting to break up.

Bob White came when the sun was starting to make an appearance and put together some of the most colourful kites in his car.

After a while, I noticed that Peggy's car was gone. She wouldn't leave without saying bye. The problem was that her line broke and the kite landed in the inlet. (click the picture for a larger view, or any other one)

Fred had a banner pole and helped to get the kite.

Success! As well as being as kite enthusiast, Fred is an accomplished fisherman.

Here are some of the kites that flew during the afternoon.




There was a father and his daughter watching, so Fred got out a kite and let the little girl fly it. I think it made her day!

There was rain, there was wind, there was sun, and we had a fun day.

The next fly is on October 25th, which is that time of the year the weather is typically bad. This year we plan to do something different. We are planning to rent a hall and put on a dinner and slide show. If the weather is good, we fly and then go to the hall. If the weather is bad, we go to the hall anyway. This will be a win/win day. The details will be emailed closer to the end of the month.

Lets all hope the weather is good so we can fill the skies during the day and our bellies during the evening!

See you all on the 25th!

August Fun Fly - Where's the sun ????

The weatherman has not been too kind to our club fly days. Sunday Aug 30 was no exception. The threat of rain was looming with big, dark rain clouds overhead when I arrived in Port Colborne just after 12:00. The wind was 15 to 20 kph which was great for flying just about any type of kite. Ted Shaw was busy setting up his home made "Bulldog" foil.

Bob White arrived soon after and put up a delta, after a few minutes he decided it needed a tail, so I volunteered the colourful inflatable one I won at Canal Days.

After a few attempts,Ted needed to adjust the bridle of the Bulldog. He got help from Drew and Donna.

Tyrone flying a Dyna-kite.

Peggy and Stephanie enjoying flying and conversation.

Finally the Bulldog flies!

Fred helping launch a dual line.

Look at the colourful tails in the air.

Donna's newest "Line Laundry". A country wedding gone wrong with the bride and groom chasing the wedding ring stolen by the chicken.

As you can see with the clouds, the threat of rain was closing in.

At 2:15 the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and we started gathering in some of the higher flying kites.

Bob Luft flying a 4 line creation. We can always count on him to have some new home made kites out on the last Sunday of the month.

Well, at 2:30 the rain started and we had all the kites in. It wasn't raining hard, but with the look of the clouds, the threat of lightning was there. The fly was cut short, but 15-20 diehards tried their best to salvage the day. Maybe Sept 27th will be a better day. Till then keep your back to the wind and your kites in the air. Hope to see a great weather forecast and a good turn out on the 27th.

Canal Days 2009

Sunday Morning, 9:00 am....rain, lots of dark clouds and winds gusting to 30 km/hr. 20 minutes later, the rain stopped and kiters were arriving and unloading their kites. The sound system was ready to go, all we needed was sun.


After 10:00, the clouds broke and we were treated to some sun and an impromptu, unrehearsed Revolution display. I think there were 8 or 9 at one point. The Wind Jammers and some club members put on a short show that rivaled the works of I-Quad!

Clouds rolled back in, the ground displays were bouncing, and the wind picked up again.

Some of the shelters even tried to blow away.

The wind died down and switched directions. Here is a 70 kite train that was up for a short time.

The workshop chicken.

Around noon, the rain came back briefly, so we took down the speakers and waited for it to pass. 15 minutes later we were back to flying.


The Wind Jammers put on several shows throughout the day. With the 20 km winds, their arms must have been stretched by the end of the day.


Here's a short video.

Miss Ohio's understudy...Magda (I hope that's right) She was trying to fly the kite, but it was too windy for her.

Even with kites, love is in the air.

Vaino's HUGE Canada Flag Sutton.

A view from the other side of the boat launch.

Three cute dogs.

The Aquarium in the sky.

The grand ascension.

Paul and Fred cooking the food.

The hungry kiters.

Bob, handing out the prizes.

When the day came to a close, we had seen it all, rain, gusty winds, calm winds, no wind, sun and clouds. We all had a great time and put on a great show for the visitors to Canal Days.

Here are some links to some more pictures:
Doug Isherwood's photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougish1954/sets/72157621809435303/
Carlos Simoes' photos:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/573857145oDMwmy
Ted Shaw's photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/dancer2e
Chris White's photos:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/573894597YtqZfP
All of my photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/JimAnes3/CanalDays2009#

Thanks to all the kiters who came out to fly. Thanks to the Wind Jammers for their wonderful show. Thanks to everyone who helped out with the food and the barbeque. Last but not least, thanks to Bob and Chris White and Vaino Raun for organizing and arranging the event.

Hope to see everyone again next year!

July 2009 Fun Fly

As you all know, June's kite fly was a washout. It rained most of that weekend. Thunder and lightning made kite flying a hazard, unless of course you were trying to recreate Ben Franklin's lightning experiment.

July's end of the month fly was also threatened by rains, but luckily they stayed well to the north of Port Colborne. Hamilton was the lucky recipient of 10 cm of torrential downpour that flooded and closed 2 major highways while Lakeview Park had sunshine and strong winds, 20 to 25 kph.

We had a modest turnout of about 15 people. The start of the afternoon was a short organizational meeting to finalize the Canal Days Kite Festival.

Donna's new ground display.

2 kite arches made of dollar store kites.

Tyrone flying a dual line.


Paul's 1/2 man soccer players.

Mary's baby octopus inflatable kite.


Paul doing something????

Brand new member Stephen showing his dual line skills. Welcome to the club!

The afternoon had some clouds roll through, but nothing came of it. Most of the time was taken up by trading kite stories and planning of the Canal Days Festival. All indications are for a sunny Sunday. Lets all hope that the weather experts are right. The day plans to be a great time with the kiting team Windjammers coming to perform. There will be a mass ascension at 2:00pm, Teddy bear drops, club member demos, big inflatables and the bar-b-que at the end. The flying field will be extended like last year and we are promised a port-a-potty this year. Let's all join the fun on Sunday and make our kite festival better than ever.

See you on Sunday August 2 for the Canal Days Kite Festival!

May 2009 - The wind was back

May 31 was a bright sunny day. Unlike the April fly, there was wind, 25 kms per hour with gusts as high as 45! That didn't stop 20 members that came out to fly. We assembled the kites that we thought could withstand the wind. Bob got out his 30 ft long Wizard.

It looks great up in the sky.

Donna Taylor tried to scare the other kites out of the sky with a "Jaws" kite.

I got out a small parafoil. My attempt to fly a cody resulted in a broken spar.
Tyrone and Terry also had some "spar" mishaps.

Donna's colourful delta.

Peggy flying a parafoil. You can't break a spar if your kite doesn't have any!

Greg's Blimp kite flew well in this wind.

Paul assembling his Rokkaku. That was the only way to do it in the high winds.

Success!. A beautiful kite indeed.



Bob Luft flying a small homemade 2 liner.

The Rok again.

Greg's son flying an airplane kite.

As the day progressed, there were many people enjoying the kites. There were some non members flying their kites as well. There was also a festival in St. Thomas that was attended by some of the club members. They also had the strong winds. Thanks to everyone who came out to fly in Port Colbourne. The June fly will be on the 28th. Maybe the sun will shine and the winds won't be so strong. See everyone then.

April Fun Fly

I woke up to an overcast, foggy, drizzly sky in Stoney Creek. It was about 8 degrees (46 for you south of the border), not a promising day for the first fun fly of 2009. After lunch I set off to Port Colborne with all my kites in the trunk and my winter jacket and gloves in the back seat. I was prepared for the worst case weather. As I headed south from St Catherines, the outside temperature on the cars' dashboard started climbing. The clouds were breaking up and the sun was out. When I arrived at Lakeview Park it was very bright and 22 degrees. That was good enough for just the tshirt and no sweater. There were about 15 kiters already there and they were catching up and showing off their kites. The only problem was that someone forgot to order a nice windy day!

With a very light wind, the only thing to do was admire all the kites on the ground.

Here's Bob trying to save his roller as the wind died and it fell out of the sky.

The gound display was very colourful, with everyone hoping that the wind would pick up.


Bob and Greg admiring one of Bob's homemade 4 liners. Again, on the ground waiting for a gust.

I attempted to fly my Blast, which will fly with very little wind, but alas it was too much effort to keep it airborn.

I gave up at 3:30 and set off back to Stoney Creek. When I got home it was still overcast and 10 degrees (there was even a steady breeze). This just shows you how different the weather can be, and only 45 mins drive by car. Well, hopefully the wind and sun will cooperate on May 31st, our next scheduled Fun Fly for 2009. See you at the end of May!