July 2008 - A very Windy Day

Sunday July 27th was a very bright, sunny and very windy day. The wind were steady @25 kms but there were gusts as high as 40 kms. About 20 kiters were in attendance, and flew mostly para foils. You can't break spars if there aren't any!

There was a short meeting to finalize the details of the big event, Canal Days!

The most exciting part of the day was a daring kite rescue. Russell was getting ready to fly a 2 line foil went a gust of wind ripped the staked kite into the air! The kite flew toward the lagoon and landed just past the lily pads. Luckily, the 2 strings got caught in a poplar tree. Well, now we had to figure out how to get at the lines. Paul had a banner pole that might reach and Bob thought he could throw a stake on a line over the strings to pull it in. Paul's banner pole also ended up in the pond, but was safely recovered. Bob had 3 tries at throwing the stake over the lines...SUCCESS! Now gently pull so as not to pull the line out of the tree. As soon as Bob grabbed the lines, I took them and pulled the ends out of the tree. Bob started pulling in the kite. I gave the ends to Russell and he started winding them onto the winder. Bob eventually retrieved the kite and it was reunited with the Russell. A safe recovery for both the lines and the kite!

Thanks to Rowan Shirkie for the kite rescue pictures. Well, another day of flying came to an end. This coming weekend is the Canal Days Kite Festival and I hope to see everyone out. There is an expanded flying field and special guest flyers the Windjammers from Michigan. We will also have "Niagara Windrider" coffee mugs for sale, a 50/50 draw with the proceeds going to a local charity, door prizes and special kite related prizes. At the end of the day, as always, the Barbecue for all the kiters who come out. The next regular kite fly will be on August 31. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this fly due to the fact that I will be helping my daughter move into campus life at Laurentian University. If anyone can take pictures for me and write up a bit about the day, I will post it for all to read.