Canal Days 2012

What can I say, for the 20th anniversary for the Canal Day's Kite festival and we had it all. On Saturday night, the night fly kicked things off. There was a good wind from the south and lots of light doohickies on all the kites. There was also a significant amount of spectators lined all around the flying field.

On Sunday, the winds were a challenging 25 to 35 kms all day. They came from the south-south-west so we flew diagonally over the field. There were threats of thunderstorms and they held off until about 1:00. Thunder, lightning and rain for about an hour and a half. At that point we picked up, dried off and continued. The same could not be said for the car show guys, who were packing it in before the rain even arrived. At about 3/3:30 the clouds broke, the sun came out and we experienced great whether for the kiter's barbeque. The Windjammers wowed us with 3 sets of routines, using stacks of 6 kites instead of the usual 12. (they didn't want to end up in the canal!) We also had an impromptu routine of six Rev flyers (Bill, Kerry, Brendan, Don, and 2 of the windjammers Gary and Mike) (I think). There were lots of inflatables and line laundry adorning the sky for most of the day. Here are a select few pictures and videos:
 

At the end of it all, we had sunshine for the barbeque, kite raffle and socializing. Terry and Tyrone won the Boreal door prize, a beautiful design by Eric and Anne. (Ted won something too). We had about 70 attendees from all over Ontario and the near States. Fred and Donna did a fantastic job taking over from vacationing Bob White, and it took both of them to fill his shoes. Thank you for the time you put in and appreciation of the sport. Thanks to all others who helped during the event, Mary, Paul, Stephanie, Vaino, and others who I can't remembers the names of (sorry), it could not have been done without you. Next year we are planning an even better event, so we hope you all will keep the weekend open for next year. Below are the link's to some more pictures.

Here is a link to all my pictures:
Jim's Picture Album

Here are Carlos' Pictures:
Carlos Picture Album

July Fun Fly

 July 29th was a hot day, just like most of the others this month. We had winds between 10 and 15 kph, perfect for most kites. I arrived just after 1pm and found 11 other members already there and flying. I assembled my crossdeck and it quickly rose up to join the others. I then got out my Revolution Blast and flew it off and on. I then  decided to test out the KAP rig to make sure everything is OK for next weeks Canal Days Kite Festival. We had a full sky of kites as we all had 2 or 3 kites up per kiter! Below are my pictures of the day.

August 4th and 5th are the dates for the Canal Days night fly and Kite Festival respectively. We are expecting Kiters from all over Ontario, Quebec, New York, Michegan and Ohio. There should be an email soon with the parking pass and details of the weekend events. The weather is expected to cooperate and Fun is on the agenda! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone next week.

April Indoor Kite Fly

Nancy flying the iFlite

 

Lisa and Kevin in the atrium flying the iFlite

 

On April 21st we arranged to rent the gymnasium at Paul and Mary's church in St. Catherines. It was an overcast and rainy day, so flying inside was ideal. Donna had just acquired three "iFlite" kites, specially designed as an indoor flyer. There were also the modified gingas that Lucy and Kerry helped us to make at last year's workshop. There were12 in attendance throughout the afternoon. Everyone got a chance to try the iFlite. It is a very forgiving indoor flyer, and very easy to get the hang of. I flew my Ginga at several times, but I have to admit, the iFlite is addictive. With the iFlite doing all the work, you don't get tired running around in circles!

There are some changes going on with the club, mainly the website. We have a new website and it can be found by clicking the the following link : http://niagarawindriders.squarespace.com/  Remember that club flies are on the last Sunday of each month and don't forget Canal Days on August 5th this year. Lets hope for a great season of flying and friendship!

Halloween Fun Fly

The last fun fly of the season turned out to be one of the best flying days we have had. The sun was out for most of the day, the wind was steady from the south west, and it was not that cold.
I arrived at 1:30 and immediately put up my kite with the KAP rig to try to get some aerial shots.




These were the best ones of the bunch. I really like the shot of Fred and Donna's Sutton!


Fred and Donna dressed up as Mom and Dad to the baby penguins. Lisa was a kitty.





Mommy, Daddy and the babies! (Lisa's picture)





Nancy as the Queen of hearts.


Donna had some hot stew, veggies, chips, salsa and warm beverages for everyone.

Vaino had a wicked bridle tangle on Nemo. Ted helped to untangle it.

Nemo's first flight!


There were 20 or so of us out and we all had a great time. It could have been a bit warmer, but the stew helped keep us warm. I got some great aerial shots and got to try out my 2 new snowflake kites. I really wasn't rushing the snow, but I wanted to fly them.

On behalf of the directors of the club I want to thank Donna and Fred for stepping up and helping with this weekends fly. You two are real ambassadors of our sport and always promoting kiting. I was glad to see so many out for the fly. I'm just sorry the season is over for the year. I really enjoy coming out and seeing everyone, sharing stories and seeing all the new kites.

I'm looking forward to the spring when I will see all my kite friends again hopefully make some new ones (both kites and friends).

See you all in the spring!