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disaster averted

After watching the radar all week and watching the wind meter it was clear that chance for good weather at todays fun fly in St. Augustine was borderline at best. We started watching the wind online around 8 am and the meter showed zero. The wind meter soon showed one mph then later it showed two. More time passed and it advanced all the way to three and then kinda stuck there.

We pretty much called off the day when it was 10:30 and still 3 mph. The pier is an hour and a half drive and we didn't want to go that distance unless there was at least a decent chance to fly.

We watched a storm build down the coast and the wind went to four and then five around 11am. The wind continued to rise one tiny mph at a time. The little storm passed inland never making it to the beach.

We figured we needed wind in the morning because the afternoon storms would take over the afternoon. We had no wind in the morning but now the storms seemed to be staying away. With ten plus on the wind meter we had to make a try at it and at worst we would spend time walking around downtown St. Augustine which is always a little adventure in itself.

By the time we decided that the weather might work after all it was 1pm. We loaded up the car and headed east. I tried to avoid stressing over the radar but it was easy to see the clouds in our path were building. Twenty miles from the beach we went through a sun shower and the weather passed to our west. Clear skies for now. Excellent!

Now Rob at Extreme Kites had posted this event and said they hoped to be in the air by 11 am. But being this late in the afternoon we expected some or all of the kiters may be gone by the time we show up.

We arrived at the St. Augustine Pier just about 3pm. Kites were high in the air, lots of kites! The parking lot was packed and people were driving around in circles trying to find a spot. Somehow an open spot had gone unnoticed near the beach entrance. Too easy. We parked and jumped out and were on the beach in less than a minute.

Kitefliers extraordinaire Sue Carter and her husband Richard owned the beach today. Their kites were filling the sky and it was an awesome sight to see after our little drive. Rob had some kites up including a cool red ghost tail delta. And some others had some nice single lines, including that cool parachuting-guy kite. But it was Sue and Richard that had the rest and it was quite a show. I should have counted anchor points but let's just say there were many.

As we stepped onto the beach they were launching a big foil. Oh my, it was not just any foil but a custom Jordan Airform with "Extreme Kites" and a cool graphic on the front. I think the graphic is an old logo of Extreme's but I'm not completely sure. I know I have seen that graphic before anyway.

I found Sue after they launched the hundred or so square foot kite. It was the beast of the day for sure with excellent matching tails and flew rock steady. I asked Sue where could I drop and anchor and she gave us one of her prime spots right in the middle of everything and right next to the pier. Very Cool.

I was going to put up the Sky Anchor first since it hasn't flown much since we got the Peter Lynn Pilot 50. I hooked it up and held the bridle to see how it was going to handle. The wind was a good steady 12 and could not have been a nicer afternoon weather-wise. Excellent conditions, so very glad we made the trek over.

I held the bridle out an arm's length in the air and watched the kite. It really is a nice looking foil and fills really well when the wind is eight or more. But this time it seemed to have a problem. It would wander to the left then the right and do this over and over 'til it crashed to the sand. That would not work at this launching site as it would be crashing into the pier in no time or grabbing some other kites line and generally be a problem. I tried to make a quick bridle adjustment but it needed a better tuning than that, so I bagged the kite and pulled out the Pilot.

I usually fly the Pilot with it's fifty foot tail and I wasn't sure if i was too close to the other kites so I launched sans tail and up it went. Now the Pilot needs some tuning as well, but it flies good so i wasn't too worried about it. It leans a lot to the right and it seemed to be doing more than that today. I decided to put the tail on and Richard helped pull it down and we coaxed it back up between the other kites and it was perfect. The kite was actually flying over the pier and really looked cool there.

It wasn't long before Kelli and I had the line full of Seahorses flying and they looked great in the sun. It looked like a festival on the beach and we were tickled to be a part of it all.

Flying this line of kites in the middle of all the other kites and over the pier was lots of fun. If they had flown at a lower angle it would have been a problem with the kite arch just downwind, but it flew perfect and was only a problem with arch as the tail went up. But we walked it around that so there was no problem at all. If the line was just another 10 feet or so out, then the tail would be trying to wrap around the Jordan Airform. But everything flew right were it was supposed to. It was like flying around the power lines like I use to do when I was a kid. (don't ever do that, i was young, it was the sixties.)

I took a few minutes to talk with Sue, Richard and Rob and watched all the kites. It's nice to just sit back and watch them flowing int he breeze. Again the weather was just perfect until I noticed the building dark clouds down the beach to the South. I think it was Rob who had been watching the radar and said it should stay inland and in twenty minutes later It had passed well to our West. Disaster Averted.

It was time to put some more kites up. I dug another anchor and tried the Sky Anchor again. I played with the bridle lines until i had them all equalized and then slightly lessened the pull on the center line. That seemed to hone everything up, so i tied them off and up it went. It flew rock solid and never wobbled at all. Nice kite.

Up goes the Octopus. Then the Ray. Then, hmmm ... what to put below the ray ... Kelli mentioned the Idol. Perfect. It's a charm in our collection and unique to say the least. I hung it just above the ground and many people walked by close to check it out. It's was the subject of many pictures for sure.

Kelli flew her new birthday kite, the Mesh Square. It was really cool. It looks great, almost like a stained glass window. and it flew steady as could be with its mesh vents. This kite gives off some very cool vibes.

I should have put up some more kites, It was definitely a banner day. I started to setup the new Rok, but the sun started creeping down way too fast and I decided that would be for another day. The moon was out and the sky was perfect for the golden hour at the beach.

Some friends of ours called down from the pier. They were just enjoying the day and saw the kites. That was fun to see them while we had things flying. Sometime you tell people that you fly kites and they kinda look at you wierd at least until they actually see them in the air. So it was definielty cool to show them off to friends.

Eventually the Idol started dragging on the ground and I knew the day was coming to a close. By the time we had brought down the kites, wound up the line and packed it all up it was close to 9 pm and getting hard to see. We said goodbye to all our kiteflying buddies, for now, and headed to the car.

This afternoon was just perfect kite weather. Nearly constant on-shore 12 mph winds. Lots of friends flying nearby, a pier to fly over, and lots of good sunshine. Never once did we have to coax a kite back up in the air, everything just flew and flew. So much fun... more please!

Looking back I can't believe how the day unfolded, with poor wind and nearly calling off our journey. Thanks to Sue, Richard, Rob,Extreme Kites, and everyone else for being so kind on this excellent day at the beach and in the air!