macguy - 16-7-2006 at 01:12 PM
Hi all, Just wanted to introduce myself and tell you about my introduction to power kites.
I'd loved flying kites all my life, I've always sticked with single line kites including my favorite 12 ft, stars and stripe modified box. A couple
years ago I saw some power kits at a store here in Oregon and I knew I had to have one.
I'm one of those guys who managed to build a business out of my hobby of playing with computer stuff so people have a horrible time figuring out what
to get me for presents. So a few months ago, I mentioned to my lovely wife April that a power kite would be a cool thing. I looked at it a little but
didn't find any clear idea of what I would want for a first kite.
I had forgot about telling my wife about what I wanted when my 35th birthday came around last Thursday, but when I saw the size of the box, my hopes
instantly came back to mind. After reading the lovely card from made by my youngest and fighting through the wrapping job that must have used a
complete roll of scotch tape, I found the box with the UPS label. It came from Kent and A Wind of Change. Opening the box, I found an Ozone Fury, 3.0.
Of course, my wife asked right away how she did. She had spent the week before researching and reading the web forums to try to find out what kite she
should get. She also had spent a fair amount of time with kent on the phone before ordering. I had no idea. In looking at kites, it kinda seemed like
a catch 22. You don't know what you want until you do it, but you can do it until you know what you want.
Anyway, in reading it seemed like she made a great choice. Ozone being a company that came from making high end parasails and moving down into power
kites seemed cool. The fury seemed like a great starter kite. A little more stable than some, but aggressive enough to get a taste for the potential.
So I got my kite on Thursday and we had a good friend getting married on the beach in Seaside on Saturday. So we got to the wedding about 20 minutes
early and I wanted to get my first flight under my belt quickly. I had also checked the hour-by-hour at weather.com and I knew the wind would be
picking up.
I managed to get the kite all setup (only having to switch the 2 lines I quickly noticed I had connected wrong) in a few minutes. Now, only 10 minutes
before the wedding started I put her in the sky. There was a decent breeze but I found the kite manageable. I was able to feel the power, move the
kite across the sky and do a little skudding only ending on my butt once.
Then I knew I was a couple minutes late so I brought the kite down and wrapped it up heading off to the wedding happy to have had a clean flight and
no more stress about that first flight.
So the wedding was really nice, out on the beach. Kites flying overhead, the sun even came out. For the reception, there was a nice seafood lunch and
then activities planned. They passed out small kites to the kids, had those sit down bikes for people to ride on the sand, frisbees and sand toys.
So as I was walking with my wife to grab a little desert a guy stopped my when he saw the Fury I had slung over my shoulder. He asked how I liked it.
Of course my only only experience with it was the 10 minutes about 40 minutes before. He mentioned that he was the guy flying the kites for the
wedding and he would be willing to show me a few things. I told him I'd find him a little later.
So after finishing desert and stopping by the restroom, I went out to find him. Turns out Trevor Griffith had been hired for the wedding and was happy
to share his thoughts with me. So he pulled out his lil' devil 3.0, the big brother to my Fury and he taught me the basics on how to launch and pack
the kite. Then, after seeing I had a decent handle on things, asked me if I wanted to learn how to jump. Within a few minutes, I was getting in some
pretty good hops. Then he asked if I wanted to try his 4.8.
So he pulled out this kite that was about twice the size of mine and got it in the sky. Now the wind had picked up a little bit so it was clear from
the size of his leaps that there was considerably more power here. After showing me a couple things, he passed me the kite. Immediately I could tell
this was a lot different. My few attempts as jumping showed my that I had a lot to learn. With this kite and wind it would be really easy to bite off
more wind than I could handle. But within a few minutes (passing the kite back to Trevor so my arms could rest.) I was starting to feel a little more
comfortable. Then the inevitable happened. I decided to get a little aggressive and didn't get the kite quite vertical and it went streaming across to
sky with amazing power, pulling me right off my feet. So I flew about ten feet and landed on my side. Trying to remember what Trevor had taught me,
"keep your eye on the kite and get it above you in the sky" was a challenge as I was being dragged across the sand. By when I saw the wide eyes of the
people I was careening towards, I made it happen. It was so great to hear Trevor running behind me yelling "Awesome recovery! You did exactly what I
told you." I had to admit when looking at the drag marks down the beach, I was pretty excited that I was able to recover from that.
So after playing with his kite for a while longer, I realized that I'm pretty excited about my Fury. Perfect kite, perfect size. I was also excited to
hear that Trevor was impressed with my wife's choice of a kite. What an awesome woman who can choose the perfect kite even when I didn't know exactly
what I wanted.
So after packing up Trevor's kite, I got my Fury out one more time. I was pretty fired but I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. A good
friend of mine was there and he had some experience with stunt kites so he had the general idea. I have to admit, it was pretty fun to see him take a
ride across the sand like mine with the big kite!
So the end of the day, we were talking about the amazing thing of just getting a new kite and the first day flying to get personal instruction. I said
something about how cool it was and my oldest daughter said "Dad, that was God's birthday gift to you." I agreed.
Here are a couple pics taken by a friend, all too close to see the kite, but you can see I was having some fun!
<http://web.mac.com/drbott/iWeb/Site/Kiting.html>
Thanks for all the great info on the forum and all the stuff I've learned from here.
Pablo - 16-7-2006 at 02:01 PM
Awesome to hear, one thing though, may as well leave the credit card at the kite store. Bet you can't stop at just one.
macguy - 16-7-2006 at 08:56 PM
Actually. I was excited that after trying Trevor's larger kite that I was really content with mine for now. I have no doubt that I'll be wanting to
expand my collection as I experience different wind conditions.
awindofchange - 17-7-2006 at 12:17 PM
Macguy,
That story has just made my day! I am so happy that you are enjoying your new kite. You are lucky to have such a wonderful wife and family.
Welcome to the world of power kiting! 
You will find that you now have many
new friends that you never new about before. 
macguy - 17-7-2006 at 09:38 PM
Thanks Kent.
And the part I wasn't expecting, it is now 2 days later and I'm still sore! I can't think of a sport that completely worked every single muscle in my
entire body.
The feeling in my forearms is familiar from my days of rock climbing back in college. My abs are completely worked. I'm out of the country on business
this week, can't wait to get her back in the sky!
sunset-Jim - 18-7-2006 at 06:25 AM
ahhhh, but wait till you ride the buggy grasshoppa...
cbabbman - 18-7-2006 at 11:25 AM
Great story and your wife picked who I consider to be the best person and best place to buy from.
Kent has guided me through my journey of power kiting since the end of April and in that time, I bought a 1.5 LD Stunt, 3M Riot and a bunch of
Revolutions...
When Pablo said to leave your credit card at the store, he wasn't kidding... you cannot just stop at one...
I thought I was doing pretty good with a trunk full of Kites until Kent told me about his Kite trailer.... I am weak and insignificent in
comparison...lol...
Since I've been flying, I've lost 2" off my waist, have the darkest tan I've ever had and am in better shape than I've been in in years.... not to
mention that my bank account is much lighter too.... It must all be noticable (the shape thing) because my wife is all too happy to let me run over to
my field for and hour here and there...
FYI, I have found Kent to be a gigantic resource of information and fun. Every single kite he has recommended to me has been perfect in every respect.
He couldn't have been more right than if he was standing next to me, handing me kites to try...