Well, it started with a home-made garbage bag kite about 2 years ago, the silly wonderment of the wind. Many, many hours of single line fun... then I
remember hearing about power kites.... so here we go....
Discovered PKF and I can't tell you how much reading we did to pick first one out.... the little 2.6 Viper from Dino... of course, no wind for a bit
after purchase... so we ran backwards a lot to get kite flying, and it was still quite fun!!! And during actual wind for the first time we realized
the sheer power of these things... something I don't think one can appreciate till you feel it.
Now it’s here I must say we live in what was deemed the lowest wind city in the nation.... Medford, in Southern Oregon. We didn't know this but knew
it tended to get "windy" (funny now to think what we thought was windy - 6mph ish) in the evening while we waited for youngest to finish football
practice... many hours goofing around the empty soccer field with the Viper... an occasional 10mph gust was quite the thrill!
So on to the 4.1 PL Twister (thanks Ripsession).... and it is still just staggering to feel the lift and pull. Crazy fun watching some scudding across
fields and pendulum attempts, etc.
Bunch of other fixed bridal kites bought, a mountain board, and realize I have an addiction and can't stop.... well an addiction to watching kids fly
as it seems I am assigned as the designated kite monkey running around helping out with any tangles more than anything...
So... onto depower.... Angus had a Neo 11m that had the 5th line safety added... and after much reading, seemed like a nice intro that could be thrown
in the water too if we go that direction later. While as I sit here now, everything seems so very simple, but I remember at the time thinking how
complex everything seemed and how big it was!!!! We spend a lot of time laying out the lines and trying to understand all the lines & depower
cleat, etc. At the maiden flight and we quickly realized the ol fenced in soccer field we called home ain't big enough... we packed up and left with
tail between our legs.... we never really had wind to keep it in the air for a couple months... although lots of running by the kids trying to keep
her aloft yielded burning legs and lungs and many laughs by me.... as it looked hysterical.
So, we think there’s something to this depower stuff... and by golly these "arcs" have quite the following... so a feverish ebay bidding war won us a
cheap 16m V2 with brand new PL bar and lines, unopened!! Holy cats, jackpot. Kite arrives, looks unused, and we are quite excited. Since bar and lines
were new, again it was quite confusing to grasp the safety system... which of course seems so simple and easy now...
Maiden flight and we think this kite must be broken. The Neo takes off and flys just fine (a bugger to inflate though - oddly fun to watch it
jellyfish in sky till full)... but boy the ol Venom just gets about 15feet off the ground and kinda sits there.... again now it all makes sense... we
were in maybe 8-10mph winds which is pretty high around here!!! We thought it ought to just take off like the Neo... much fiddling with straps, and we
just happened to get it pre-inflated just a little bit more by chance..... and kazzow, she takes off!!! Once inflated properly, it’s a rocket... kiddo
able to roll around a bit on board.... again just enough wind to keep it up... so we are relieved the kite works as advertised, and the whole
autozenith thing quite amazing!
Somewhere along here another board purchased, another harness, who knows what else...
What the heck, let’s go to the coast. Pack up rig, and realize we have an absolutely ridiculous amount of kites and stuff. I wonder if everybody else
at some point has this revelation and acceptance of a kite problem/disorder... hmmm.
Wow, wind, holy crap, wind!!!! Steady wind, wind like we've never felt. Slightly overcast, perfect temperature... couldn't be better... We find a nice
huge sandy beach, with tons of room, and very few people wandering by. Little viper put up and it's the first time this whole traction kiting has
really worked.... we just needed wind!!!
So figure it's time to put the Neo up... I'm the kite monkey, so get it ready, and off it goes.... really inflates ok when there is decent wind....
huh! No running backwards or anything!! Kid is zooming back and forth like a champ... and has one long jump that kinda scares him given the wind
(15mph ish), so we pack it up and continue on the little FB kites. In retrospect, and with more practice/skill we now realize it was ideal conditions
for the depowers... we were just very cautious and not used to actual wind!
All day we flew as I wouldn't drive for 2.5 hours and only fly for bit! I even got to fly and ride the MTB once kids got tired... and I realize it's
harder than it looks, dang kids make it look easy. I can fly without looking at kite no problem, i can roll along on board no problem... but tie those
two together... hard! On the ride home we discover a problem… we forgot sunscreen. If it didn't hurt so bad it would have been funny, so we return
with glowing skin, some blisters, but with smiles from ear to ear....
Luckily we found a field by our house that is quite huge, and oddly tends to get a dash more wind than usual... so several outings provide lots of
practice, and I've now become master untangler relaunch helper, and kids masters of barely enough wind flying…
Reading Kami's blog... I blame Kami. Ok, Kami and Abe with Super Kite Day... These “Flysurfers” sure seem the bees knees, especially in low wind. Hey
look, somebody here on PKF selling a 19M SA2 real cheap... this may be a good way to see what all the fuss is about. Kite shows up and am first amazed
how small the bag is given the size of the kite. Holy cow, and light (orig silly light fabric). Again, an overwhelming feeling of “what have we gotten
into” when you lay the kite out for the first time and see what looks like an impossibly complicated tangled mess of bridal lines that will never come
undone.... well it does, and once you get your head around it, it's not bad at all... and while it looks bad, some shakes and it miraculously fixes
itself we've learned.
Maiden flight in baby wind here... no way we could fly the Neo, or the Venom... so let’s see what this silly white Flysurfer can do... the thing
slowly floats up and I think it will take forever to fill up... Nope. Happens real quick (wonder why other inflatos don't use inlets like this), and
the thing looks ginormous... wacky big. So while I admire the giant pretty white kite in the sky with so little wind, I don't notice kid skidding by
me.... “Hey where you going there's no wind!!” So... it has jaw dropping low wind power, this kite has become the go-to here and has provided hours
of riding in otherwise un-rideable wind. Little floaty jumps, very “paraglidey” looking, and many smiles seen... Rain shine, as long as there’s wind
we are out there... nice as nobody else uses field for anything but a track to walk around perimeter for exercise. Lots and lots of practice, and lots
of little jumps... and I have fun watching and filming.... (yeah, I fell off mountainboard and broke my wrist. It seems at 40 things break easier than
I remember and water is looking appealing as I clearly can't wreck very gracefully on land.)
The big day we knew was coming... my ex was going to Seaside for a week on vacation with the kids.... woohoo, what fun for them... a kiting mecca of
sort... time to see if all the practice here has paid off with some hopefully good wind and jumps for them....
Well, they had good wind one day, 15mph-ish as the tale goes... and the good ol Venom provided many hours of great jumps/riding, and provided what
this whole kiting thing is supposed to be like!!! I hear kid tall tales of giant 10' jumps all day with even a trick or two thrown in. I think the
kids are nuts and telling fish tales.... probably just some 4 footers that feel like 10'... then I get the 1 photo that was taken of that day... and
wow that's a big boy jump!!! (photo at bottom) Guess all the low wind days here helped on the ‘ol Flysurfer after all!!
So, I'd like to thank the community for providing a vast amount of knowledge and experience. From Carl's videos, to Phree’s tips, Dino's wisdom,
Angus's words on the forum, Kami's funny and knowledgeable comments, and countless others, we wouldn't be where we are today.
A heart felt thank you goes out to all and it will be an honor to meet you all at future events... you will know me, I'll be running around fixing 2
kids kites...
-Pat, Sterling & Saxon
P.S. If any beginners have made it through this novel, I really think the forum thread about injuries should be read from top to bottom. While we've
only just gotten scrapes (except old me!), it is a cautionary tale of what can happen and may give pause in "iffy" conditions.... can't find thread
now, maybe somebody will post it...
Sterling jumping.
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