Skunks news page 6
Quads and the Haven
Yet another superb day at the Haven and a good turnout of friends...Daz,Roger,Margret,Simon,Old Pete,Colin,Bruce and Stuart all arrived by 10am.I had my quad bag with me to go through it to see what was in it and if any repairs needed doing,laying them all out on the grass for the rest of the group to have a go with or just to admire,the pig and albatross was flown by Colin and Roger and the funny thing was I borrowed Colins vented 1.5 so we all had the same kites up for the 'team' flying.
Throughout the day I was busy putting up other item like the ladybirds,turtles,f-stop,spikey ball,kite arch,blue meanie and a sled with all me banner tails on it,making loads of photos for the public to take,and answering loads of question from the public as usual.
Bruce set up his k.a.p quad to get some aerial shot of my quads on the ground and other things around,and Stuart had a number of power kites out and was seen skidding around on his bum ending his day with a grazed leg.Margret was ground crew most of the day picking up fallen kites or helping me with items to put up and pack away(big thankyou).
It started out grey and cloudy looking as if it might rain but by 10 the sun come through for the rest of the day the wind was there all day but was very 'bumpy' a wierd sort of wind for the Haven but still very flyable in.We had a break time sitting around eating and drinking and talking about the Albatross quad and the pathetic way that I have been treated at the Rev forum,but at the end of the day two more are comming in from China as it was liked so much.
It was a long (8.30 till 5) and hot day on the Haven today but still worth the wait for my sunday free to get out with kites and friends,NEXT WEEK Gareth from the essex kite group is comming down with a group for a fly with us all (except me as I am working) so it should be a great meet with loads of kites,especially if young Pete is there with his new inflatables(mine will be here by the end of the week Pete :) ) I will shoot up at 4pm to see if your still there and get in the last hour or two with the new kites....till then you all have fun and I will see you all soon...
Pictures from todays fly
A trip to Kiteworld
The boys on Sunday asked me to go see Mike at KITEWORLD our local kite store to get some spars for the Revolution,After endless hunting the cabin for the spars it was not to be and both types was out of stock (sorry Bruce and Stuart) but Mike has put them on order for me so won't be long to wait,if rev know there not for me LOL...While I was there I was hunting out any inflatable things for myself and ended up getting a couple of Colour in motion spinners which you can see in the picture below.I am happy with the small one and like the big one as well in size colour and shape But...it don't spin enough for my likings so it will have to go into the kiteden laboratory for some slicing and dicing to make it spin faster...any idea's welcome Bruce!!Also a reel of 500lb single line was added into the price as well as some spars that were in stock for me rev 1...so you boys cost me another £100 up at Kiteworld :) .......
There's a little devil in all of us
One of the Martello flyers has some new items in his kite bag and I can't wait to see them up in the sky for myself,one of them is the devil from Weifang,China and god it looks like a cool inflatable to add in the bag,infact so cool I have ordered one that will be here by the end of this week.Pete's Devil arrived last week and I was near crying with laughter when he told me you had to dress the devil yourself as his 'pant' come seperate.It looks huge for a 5 metre inflatable and at a incredible price,it inflates really quick by the large flap opening at the top and it is a real show piece.When mine arrives we intend to have my 'Blue Meanie' up with the two devil as his minions..should look awesome and give meanie someone to play with.
As well as the devil Pete has another couple of items that will be seen later all I know is both are animals...dohhh get them up and photographed my friend.It will be some time for us devils to meet up at our local venue as we both work hard to afford to keep our hobby of kiting going and interesting for the public,to think that when I meet Pete he only had a duelie now he is bringing 6 plus bags on the field and still has more at home.I think his Gomberg seahorse's are his favourites as he always has them up at nearly every fly and I don't blame his as they are a real eye catcher now he has 8 or so in his collection.
The thing with Pete and myself is that we are always flying together and so try and not double up on to many inflatables but sometimes I just have to have what he gets in my bag as there are so nice.Its not a compitition between us on who's got more inflatables but sometimes it is on the field when we race to get more then each other up in the air...LOL
As well as my new devil I have coming a large spinner in girly pink and a small 3 meter turtle for the sea theme,I am also having a number of items made with kite designers around the world but have no time limits for when to be ready so it could be a while for them...defo for 2010 though..(SKY BUMS sent you loads of message's get in touch please)...
But till Pete and myself meet up fpr a devilish time together here are his picture(and Bruces pictures ) of his coll new devil...see you soon buddy.
Make your mind up time
As the turtles ponder wether to stay with Rob as superstars of the kite world,always in the spotlight with the public,kids screaming out and the occasional dog sniffing them OR head out to sea to start a new family of turtles and have the danger of being eaten by a shark,ending up in soup or made into some object by the natives..... 'no contest' Get the cameras out,here we come........
Package chaos
At last three new black bags are resting on the table after their long haul from China,but not without problems!!!
I had my e-mail from Handsomy the guy I was dealing with from the company WWW.NEWSKYKITES.COM to say that my order was ready and here is the tracking number to check where on route it is.This was the first hic cup as this e-mail some how went missing of my p.c ,knowing me I deleted it by mistake,so I just waited a week as I know Petes kites from the same place had took that time,a week went past and no kites through the post.
I e-mail Handsomy to get the number again and soon was on line looking at the tracking details only to see the last place it was, was in customs waiting duty...AAARRRGGGGGG NOOOOOOOO.WHY ME,WHY MEEEEEE.It was held up here all day and the wife had phoned customs to ask what will happen to the package,the operator said that we would have a wait of up to a month for the paperwork as it was bank holiday week....NOOOOO ...I was now really angry and p*"^ off,but the next day it was on the next part of the journey to the sorting office,mmmm maybe it was justed checked and I would not get any duty on it,anyway I was just happy it was moving closer to me.
It flew through the next bits of the journey and then I see that all important of In van on route to destination...Yipppppie it will be here Thursday and I had no work so I could try the new items out....Naaaaa not with my luck.
As the day went by and I had to watch the Clacton air show from my flying green I kept a eye out for the parcelforce van 1,2,3,4 ...what the! wheres my package it should be here by now,I went indoors and just check the tracking again thinking that on the van would be the last tracking event,But no there it was another one above it 'CAN'T FIND ADDRESS RETURN......Noooooooo
I was fuming and had to let the wife phone Parcelforce to ask what was going on!it is all to do with our postcode and the fact that it only had my address and not the House number on the deliver address,while the wife was trying to hear what the operator was saying I was screaming in the back ground something about blind monkeys and other word that cant be printed...'Calm down' said the wife I am picking it up at the post office tomorrow it will be here for when you get home from work at 5.
I can hear you sniggering Colin,Bruce,Pete its not funny .....So I missed out on the
lovely sunny thursday and got home to see 3 new black bags on the table and a box that looked like it had be blown here from china,I looked out the window to see huge black storm clouds coming over but still blue sky over the point,wind was heavy at around 20..25 and I was itching to test out my new toys,(that will be another story for tomorrows write up).
I was just happy to have my three new items in my arms,had a look at the colours to check they was right...Yeap all fine and I cant wait till Sunday to test fly it all.
| Parcel tracks | |||
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| Date | Time | Location | Tracking Event |
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| 28-08-2009 | 08:44 | Ipswich Depot | Parcel delivered |
| 27-08-2009 | 15:15 | Ipswich Depot | Addressee cannot be located |
| 27-08-2009 | 06:38 | Ipswich Depot | Out for delivery |
| 27-08-2009 | 06:36 | Ipswich Depot | Arrived at delivery depot |
| 26-08-2009 | 19:14 | National Hub | Sorted in hub |
| 26-08-2009 | 13:54 | International Hub | En route to delivery depot |
| 26-08-2009 | 13:51 | International Hub | Arrived at outward Office of Exchange |
| 25-08-2009 | 17:43 | International Hub | AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGING |
| 25-08-2009 | 17:43 | International Hub | Arrived in destination country |
| 24-08-2009 | 19:11 | Heathrow Airport | Arrived at destination country |
I should have waited
As I said in the phrase above ''I was itching to test out my new toys'' and I just couldn't wait,when that bit of clear sky come over I went out to the green with my new spinner,6 metres of white,pink and blue spinning sail.The wind was still up in the 20's and I hestitated for a while thinking is it too windy..NAAA
I slung the strap round the beacon pole and locked in the huge spinner that Handsomy sent to me for 
free,and laid out the spinner with its long bridles on the ground,after connecting the spinner to the swivel I went to the sail and lifted it.WHOOOSH it went higher up than I thought it would and was spinning very fast,I was thinking that it would be real bad if a kid got caught up in that,the ring was speeding round and going up and down towards the grass I took the few photos I dared while the colourful spinner was like a runaway circular saw blade.
I wanted it down as the clouds had turned black and the wind was up to 30+ I pulled on the swivel end of the bridle and pulled as hard as I could,not a inch,in fact I did 3 chin ups and it held my weight off the ground,HELL I thought how am I going to get this down!!
I went to the back of the spinner watching with a worried look on my face as it spun so fast hitting the ground and shooting back out of reach,I had to just grab it and hope for the best.With all my nerve I reach out and grabbed the ring stopping it from spinning but it was thrashing about and I could not get the ring to deflate,I went to the side of the spinner and linked my arms around it,it was like trying to hold on to a demented multi coloured polo,I fought with it till I was at the right hand wind window as the other side to what I was holding folded and rested on the ground,I leapt on top of the sail making sure it won't relaunch and folded it up,back in the bag.
I have to admit I was so out of breath when I was finished I just laid on the grass chuckling to myself about just what happened.Well in them winds at least I can say it had the high wind test done on it and survived with honours.and tomorrow I will take it to the Haven for another hopefully lighter wind test.As for the spinner itself it is a real looker in the colours its made in and will WOW the public when in action,very pleased with this buy from www.newskykites.com and tomorrow will be trying out the other two items......10 out of 10
My weekend at Portsmouth
By Colin
Portsmouth kite Festival 2009
Saturday 29th August
For those that do not know this Festival is held on Southsea Common, a large grass area divided in two by a service road, Festival on one side public flying area on the other.
Arrived at camp site at 9am after a trouble free journey, put tent up ( no wind at the camp site, hmm ) after a short drive arrived at the festival site, wind had freshened to a Vented wind and when the Sun went in about an hour later had picked up to a Mega Vented wind, more than one single line flyer was seen making a dash to retrieve some line Laundry that had snapped it's line. The sky was full of kite's, many I had not seen before, amazing scene. Met Baz, Daz, Jay, Gareth, Kelly & Ernie etc etc, Jay does not look out of place flying with the Dec's, nice one Jay. There were people everywhere, all the kite stall's looked to be busy, kid's were running about all over the place with little singe liner's J .
Time for a moan, I could not believe the number of experienced Rev flyer's who set up Rev's on 120ft line's pegged them out then walked off and left them unattended for people to Walk ,Run, Cycle or push Babies in Buggies through the line's, apart from the obvious safety implication's it's this sort of irresponsible act that gets kite flying banned from public places, glad to say that none of the Martello flyers were so irresponsible, moan over. As it was so busy I decided to enjoy the spectacle, take some pic's and have a look round, The festival was going to carry on until dark and end with a night fly, but news came through that a chap flying single liner's had had a fatal Heart attack late in the day, so as a mark of respect the festival quietly drew to a close. Went back to campsite and had a fly with the Mega Vent.
Sunday, nice smooth vented wind, again when the sun went in wind picked up and became quite chilly, arrived at Festival site at 9am, set up my Rev on the public flying area ( as it was near the car that had my coffee & lunch in it ) flew for about 4hr's, had some good interaction with people/kid's making their way to the festival, two people asked if they could video me flying the Rev J it was then I remembered I had George with me so He came out for a fly, turned into a real crowd pleaser with load's of photo's being taken of him, one Guy walked the whole length of the common just to take a snap, 1st time he had seen anything attached to a Rev apart from tail's, pointed him in the direction of the Kiteden. Helped a girl with her Rev as she was getting in a right tangle. Too busy to fly on the festival site for me, Daz was flying well in a confined space though, so watched the display's, Carl from Team Spectrum did one of the best one man three kite routine's I have seen him do, A moving tribute was made to the chap that had passed away on Saturday when the arena was filled with Spirit kite's, brought a lump to the throat. Gareth brought a nice new Red/Black Vented Rev
Monday, had arranged to meet a mate in Portsmouth, so didn't get to the festival till about 2pm, the free flying day had turned into a free for all, both Gareth and Daz both said it had become impossible to fly so were packing up and calling it day, I went back to the campsite and had a fly on the Beach in the Sun with my HotStripe Rev until it got Dark, helped a young Lad and his Mum with a Delta and let him have a go with my Rev, ( was woken up on Tuesday at a silly hour by a roaring noise, yep same young lad on the Beach with his kite J )
To some up, if you get the chance to go to this Festival well worth going, strange thing is, one place you find it hard to fly a kite is at a Kite Festival !! So if you want to have a fly go to the site early or stay late J J J .
For Colins pictures click HERE