Tag: Huntington Beach Kite Party

Looking Northwest from Mission Bay Park

Looking Northwest
Originally uploaded by Bassoon Man. I have been extremely fortunate in connecting with members of the San Diego Kite Club (I’m a member too). This is now the second time I’ve gone down to fly with them: the first time was their New Year’s Day Kite Festival.

This event, held on Saturday, May 12, 2007 was their monthly fly. Unfortunately, I got stuck in traffic on my way down (it’s about 75 miles from home) – the freeway was a veritable parking lot all the way from Oceanside to Rancho Santa Fe. Why? Who knows? It was just a mess. As a result, I arrived later than I had planned but that didn’t matter – it was a beautiful day (although the winds could have been a bit stronger). I managed to get my remote controlled KAP (kite aerial photography) up for a it’s first “real” voyage. The first time occurred many weeks ago at the Huntington Beach Kite Party – unfortunately, the winds were so poor that day that by the time I had launched my rig, the camera batteries were nearly spent and I only obtained a few photos. Today; however, was different – I managed to get about 200 pictures. While I have not posted the vast majority of them (they were boring), I did learn several things:

  1. I need to keep the camera pointed more parallel to the ground – I got a LOT of pictures pointing down.
  2. The KAP feather that I bought from Jones’ Airfoils works REALLY well – I was rather amazed at how few of my shots were blurred when compared with previous KAP outings.

As I’ve noted previously, the day was terrific and I was glad I made the trip.

Dopero Maiden Voyage


Dopero Maiden Voyage
Originally uploaded by Bassoon Man.

While my camera is still in the shop, that didn’t stop me from flying today. I decided to take my new Dopero down to the beach and launch it on its maiden voyage. While I wasn’t feeling too well, it was still great to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Interestingly, the day was unseasonably warm (near 80 degrees) and there was, literally, no wind. As a result, I sat on the beach for a couple of hours and listened to Beethoven symphonies (I listed to the Sixth and the Seventh – both of which have moments that would be great to fly a kite to).

Fortunately, a very gentle breeze (almost imperceptible) kicked in and up the kite went. Even better, at the exact moment that my kite took off, I overhead others shout out, “Look, there are dolphins out there!” They weren’t kidding – in fact, there were a LOT of dolphins out there and they swam back and forth in front of the shore for the rest of the afternoon. Last week was an extremely stressful one and, in light of the fact that I wasn’t feeling well, things couldn’t have turned out any better. In addition to the photos of the Dopero, I also managed to get quite a few pictures of the dolphins.

I’m hoping that the winds will pick up next week as I’m planning on going to the Huntington Beach Kite Party (just a few more miles down the road from the Balboa Peninsula where I was today) with my boy. It would be even better if the dolphins showed up again. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I’m planning on going back tomorrow (hopefully, I’ll feel better). I desperately need the exercise and pulling on a kite while walking on the beach is certainly helpful.