About 25 metres high, if the kite lines stretch to that. Yes, time to invest in some new nylon and string in the form of another power kite. Having taken the 3 m2 one out last weekend, and only just got it airborne due to lack of sufficient wind, a larger model is clearly necessary.
OK, this is me getting 'need' and 'want' mixed up again, but it's in a good cause. Really! Kite flying is just about the most exercise you can have without actually have to get up and do something strenuous. Yes, it's really good for you, promotes health (if not wealth). You're concentrating on what that sheet of fabric is doing (or, if you're better at it than I am, what it is about to do) so much that you don't realise until after half an hour or so just what strain this has been putting on your arms. But at that point it's brought home with startling clarity just what a strain it has been - the forearm muscles are screaming with cramp, the shoulders ache, and you have a crick in the neck from trying to watch where the kite is, your feet are, and what that horrible little dog is about to do just down the beach - although with a little bit of practice, you can sweep the kite low enough and fast enough to give the dog enough of a fright that it ends up doing whatever it was a long way further down the beach.
So I'm now wondering what to move up to - a kite with sufficient lift to start jumping? Or something with even more traction for pulling me along the ground (scudding)? The thought of trying kite-powered buggying is also attractive, albeit even more expensive. That would suggest the lift option is less likely - but the whole idea of grabbing air just seems to say go for it. Then the idea of the damage I'm likely to do to my knees says "no way". I'll probably settle for a 5 or possibly 7 metre intermediate kite - nothing too basic, but not a sports model. Although kites used to be a kid's game, I suspect the extreme powerkites have not matured quite enough to be suited to my advanced years.
No comments:
Post a Comment