As a dork, I have always loved flying kites. To me, kite flying sure beats any video game or chore.
In fact, I’ve had a kite stored away in my shed, and I was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to fly it.
Coincidentally, my red and black airplane-shaped kite had last taken to the skies at Cheesman’s Beach five years ago, long before I dreamed of actually living on the southwest coast.
It’s hard to explain what the appeal is in kite flying. All you basically have to do is stand at one end and let out the line. Yet there is something magical about being attached to something that is defying gravity, hovering dozens or hundreds of feet above your head.
When I first found out The Gulf News would be reviving it’s annual kite flying festival, I was waiting with bated breath to go dig out the kite and finally send it aloft.
When I arrived at First Grand Bay West beach on Aug. 2, just a few minutes before the 12:30 start time, the sky was already filled with well over a dozen kites. I had no idea there were so many other kite flying enthusiasts on the southwest coast.
On my way to the beach I immediately ran into Steve Manstan, who beckoned me to his van and showed me a secret stash of kites and about a dozen spools of string. He was freely loaning them out to anyone who was kite-less on that beautifully windy day.
I had pictures to take, so I handed my old plane off to a family who was looking for a kite. I was embarrassed when the poor thing barely seemed to lift off the ground. No matter how much string they let out, it never seemed to get more than 15 feet in the air. If there was an award for lowest flying kite, my kite would’ve won it hands down.
There were kites of every shape imaginable: the traditional diamond, box kites, a pirate ship, rotating round kites, and an intricate snowflake model.
Colby Osmond had a classic box kite that won the award for highest kite. It easily soared above the rest, and while every other kite danced in the wind, his simply hung in the sky, solid as a rock.
As everyone else was packing up I finally got a chance to try my old plane kite, but I couldn’t get it aloft any higher than the family before me. Before long my line was tangled and I gave up.
On my way back to the car, Steve had a triangle kite out on 1000 feet of line. It was actually higher than Colby’s box kite, and was obscured by the occasional cloud drifting past. Just as I was leaving, the line snapped, and it slowly drifted away, probably landing somewhere out in the gulf.
I hope to see Steve, Colby and everyone else again next year when we hold this event again. If you didn’t make it this time, I hope to see you there too.
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