Lights and Kites

Ok so I've been a bit quiet so far this year but last weekend I went out with the kite flyers to South Foreland Lighthouse. We had been invited by The National Trust as they had advertised Sunday as a Kite Flying special so we were there not only to fly but to advise visitors how to fly. 

So here are some photos

Flagpoles windsocks and Wind Farm

Wonderful white triple celled rhombox {made by Sky Bums} on blue sky 

Kent Kite Picnickers and the Wind Farm

Wet and wild with a sunny side

Saturday saw the Annual Hanami Festival {Cherry Blossom Festival} at Brogdale Fruit Collections. Kent Kite Flyers where asked to display and fly Japanese related kites the start of the day was less than promising with heavy rain from 10:30 till midday then.......so with no further words here are some shots of both the blossom and kites.

Something new for 2015 finished at last

Ok I got so far then stalled the reason being....

"Back Cutting"

...any one who has built a kite with a coloured image on a coloured background will know the two colours tend to muddy each other, the only way around this is to "back cut" the single most terrifying part of building a kite!!!

One slip and your beautiful sail is damaged!!!!

Before back cutting

The start of the process and tools

Part way through

So having cut away unwanted orange fabric on twenty for areas of the sail we have this.....  

you see why it needs back-cutting

So now all I have to do is spar and bridle it!

There are four spars one across the head of the kite one down the spine and two diagonals. The spine as a tensioning pocket at the bottom made using rip-stop and Velcro

The top is held against the head spar with a knock end

The bottom of the diagonals fit into pockets in the corners and the tops using knock-ends grip some cord sewn into the top corners.

Then the top of the kite is tensioned with the shock-cord and the top spar is bowed with a line between the knock-ends on the head spar

I had problems working out how the bridle should be made as there are at least two methods out there on the net. Finally I used a compound bridle using the bridling points shown in David Pelham's book Kites. This has bridling points at each end of the head spar and two points on the spine one at the crossing of the diagonals and one almost half way from this to the bottom of the spar, these are linked by another bridle line using Prusik Knots then a tow point is added.

Now all we have to do is see if it flys???

    

Road Trip

So today I went out with a friend to get some photos to accompany some of her writing. I cant share any that are likely to support her work but here are few that I took for my own interest.
We stopped at Lower Halstow

In dock my favourite sailing barge Edith May

She is registered in Harwich and I belive the symbol on her stern points toward the cargo she was built to carry.......

...............Grain and straw

The cover over her tiller mechanism 

Behind Edith May was moored an Ouster Smack called Thistle 

  

As you see she is registered in Faversham

I loved the rings on the mast

Also in Lower Halstow we found this log that has refused to die