On the way back from the sea, I passed the park and saw several kites hanging in the sky. For the past few days I had been making a habit of going out around midday, taking water, the single-line Wind Chaser — the smallest in its series — the Victory all-metal reel that has been with me for more than five years, the old two-line kite that lasted about 14 years, and a frisbee.
The Wind Chaser has a 1.8 m wingspan and eight rods. The eight rods join through connectors into four longer rods, a design that keeps the packed size small and makes it easier to store and carry.
Finding an open patch in the park was not easy. There must have been more than a dozen kites of all sizes in the air. For this spot, Kevlar line is best — the kind used in body armour and cut-resistant gloves. This time I had 640 metres of four-strand No. 5 line. I chatted with another person and told him I was using eight-strand line; later, when I checked my purchase record, I found it was four-strand. I hope he didn’t buy the wrong line because of me.
While assembling the kite I could already feel that the wind was too strong, though it seemed gusty. I had come all that way, so I decided to give it a try. I had almost forgotten how to put it together; it had been a long time since I last flew a kite. During the lockdown years I barely flew at all and did not dare to run around much.
Once it was assembled, the wind felt strong, so I held the kite down on the grass. I had to wait for a lull and make sure the kite was not catching the wind. The kite connects with a metal clip. Then I started to launch. The wind was indeed strong, and I had to use a lot of force on the hand reel to control how fast it spun. This reel is a plain, simple hand reel; it does not have anything like a bicycle disc brake. Reels with disc brakes are more expensive. I let out about 60 metres of line.
Then the wind direction changed sharply: force 5–6, westerly with some southerly mixed in. The kite dropped fast and looked as if it was going to hit the willow trees in the distance. I stepped back and adjusted my position, and the kite slowly recovered its attitude and began to climb. Its triangular shape looked a little distorted; the wind was simply too strong. I started letting out line, using force to control the speed of the reel. That did not work. I began moving forward along the wind direction, and the kite recovered its triangular shape. I could not go any farther forward.
At that point Erbao said he wanted to fly it. I said it was not the right moment; the wind was too strong. In my mind I was thinking that if I lost control, the worst case for me would probably be losing one kite. If Erbao took over, he might lose both the reel and the kite, and the kite could hurt someone. My hand was already hurting from gripping the reel.
When the wind dropped a little, I hurried to reel in. While reeling in, I also had to avoid other kites. A goldfish kite tangled with mine for a short while; fortunately, neither line broke. I kept reeling in and moved forward a little to make it easier and less tiring. It was a close call but no disaster. I took the kite apart and packed up.
Next time I will give priority to a smaller kite. In a crowded place with strong wind, being small is an advantage.
Erbao said the ripples looked like the universe.
I had also brought two parrots that had been behaving well out for some fresh air.
