had a 3 hour break, been watching the wind howl all morning from the north at about 20mph. couldn't resist tide still coming in soooooooooooooooooooo

had to hit it. v13/142 for an 1 1/2 hrs

air temp 45 degree F, water temp around 61 degree F coldest yet for the year but the sun was just right.

shorter days are forcing the midday runs

I'm seriously hating these shorter days. I used to get out of work and kite from 6pm until 8:30/9pm -now it's dark at 5:30ish. :barf:

Quote:

Originally posted by burritobandit I'm seriously hating these shorter days. I used to get out of work and kite from 6pm until 8:30/9pm -now it's dark at 5:30ish. :barf:

That's nothing. Here in the North east the sun set is at 4:15pm. Talk about depressing. Its total pitch black by the time I leave work at 5.

Quote:

Originally posted by burritobandit I'm seriously hating these shorter days. I used to get out of work and kite from 6pm until 8:30/9pm -now it's dark at 5:30ish. :barf:

Me too! I get home just before the sunsets and leave before it gets up! Had the kitekat on the roof since friday and either too much or not enough for testing but this weekend is looking good.........aj

AJ, I might be in League City this weekend if the forecast holds. My lil bro lives there now, so I've got a place to crash that's close to the Dike! :frog:

Where are you going to test the kitekat?

Pre-event of Dead bird buggy bash is this weekend at SanLuis Pass on the west end of galveston. Looks like good side-shore winds this weekend. I will also have the 8m and 11m HQ neos for demo...........aj

Quote:

Originally posted by kiteNH That's nothing. Here in the North east the sun set is at 4:15pm. Talk about depressing. Its total pitch black by the time I leave work at 5.

Yeesh. That's awful..

I tried rigging some LEDs to the bridles of one of my trainer kites the other night (winds kicked in at 6pm) just to see what it would be like. They were a cheap ($6) 3-pack of keychain LEDs that had an on-switch that locked in place, and they seemed quite bright indoors. I zip-tied them to the bridles facing the LEDs towards the kite and they held in place quite well even after a few crashes (test crashes ), but they weren't bright enough to really light the kite up well. Plus, there was actually enough ambient lighting from a nearby moontower and the street lights behind me to see the kite without LEDs.

I'd like to try some higher lumen/candela LEDs soon. Fry's sells higher rated LEDs, but I'd have to rig some kinda housing for them, and try to keep the housing as small & lightweight as possible so that it wouldn't affect the kite's performance. Also, I'd need to rig some lights to my board or buggy if I really wanted to get serious about night kiting on wheels. I'm surprised someone hasn't put out a solid lighting solution for traction kites. I've seen LED kits for stunt kites and other framed kites, but nothing for foils.

A friend made the simpler (yet more expensive) suggestion of using night-vision goggles, heh..

edit: sorry for the derail! :roll:

no worries , the night would be my specialty log hundreds hours at night.

the early sunset does break up the show.

you don't need to light the kite ,you only need points of reference.

it is a battery hungry event


led's about 20hrs by far the best (blue)
single AAA alum mag lite 4-6 hrs and the sloppppwly fade. a distant 2nd (silver)

these where cheap and not very tough but good for a few sessions "finger lights " salt air, moisture, sand destroys the switch

Cheer up guys, the days will get shorter for only about 6-7 more weeks! 3 months and we'll be back where we are now. I bet Guam doesn't have this problem. Or UAE. huh Sand Yeti?