Power Kiting!

Jared grabs some serious air while powerkiting for the first time! Phil's kite takes Jared for a ride.

Power Kiting!

My classmate and good friend Philip Roy does 'Power Kiting' as a hobby. Beaches are one of the best places to fly these kites, so of course he brought his kite along to senior trip. I had always been interested in trying out his kite; senior trip was the perfect opportunity. I spent two glorious afternoons with Phil and his kite and we had a lot of fun. Here are some photos of me.

Jared stands next to the kite.

Above you see me standing next to the Power Kite. This sucker is 6.3 meters across. As you can see, that's pretty big. And it's the size that gives you the pull to do the amazing jumps you see photographed here. (Actually, my jumps aren't that amazing except for my lack of kiting experience. Phil does better.) Phil has a new kite now; it's somewhat larger than 9 meters.

Phil untangles the lines. Here on the left you see Phil^, the man behind the action. Yes sir, if it weren't for Phil, there would be no kite, and if there was no kite, I may have become a little more bored on senior trip during the afternoons and you would be a little more bored looking at a page with no pictures of me flying across the sand. Yup, Phil^ makes us happy. Especially when he untangles the strings.

In this picture the kite is pulling me across the sand. It was amazing the power you got from this thing. It was funny to watch it forcibly pull me, Phil, or whoever, across the sand. Of course, if we had known that it was going to do that when it did, we would have jumped and 'caught some air'! The kite drags Jared across the beach, leaving two skid marks where his feet were.

Here you see me on one of my best jumps for the two days. Pretty nifty, huh? Phil was really impressed by how quickly I picked up some of the skills. (Not to say I was great or anything...I also landed his kite in the ocean by accident...) Jared grabs some air.

Here's a another good jump. I really liked Power Kiting. It's a real workout, I tell ya. Together, Phil and I couldn't handle more than about 2 hours, including set up and wrap up. You've got to watch it when you start getting tired. Because when you start getting tired, you may slip up... Another good jump by Jared.

...and fall. And when you fall, the kite usually drags you a bit. Here I am eating some dirt. Actually, these pictures are from the second day. You should have seen the fall on the first day...the one where the kite dragged me 60 yards with Phil desperately trying to catch me but laughing so hard he couldn't. I was laughing, too. It was hilarious! I earned the top fall in Phil's Falls of Fame. Jared takes a plunge into the sand.

"Why don't you just let go?" you might ask. Well, to let go would be to risk the kite being lost in the ocean or some similar problem. Phil warned me to not let go of the kite, and I'm good at sticking with something like that. Plus, on that 60-yard drag, I was hoping I'd go that extra 10 yards over those cute sunbathers...

Back to Senior Trip Gallery Internet Empire HQ Posted July 2002

	Here on the left you see Phil^, the man behind the action. Yes sir, if it weren't for Phil, there would be no kite, and if there was no kite, I may have become a little more bored on senior trip during the afternoons and you would be a little more bored looking at a page with no pictures of me flying across the sand. Yup, Phil^ makes us happy. Especially when he untangles the strings.
In this picture the kite is pulling me across the sand. It was amazing the power you got from this thing. It was funny to watch it forcibly pull me, Phil, or whoever, across the sand. Of course, if we had known that it was going to do that when it did, we would have jumped and 'caught some air'!
Here you see me on one of my best jumps for the two days. Pretty nifty, huh? Phil was really impressed by how quickly I picked up some of the skills. (Not to say I was great or anything...I also landed his kite in the ocean by accident...)
Here's a another good jump. I really liked Power Kiting. It's a real workout, I tell ya. Together, Phil and I couldn't handle more than about 2 hours, including set up and wrap up. You've got to watch it when you start getting tired. Because when you start getting tired, you may slip up...
...and fall. And when you fall, the kite usually drags you a bit. Here I am eating some dirt. Actually, these pictures are from the second day. You should have seen the fall on the first day...the one where the kite dragged me 60 yards with Phil desperately trying to catch me but laughing so hard he couldn't. I was laughing, too. It was hilarious! I earned the top fall in Phil's Falls of Fame.
"Why don't you just let go?" you might ask.	Well, to let go would be to risk the kite being lost in the ocean or some similar problem. Phil warned me to not let go of the kite, and I'm good at sticking with something like that. Plus, on that 60-yard drag, I was hoping I'd go that extra 10 yards over those cute sunbathers...