Date:	Tue, 4 Jul 1995 14:03:32 -1000
From:	dlw@odi.com (Dan Weinreb)
Message-Id: <DLW.95Jul5000332@butterball.odi.com>
Organization: Object Design Inc., Burlington, MA
Subject: Gallops Island Kite Fly, Boston Harbor

On July 2, Don MacCasland of "Kites of Boston" (currently the only
kite store in the Boston area, as far as I can tell) ran a Kite Fly
event on Gallops Island in the Boston Harbor.  About a dozen of us
went; the event was also publicized in the newspaper and was part
of the whole "Harborfest" cluster of events, so we were joined by
various families with ordinary kids' kites (and even one kid with
a stunt kite).

I'm a beginning stunt-kiter and this was my first opportunity to meet
some of the experienced stunt kiters from the Boston area.  I was
happy to find that they are very friendly people.  I felt included and
comfortable, and they were happy to provide advice and answer
questions.  I've sometimes found myself with "in" groups who are
insular and cliquish; this was exactly the opposite.  Don himself was
especially friendly and helpful, providing many useful hints and
helping me untangle my lines at one point.

Unfortunately, the weather was not magnificent.  It didn't rain, but
for much of the day the wind was only 3 mph.  It picked up a little in
the afternoon but was gusty.  Several people brought lots of equipment
that they weren't able to fly at all, due to the lack of wind.  (A few
others had ultralights that did quite well in 3 mph.  One of them let
me try his, and I was impressed at how easy it was to handle, probably
because it wasn't going very fast.)  I did get to fly my Eclipse later
in the day.  I also had fun helping some of the kids with their
single-line kites, improvising tails out of left-over plastic bags and
so on.  It wasn't ideal but everyone had a good time.



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