Learning how to...

... fly a traction kite.

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to experiment with the kite that you see on the photo. My cousin have bought it recently, and we went to a park and tried it.

This is a four-meter drag kite. And what does this mean?

• It is called a foil kite or parafoil. Here is a good definition: "a soft kite , consisting of a number of cells running fore to aft, some or all of which are open at the front to allow air to inflate the kite." (Thanks to wikipedia TM) :)
  
• This kind of "flying element" is big. It is easily seen in the distance. There are bigger ones, but its size is enough to pull you.
• Pull you? Yes! That is its main purpose. People use them to jump, carry them (with skies, snowboards, skateboards and this type of stuff) "Due to the amount of power that these kites can generate, they can be used for a number of different activities including kitesurfing, kiteboarding on land, snowkiting, kite bugging and recreational kiting."
• It carries four lines or wires. Two of them are the main controls. The other two are the brakes.
• A great advantage is that, it hasn´t rigid stuff, so although during the fligth is a four meter long thing, it easily fits in a small bag. Moreover, the assembly and disassembly is very fast.
  

It was my first time with this kind of kite. I had "piloted" acrobatic smaller ones, but the sensations were totally different. When you begin flying it, it seems that it wants to "take you off". But once that I realised how to dominate the force (and the brakes), the fun started.

There is an angle range where it really shows the force (between 45 to 70 degrees from the horizontal) that it can develop. If you maintain it at this position for long, your arms will get tired quickly. So its better to combine it with the "top position". This is the highest point that the kite can reach, and it keeps more or less stabilized, without pulling you much.

So I learnt the basis, and I started spinning it. First to one side, then to other. At this point, I was losing the initial fear. The kite started pulling me with force, and I was carried about twenty meters from the initial point. (I have to say that we were on a grass ground, so it was as if you did some kind of grass-skying.) ;)
The wind wasn´t blowing at high speed, but I could made a couple of short jumps. I felt that it is a short bite of the sensations of flying. And I want more!

In conclusion: I had such a great time, so I´m now considering to buy my own one. Maybe this weekend. I will keep you informed... What about trying it at "El Médano"?

Full Moon

I´ve just gone to put the rubbish out, and I have realised that tonight there is a splendid moon in the sky (tomorrow it will be full).

It illuminates all around: some clouds above, the sea and the shapes of the mountains. This kind of nocturnal landscape makes me think in walking in the countryside and taking photos.
When you look at it directly, the light that arrives to you eyes comes to be almost unbearable. In contrast, it has something that deeply attracts me. Am I under a moon´s spell?

Tomorrow, I´ll have to get up early, otherwise, I would try a short walk near my house. Maybe other day.

Where am I?

Between water and earth, between ligth and darkness, in the middle of nowhere, inside the deepest blue
outside outer space...

Travelling fast, dreaming,
just woken up, singing,
Landscapes passing,
pick my camera.

Try to capture the new day, but I can´t.
I have failed one more time, and then,
I will realise that I don´t want to arrive.
I will prefer to stay in a train, watching an endless dawn.

Trip´s journal, chapter III, Finland

Rock the night

Today it´s Saturday, so let´s see what the city has for us. I am thinking about going to the cinema, but the only thing that I really know is that tonight I will see darkness and flashes, my ears will suffer and maybe I will attempt to dance. Let´s rock the nigth!

I've gone through changes
I've gone through pain
But there's not enough reason for me to go insane
I know the feeling, just when it grows
I'm in a rage up from my head down to my toes.

You know it ain't easy
Running out of thrills
You know it ain't easy
When you don't know what you want, what do you want.

Rock now, rock the night
'Til early in the morning light
Rock now, rock the night
You'd better believe it's right.

I know my limit
Just what it takes
When things ain't good enough
I just pull the brake
Sometimes it's easy
Sometimes so tough
But just have one thing clear
I can't get enough.

Europe - Rock the night

Here comes the weekend

Yes, It´s Friday. And many people associate this day and the nexts with fun and relax. Here is a bit of the opposite feelings ;)

Every shape
of every word you say
that breaks the silence
of an ordinary day.
Every look
that seems to mystify,
every single smile
that spins me to the sky.
It makes me wanna run,
it makes me wanna hide.
Cos you're the only one
that makes me come alive.
It's getting closer now and darker by the hour.
It only goes to show
that here it comes,
here comes the weekend
and I'm on my own again
with a Saturday in the rain.
Here it comes,
here comes the weekend.
The fine line from pleasure to pain
is making me cry.
When will I see you again?
Every breath,
every vision you make.
Every chance in love
you love to take.
Every move
that seems to alter my world.
Every dream
I've had about this boy and this girl.
It makes me wanna run,
it makes me wanna hide
cos you're the only one
that makes my love alive
and time is running fast into a new goodbye.
It only goes to show
that here it comes,
here comes the weekend,
another walk down that lonely lane,
another Sunday that feels the same.
Here it comes,
here comes the weekend.
The fine line from pleasure to pain
is making me cry.
When will I see you again?

Roxette - Here comes the weekend