2012 Big Cormorant Lake outing

With new baby in tow we headed to MN for a week of rest, relaxation and hopefully some wind. Of course, we had a great week with hot weather and almost no wind. One thing I noticed after buying a kite is the wind doesn’t blow nearly as much as I once thought it did. While gazing out the cabin window the morning of July 4th, I was excited to see a few white caps rolling into the bay. I started getting things together and ran out to the middle of the lake to take a wind reading. Wind was a little light between 9-16mph. Wind was out of the South and I was on the North end of the lake so I put my gear in the boat and drove over to the South side. There is an open sandy beach tucked into a small tree-lined bay on this side of the lake so I got my gear ready there. The plan was to drift launch and slowly move out of the trees’ wind shadow. My plan would have worked really well except the seasonal boat parade came around the corner just as I was going to get started. So I waited for the parade to go by and followed the plan. I drifted out with no problem but it was slow and I could tell the wind was going down. When I did get out of the wind shadow I was able to get the kite in the air. The wind was borderline and I had to work to keep the kite in the air. I was really working it but still couldn’t stay up for very long. I tried for quite a while but eventually I couldn’t get the kite in the air anymore and had to call it quits. I pulled the center lines toward me and grabbed the kite. Then I had the boat come over and loaded everything back up in the boat. I deflated the kite as I rolled it into the boat to make it easier to get in.

It wasn’t a great kite day but I got some practice and that is always a good thing. With the light wind I got to practice the deep water launches and starts a lot. The kite has a tendency to fall out of the sky in strange ways in light wind so I got some practice getting it squared away again after those strange landings. So if you are wondering if it is worth going out on borderline days I would say yes.