It was a trip long in the planning. As we boarded the plane to Cancun, the foremost question in our mind was, would the winds be right to fly the giant octopus kite?
In Cancun we were joined by American kite fliers Richard and Marti Dermer, Penny Lingenfelter and Melanie Koenig. We also had two Canadian kite fliers with us for the weekend, Bud Taylor and Sharon Musto.
We used the grounds of the Acapulco restaurant as our staging area. The Acapulco is at the end of the road going north in Isla Blanca. It’s at a point where the Ocean and the lagoon are only about 350 feet apart.
Saturday dawned a beautiful day, but the winds were strong. The kids from La Casita orphanage were already waiting when our van pulled up. The Dermers soon got them flying with their own workshop Sled kites. Unfortunately, the winds were so strong that the kite hospital had to be opened almost immediately! Soon more kids from La Gloria English School on Isla Mujeres joined us. Besides the kites, the kids had fun playing with the UFO and butterfly wind toys. They also enjoyed playing soccer on the beach. Some dressed up with Penny as creatures from Dr. Seuss. In the afternoon we had bol races. However, the wind was so strong that we put two or three kids on one bol, and some smaller kids had an adult to help keep them from flying away.
At the beach we were joined by local kite fliers Roberto and Cari, who we met at last years festival. They helped show the children how to fly their kites. Cari also courageously translated “The Cat in the Hat” into Spanish for Penny!
The kite boarders from Morph Kite Boarding School were out in force, and it was a thrilling sight to see them skimming over the shallow waters of the lagoon.
Bud and Sharon helped paint the sky with lifters that held up a whole basket of line laundry. Bud and Melanie are both kite aerial photographers, and got some amazing shots of the festival from the air. David Furchtgott from Morph Kite Boarding had his video camera out and caught a lot of shots that he put up on Flickr. Watch the video.
After hot dogs, a drink, and chips provided by Let’s Fly Kites at the Restaurant Acapulco, it was time to wind down. Each kid went home with a small toy provided by Andy and Nancy Myers from “Give a Gift, Get a Smile”.
Sunday the winds were 10-12 miles an hour, and blew steadily. Perfect weather for the octopus! Both the octopus and the kite arch that the Dermers put up got a lot of attention from the beach goers who strolled by. The kids also enjoyed the “cat” that the Dermers were flying. The boys from La Casita impressed the Dermers and the crowd by creating a kite train from their sled kites. This year they had eleven sleds on one line. With a average separation of about seventy five feet per kite the top sled was really high. Shall we go for more next year?
The kite boarders did not have enough wind Sunday, but they enjoyed relaxing on the beach and watching the colorful spectacle that filled the sky.
Everyone had a great time, and we are all looking forward to doing it again next year on the last weekend in February. You are welcome as well. We will have a great host hotel, a food sponsor. and a beautiful location to fly kites.
Isla Blanca Kite Festival 