And this winter we got lots done. Here Karen is removing the old crumbling flotation from the 1977 Melges M20 that our friend Eric Hall converted to an I20. That styrofoam looks like it might be 30 years old! Karen had to crawl below deck to pull out the yukky stuff. And she went below again to install the newstuff…very brave!
Wow..that stuff was clogging up the bailers and the river!
Stew spent his time on windward sheeting cars for both I20s. Those sure work nice when dropping the traveler in a puff. Stay tuned for a shot of the new traveler support Stew bedded across the Melges cockpit. Nice!
The big unexpected job was late March and early April when a sidestay broke on Whistlebritches leaving us without a mast in the middle of the Potomac. New gooseneck, shrouds and a different mast hinge were all installed. The boom vang should work better with this new configuration.
And this winter we got lots done. Here Karen is removing the old crumbling flotation from the 1977 Melges M20 that our friend Eric Hall converted to an I20. That styrofoam looks like it might be 30 years old! Karen had to crawl below deck to pull out the yukky stuff. And she went below again to install the newstuff…very brave!
Wow..that stuff was clogging up the bailers and the river!
Stew spent his time on windward sheeting cars for both I20s. Those sure work nice when dropping the traveler in a puff. Stay tuned for a shot of the new traveler support Stew bedded across the Melges cockpit. Nice!
The big unexpected job was late March and early April when a sidestay broke on Whistlebritches leaving us without a mast in the middle of the Potomac. New gooseneck, shrouds and a different mast hinge were all installed. The boom vang should work better with this new configuration.
We are very sorry to say that Mike (aka Miguel Lopez) died at home, Tuesday, Dec. 6. Our buddy was 11 years old, going on 12. He had been diagnosed with cancer in September and hung on for more than two months with his usual good humor and big ol’ smile. We always felt he was just on loan to us. So it helps a bit to think someone else might be enjoying this angel now.
In lieu of flowers or a card, we would love if you shared a “Mike memory” here on this page, in the comment box below the photos… or on any of the picture pages you can open by clicking on the thumbnails below. Thank you and much love, Stew, Karen and Aggie.
The camera is suspended from the line, which is attached to the kite, creating a bit of a shock absorber. A battery powered servo rotates the camera rig every 30 seconds and snaps a picture. Winds can blow the camera around, so we use a fast shutter of at least 1/400 second. It takes about 12 mph of wind to lift the rig. On this day, we had 15-20 mph and the kite shot up like an elevator with almost no coaxing. The view is of the Congressional Cemetery on Capitol Hill. It is a 35-acre burial ground with about 55,000 “residents.” The river is the Anacostia, a tributary of the mighty Potomac. Big thanks to kite wrangler Rasheed Willis for his exceptional work on this project.
Looking east at the end of day you can see the upper bend of the Anacostia. That building is DC Jail.
This shows the road that goes south east toward the Anacostia River. You can just make out the 11th St. Bridge.
The camera rotated toward the setting sun and these beautiful flares were a lovely accident.
Some of the orange trees in the foreground are Cherry trees which really colored up this year, perhaps becuase of all the rains.
This shows the hills of Anacostia across the river of the same name.
If you follow the line down to the ground…you will see the kite operator frantically trying to bring the rig down to the ground. In 20mph winds…that thing wanted to stay aloft!
This totem pole was set up as a native american tribute to 9/11. Camera was only about 80 feet off the ground in this shot.
Whoa…gotta catch the rig before it smashes into one of those stones!
