Teston again

Another day at Teston bridge picnic site, but this time conditions were pretty good. The wind was its usual self all afternoon, coming and going , but it was blowing along the valley, which meant it was much more consistent than usual. So I decided to try and KAP the bridge and lock, and put up the flowform 30 to start. I had single fluffy tail on, but it proved too much for the kite as the wind was low, so the tail came off which allowed the kite to attain a much better flying angle.

Now I tried to position myself as close to the bridge as possible. First time out, the wind droped and I had to retreat to safety away from the trees. Meanwhile I also needed to discover why the rig was jittering and the camera continually firing. The second was easy, the trimmer for the shutter release had moved. The first was because the tx aerial wasn't fully extended.

So with those problems solved, back to my position of comfort by the bridge and hope to get a couple of decent shots. Well I got what I think is a nice one of the bridge


and a nice one looking up river towards the lock.


The latter one needed a little bit of fiddling in photoshop to compensate for teh bright sky.

Now another problem, I'd lost pan control. everything else was working fine. So bring the kite down to see that at some point, the support for the pan servo had bent slightly and was now just failing to engage the pan gear. This was easily fixed, but being a lazy sort, and having got the two keeper photos that I wanted, I called it a day for KAP and spent a pleasant afternoon just flying kites.

Berck 2007

Despite all adversity, the three stooges finally managed to turn up at Berck on Easter weekend. Initially we had problems finding a hotel. In fact the closest that was willing to let out three single rooms was in Boulogne. aware of our plight, Heather came to the rescue and suggested we contacted her neighbour who had a holiday cottage somewhere near Le Touquet. The deal was struck and we headed off on Good Friday. We had booked a sailing at about 1pm, but Dover ferry terminal was remarkably quiet considering. Eventually we found our way into Calais, and headed for Cite Europe to get supplies for the evening (beer, wine, cheese and bread). With the car now fully loaded, we headed off to find Hubersent.

Hubersent is a tiny little village, a little south of Samer, just off the N1. There is nothing there! Well there is a church,

which is closed and seems to have been replaced by a modern village hall. A monument to our lady of Boulogne

which is closed up, a cross in the village "centre"

and some houses and farm buildings, and that is it. No shops, but we had been warned.

The cottage was a pretty, rustic old farm cottage I guess.

And having got there, our problems began. Nothing to do with the cottage you understand, it was the idiot holding the key. It didn't seem to fit any of the locks! About to phone for assistance, when Bill noticed that there was another lock on the front door. Sure enough the key fitted this one. At last we gained entry, and the most striking feature was the fireplace that dominates the loungs.

But boy were we glad of this in the evening as we struggled to figure out how to get the heating and hot water to work. But eventually all problems were solved and we settled down to enjoy our stay. Whilst the cottage is very old, it has all mod cons inside - dishwasher, microwave, oven, hob, etc.

Saturday comes, and we felt we should put in an appearance at Berck, so we headed off down the N1, which takes you straight there. Unfortunately, the traffic jam getting into the town started just where the N1 crosses the A16. Fortunately it only continued to the cross roads at Rang du Fliers, but it still took us best part of an hour to get there, having taken about 15 minutes from the cottage to the back of the jam!

But we got there, parked and headed off to the beach. There was quite a stiff breeze and we wandered along and around looking at the various displays and kites. The wind garden was just below the carousel this year, and in addition to the traditional wind toys, there was a magnificent maze. Fellow Kaper Gerhard got some nice photos of it, which you can see here http://www.drachenwelt.at/kap/2007/2_berck/pages/berckgd039.htm.

Nothing much new in the sky though, but on the ground were two magnificent windmills, one stamping out metal discs

and the other was a clock (not the most accurate timepiece being wind powered).

In one of the display tents there were some fabulous Edos and a magnicent chines dragon.



During the afternoon it turned cloudy and chilly so we headed off to the supermarket to pick up supplies for the evening, for chef Bill to make the most of. As we returned to Hubersent, it was clear that the fine weather was to the north, and the cloudy weather down south.

Sunday came, and we took the coast road down through Etaples to get to Berck this time. We arrived much earlier, but it was already difficult to park. Glorious sunshine all day long. There should be a warning around some of the arenas, as this bloke obviously fell over the barrier!


After renewing acquaintances at the beach cafe, it was time to go and fly. I had taken my new maxi dopero with me, so I went to the beach whilst the others went back to the car to get kites. It was a bit of a struggle getting the kite put together to start with, as it was first time out, but before long, it was flying, and attracted the attention of other kapers. Funny how a dopero can act as a honeypot to kapers. Wicherd wandered by at the bottom of his maxi; Wolfgang came to get a photgraph or three, and Peter (van Erkel) came over for a chat. This just goes to reinforce the great community spirit between kapers.

Having given the maxi its maiden voyage, we chatted for a while and then met up with other KKF members who had made the day trip. Finally we decided to grab an evening meal in Berck, as there was no way of getting out of the town! I have seen Berck crowded before, but I don't think I have ever seen crowds like this. It was almost impossible to move on the beach!

Having eaten, we headed back to the beach for an hours flying before making the coastal journey back to the cottage.

Monday came and time to think about returning home. So after breakfast, we cleaned up and eventually set off. The plan was to stop off in Boulogne for a fly, but it was impossible to find anywhere to park, at about noon. So we headed off along the coastal road to Calais, to see if we could get any better luck. Not really! It was only when we got to a cpot between Bleriot Plage and Calais Plage that we found a large empty carpark and decided to stop and try our luck. A good breeze was blowing along the beach, so I decided to try out the Trident, Bill went for the Outerspace and Matt the 10m Peel! Refreshed, we decided coffee and frites were required before heading off to the ferry. Big mistake. It took about 20 minutes from taking the order to things arriving, and as Matt said, it takes some doing to find the only French food establishment to make an English greasy spoon look positively Egon Ronay! Never mind! we cut through the town and got to the ferry port to join the queue with the Carl Robertshaw procession. And so to home to end one of the most enjoyable flying trips I've had in a long time.