Kite sailing

Yesterday I met my sister, bought lunch at Subway, and went for a ride down to Clinton Lake.  We didn't have a particular spot in mind, just some place to sit near the water and reap the healing benefits of Nature in her finest.

It turned out that there were no picnic tables anywhere we went, but there was something better.  Pulling into the marina we saw the usual assortment of inboards and out boards, sail boats and fishing boats, all moored neatly in their places.  Out on the water we saw some dancing kites.

Well, not exactly kites, they were more like a combination parachute and kite.  We drove down the crunchy little rock road and over towards a dock where some jet skis were parked and that is where we parked.

There was a beautiful ballet going on out on the water as the kites dipped and swirled, followed by small figures in wet suits on boards.  From where we sat it appeared they must have biceps of steel, but we found out later the men wore heavy belts with big stainless steel hooks that connected them to these kites.  All they really had to do was steer.

And yet steering was quite an art. We watched as they zigzagged and spun, dipped and nearly flew, at times actually being air borne and seeming to fly over the water.  All of this strictly wind powered.

As we watched the four on the water, another man came around the peninsula carrying his kite all packed up.  And that is how we had the chance to see how they got going.

One of the men on the lake came in and the man on shore traded with him so we got to watch as he made his way out onto the lake.  The man who gave him his kite came over to talk to us.  They were surprisingly old, probably in their fifties and he had a British accent.  Last week they were kite sailing off of Cape Hatteras.  Today they were teaching a fifteen year old friend how to do it here in Illinois.  He showed us the gear and explained how it worked and then sauntered back to his truck.

We watched for a little longer, finished our lunch and drove home, but it was a beautiful way spend an afternoon.