Flying A Kite On Board?

[Mary Jane 711]

My husband got the idea from a message posted somewhere on these boards to fly a kite from the back of the ship while at sea. He is so enthusiastic about it..:o . I may just have to sit somewhere and pretend I don't know him:confused: . But if it all works out and a crowd of people show up and hes a big hit..I guess I will claim him again:p . I promise to take pictures and show everyone. We are going Dec 9th on the Regal Princess..Panama Canal...:)

[GoinCruisin]

I'm not sure what line you are cruising on, but I'm sure most of them have the same rules when it comes to this... NO KITES, for safety reasons... not to mention the fact that it would probably be ripped to shreds, LOL :D

 

You can pack them, but can't use them onboard...

[Heymem]

On our cruise last Feb. on the Zenith someone flew a kite every afternoon at sea. It was cool. Never saw who it was but enjoyed the kite anyway.

[Blizzard54]

I flew kites off the back of ships for years before I was told it was no longer allowed. Royal Caribean says NO.

 

I am not sure about other lines.

 

In the learning process I lost a few at sea.

 

As for how best to do it....

Triangle kits work best.

Use very strong line.

Replace the stick on the back with as thin a piece of dowel as you think you can get away with. If the kite takes a dive you want the stick to break if it hits the water. That way you have a chance to pull it out. If the stick does not break the kite may fill with water and you will lose it.

 

It is not easy getting the kite into stable air above the ship.

[Mary Jane 711]

We are sailing on the Regal Princess in Dec going thru the Panama Canal. HUsband has a nylon kite with some kind of fiberglass dowel thingy. He is an expert kite flyer. Believe me I can't talk him out of trying this. I am sure he will get it up. Almost positive....he also plans on flying one while we are in Acapulco. We didn't plan any excursions there and figure drinking and kite flying might make for a fun day. Hey I am just happy to be going on this cruise ..I don't care what we do.

[transat_jon]

I have had the idea of flying a kite off the stern of a ship as an oportunity to get some great video clips. Getting a steady picture would probably take a bit of experimenting.

 

This would mean needing quite a large kite and the prospect of loosing it does not bear thinking about!

[vanclan]

Mary Jane,

Be sure and post after your cruise to let us know how the kite flying goes!! We'll be waiting to hear!

[Mary Jane 711]

Well the kite flying went extremely well. We chose to fly our kites off the back of the ship from deck 8 which was quite secluded. In fact, we practically had it to ourselves. We flew three kites. A 9 foot kite (yes I said 9) over the Pacific. My husband got it up to 5000 feet, He used 200 pound nylon test line. Then he was able to fly it again in the Caribbean. Also flew a 7 footer and a bit smaller one. The smaller one proved to be the most difficult as it wanted to twist and turn and dive a lot. He had no problem flying them as he is a biit of an expert. And we did not lose any, but the tail did get into the water once. I will post some pics when I fugure out how to do that. We asked before we flew them and they said no problem and go right ahead. Was one of the highlights of our trip!!!:cool:

[Blizzard54]

I am glad to hear that Princess allows them. RCL does not. I flew them for years on a number of lines. On one occation I had one up as we left New York. I was gauging how high it was as we approched the Verenzano (sp) bridge. It got pretty close as we passed under.

 

I will have to remember to pack them next time we are on Princess.

[mrpilot]

Flying kites off ship can be relaxing and enjoyable. I watched a guy fly a kite for over an hour and everybody sat around and enjoyed the dips and dives and oohed and aahed. Then the captain made the guy bring it in because it might cause an international incident. The ship was the USS John R. Perry and we were in the northern missile range north of Hawaii observing (dodging) Russian test ICBMs. It was our duty to gather intellegence on their propulsions and guidance capabilities. We were at ground zero. The Russians had their own research ships out there also. Now back to the kite. Yep, nearly got it tangled in the Russian superstructure antennas and radar dishes. It was all very harmless and a bit of a challenge to annoy the Russkies with our 'kids toys', but our captain didn't see the humor I guess. That kind of put an end to the kite flying for us. But besides aggrivating the Russians it was kind of nice to fix our attentions on something other than what we were out there for. That was part of my second escapade in Uncle Sam's Canoe Club. First cruise was aboard an aircraft carrier off N. Viet Nam. I must admit the Canival cruise my wife and I took last summer was quite different than my earlier ones. If I had known that not all cruises were alike, we might have tried it many years ago. We had so much fun last summer, we are taking the Rhapsody out of Galveston on Jan 16th, '05. It's really great not having to share a cabin with 60 other sweating, snoring, farting cabinmates. And not having F-8s and A4s landing on the deck above really made it easier to relax. But I think I'll leave the kite flying to someone else....even though I have been told to go fly one more than once.

 

Why is there air? To fly in. Why is there water? To mix with the scotch and make ice.

 

onward thru the fog...

[Blizzard54]

mrpilot,

 

Great story.

Check the link in my sig. we have a roll call going of people sailing on the Rhapsody that week. Also be sure to sign up for the Meet & Mingle there is a link for that as well.

 

There is no kite flying on RCL ships. They say because if you were to lose one it polutes the enviroment... a bit silly but then....

 

Hope to meet you onboard in a little over 2 weeks

[Steamboatin]

Aboard the Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and the American Queen of the Delta Steam Boat Company the flying of kites over the paddle wheel is a sponsored event by the boat and they supply the kites.

[Sigtau21]

Sounds like a lot of FUN!!