Lets Go Fly A Kite

Last week was characterized by a failed attempt to fly a kite. All the kids were down below in lessons and Skipper John and I were on deck headed toward Sansum Narrows where the wind was funneling in giving us what we thought was definately enough wind to fly a kite!
So off Skipper went to get all the supplies we needed for our "storm kite" wooden dowel, heavy duty canvas, and marline of course (what could we really do without the marline?) In any case, we decide to go with the classic top heavy diamond shape and soon have a frame constructed, the canvas tied on and a swallow-tailed double tail. It was beautiful, and even though the wind was dying slightly we still through her up to let her fly. We were however, thoroughly dissapointed when she dived right down to the water... No matter, a few quick tweaks and some bridal adjustments and she would fly, we just knew it!
However, about 45 minutes later, and with little to no success we packed it in. Soon some trainees found the kite and decided to give it a try. But I guess it really did think it belonged in the water, because on their first toss it unleashed itself and dived into the water as we slowly watched it float away.
Lesson learned: Kites must be made of light weight materials, and have optimum flying winds to reach the desired altitude.