Yesterday, was the weirdest of wind days I’ve ever encountered & have seen some pretty strange wind conditions in the desert over the last 2 decades.
During the 30 minute drive out to my buggy spot there was a good breeze blowing. As soon as I set up my buggy, donned my body armour, it dropped to zero. i.e. throw a handful of sand in the air & it came straight back down with no indication at all what direction it should be blowing. Being optimistic, I laid out my 8.5m Blade (biggest kite I had with me in the car).
I sat and sweated in the windless heat (44ºC) under my ghaf tree, then a gentle breeze stirred my kite & I struggled to get it flying. Good I’m off albeit slowly. After 400 metres it fluttered down & this time I was sat under the burning sun waiting for the next breeze to stir. This start-stop procedure carried on for over 30 minutes. During one stopped period I could feel the sweat running down my back. I put my hand on my helmet but not for long as it too bloody hot to touch.
The last time the kite came down, I thought, ‘Sod it, I’ll pack up & go home’.
I packed up the kite and suddenly saw the floor turn into a yellow dust cloud a little ahead as wind whipped up the surface. A welcoming good breeze hit me & I was indecisive as to whether it would be the 4.0 or 4.9 Blade. I opted for the 4.9 Blade thinking that this blast would soon ease off.
Now I began motoring. I ate up a string of dunes in an overpowered condition & made a fast run to a farm on the edge of Buggydrome. I dropped the kite by the farm to rest & to take a few gulps of water, which as you can imagine is sort of necessary from time to time in the mid 40’s heat. I switched off my GPS as I was concerned that the batteries could be running low.
I got off and after less than 2 kms noticed I forgotten to switch on my GPS (probably an age thing). I put the kite down, switched on my GPS & guess what? The great wind dropped to zero. ‘What to do now’, I thought. I wrapped the handles around one of my rear wheels and walked the 40 m to my kite thinking all the way if I should I pack up or try with my large Blade?
The 4.9m Blade was neatly shoved into its bag and with the available breeze decided on my 6.5m Blade. Suddenly a wall of yellow dust headed straight for the buggy & me standing 40m away by my kite.
‘I don’t believe this’, thinking that I should have put on the 4.0m Blade. The wall of dust obscured the view I had of my buggy & I braced myself ready for the wind wall to whack into me. As abruptly as this wind appeared it took a rapid right turn & headed off towards the farm. I watched as the floor clouded with yellow dust enveloped the farm. I was left untouched.
With the gentle breeze I continued on my way with the 6.5m Blade doing its thing. It was only after 6 p.m. that the wind steadied. At 6:45 p.m. I packed up because the earlier nights are coming & the rapid darkness now on us at 7 p.m.
Upon reflection I thought to myself that if the wind was always like this I would look to get back into SCUBA diving, which is a less wind dependent hobby.