Cedar Kite

I have been doing some research trips to the Bow with a larger carved cedar river kite. The design for this one is a large pontoon boat, about two feet wide and a foot and a half long. It was designed to be heavy enough to avoid flipping over sideways in strong current. One thing that I originally thought was a problem is that it has a tendency to flip end over end if you don't control it right. Turns out that when its upside down you can right the kite by yarding quite hard on the upstream control line, thus pulling the entire kite under water where it then flips itself back up. The following video might make things a little clearer.

Goosetoph - The surfing goose.

Photo by Janet Mader

To the right you can see the latest incarnation of the river kite theme, a surfing goose. Goosetoph, as he has become known, began life as a hunting decoy, destined to float in a pond luring his brethren to buckshot. Now he has a higher calling, surfing on standing waves in the Bow River in Calgary.
You can make your own version by following these steps.

1: Obtain a hunting decoy. My favorite are the large Canada Geese with what they call a water keel. What you are looking for is a large fin of plastic on its bottom end. Make sure the fin is sturdy, some are just too floppy to work. (See the pictures at the bottom of this post)

2: Drill two holes in the keel in the spots indicated. Basically just at the front and back of the fin.

3: Attach a long length of stout cord to the goose by knotting each end to the fin. The cord needs to be fairly thin and strong, parachute cord works, I use spectra kite boarding line, spectra fishing line should also work.

4: Surf your waterfowl. You need a section of the river with fairly high speed water. The toughest part is the launch as eddies form near the shore, a stout stick is usually sufficient to push the goose into the main current. Once there, experiment with pulling on the control lines to steer the goose back and forth, much like a stunt kite. The basic idea is to angle the fin relative to the current in the direction you want the goose to go. See the video in my previous post for what it should look like in action.

Be extremely careful as the current can be quite strong, make sure you are on stable footing and wont be dragged into the river. If you feel like you might fall in, just let go of the rope. I would advise against letting children operate the goose on fast water.

5: Take pictures and send them to me - I would love to see what you come up with and post it on my blog.

River Kite Whitewater Test

This project I am calling a river kite, it is essentially a two line stunt kite that flies in water, not air. The general principle of this is to place a board in a river, now by changing the angle of attack of the board relative to the water flow you can cause the board to sweep up or down stream. Floats are used to keep the board in the right orientation and control lines are affixed to the bow and stern. The goal of this piece is to create an object that facilitates exploration of a river through tactility. Its also just a lot of fun to play with.

Here is a short video showing an early prototype surfing in some whitewater on the Bow River here in Calgary.



The back story to this piece is that I spent quite a few summer days last year paddling down the bow river, playing in the eddies and current. From this experience I literally had a dream about a boat that could use the force of the river to float upstream. During a recent trip to BC I found myself camping next to a suitable river, so I spent a few hours whittling my idea from some scrap cedar, the result wasn't pretty but it proved the concept.
Further research taught me that the idea is not entirely novel, a similar rig is used for fishing in Sweeden as well as the otter boards on trawlers and mine sweepers. Oddly enough when I was purchasing some spectra line for this project from an absolutely fantastic kite equipment supplier in Airdrie I was informed about another gentleman who has applied the same principle for swift water rescue.