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Garbasail project, part 3

Finally! After some last works on our garbasail we made it to the beach and let it fly. :-)

The last things we had to do was taping the diagonal lines, making the corners a bit stronger with more duct tape, preparing the handlebar (we used one from a bike :-) ), cutting the strings and tying them to the handlebar and the garbasail.

Yesterday we tried it out on the beach in Zandvoort, Netherlands then. The weather was perfect, there was lots of space, strong wind and the garbasail did exactly what we hoped for. It was strong enough to drag us across the beach but not too strong to handle or to break.
Though, after the first two "flights" it did get all tangled up. Untangling it wasn't easy since we didn't want to get into the strings while it was blowing up. We would have needed more people to handle this. Nonetheless, we had about 4 to 5 really good rides and a lot of fun.

I put the photos of our flights and some construction details up on Flickr. This is the first time I use Flickr - I didn't know their interfaces are such a mess. But all in all it's easier than just having a few pictures in the blog entries.

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Re: Garbasail project, part 3

Dude, you guys made an AWESOME Garbasail. Nice job, thanks for the link to the pics. You have built and flown the first blue Garbasail known to man. I like that first pic where it's almost perfect. I would highly recommend making the ropes shorter... just over the length of the longest side of the sail. You will have more successful flights, less tangle, and more excellent photos, although your photos are already excellent. Also, be careful with those bike handlebars! A heavy wind could spring them out of your hands, and into someone else. I use and recommend a wood dowel which could break with enough force, wrapped repeatedly with duct tape. I also place folded up paper towels in between the many layers of tape, to create a soft and slightly pliable surface, such as that of a softball. A little padding will go a long way for safety. Thanks for sharing the info!

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