Kites are built to be flown, and to get it right you have to know a little something about weather patterns.

Mr. Tuzo said: "It's important to know the wind. I study the wind. I look at the clouds -- if I see they are traveling, I put on more tail. If the wind is very light, I put on less tail and I use a very light line.'' "Ten knots is good enough to fly a kite, but 30 knots may be too much. Ten to fifteen knots is good,'' he said. "If you got a kite up and it dips and spins, you need to bring it down and put on more tail. If a kite hangs low, it makes a lot of noise. The more a kite moves, the more noise it makes.

"It is better to fly a kite in a wide open space than tucked into a corner.'' Undeterred by the fact that his home is in a protected spot, he explained that he flies kites from his roof-top. Another of his favourite locations is Pembroke Dump.

"During the lunch hour, I may put one up, and after work I bring it down, or I leave it up overnight. I fly kites all year round, summer and winter.

I've flown a kite on a boat from St. George's to Somerset, and I've flown a kite while floating in an inner tube,''he said.

Years ago, Mr. Tuzo remembered visitors to the Island would come specifically to see the magnificent sight of kites filling the skies, jostling for space.

He believes those days are completely over.

"The tradition of Bermuda kites will just fade out because too many plastic kites have taken over,'' he said.