Amo el volar (I love Flying)

Today taught me how much influence the coast has on the Beechmont site. The two words "sea breeze" can be music to one persons ears, and poison to another's. If you like silky ridge soaring, its music. If you want thermals, it can be either poison or music - it just depends on when you launch.

Take today for example. Being Saturday, a bunch of locals show up, but because the top guns weren't there, I surmised it wasn't going to be a record breaking day. The clouds were pumping, the wind was perfect - except it was OTB (over the back).

During the several hours that pass as we wait for it to switch, you get to know who the funniest local is, and I think it would have to be either Phil M or Rob (who just retired from the military). Rob had a great story about when he did a night paratrooper jump and landed in a small pond. In the morning they hooked his parachute up to a vehicle and pull it out of the pond - and the parachute is full of crayfish. So they find some old rusty coffee cans and fill them up with the tasty critters.

The social interaction is half the fun of paragliding. Back to the flying. The wind switched at about 10:30 - it was the sea breeze moving up the valley and it pushed all the hot air up against the ridge and it released in a giant gush of hot air that soon started forming big Cu over head... No body's wing is ready and all the hot air is releasing and being replaced with heavy moist air... thermals will be scarce for the rest of the day if we can't ride this lift over the back and into the flats.

A mad frenzy of unfolding fabric ensues and one pilot gets launched. Soon the rest of us are standing on launch "all dressed up with no where to go" - the cycle has stopped and it's slightly over the back again. I time a little puff and jump into a nice thermal that takes me almost to base.

The wind is very north and this means a crosswind push to go toward the flats - I push out under a couple clouds and find no lift... so I go back to launch for a couple more climbs and realize this day isn't going anywhere because a few pilots have bombed out and a few have landed at the cricket pitch which is where I end up.

Johny Durand Jr. picks 4 of us up in his red Holden. 45 minutes in the air today, tomorrow we are driving towards Manilla.