The agony and the ecstasy of paragliding

February 18, 2013

Hang at 12 o'clock high

Today ended like most of the others this week.  I had nice initial climbs and then sunk out down range well short of my goal.   OK this probably wasn’t a 160 kilometer day but I should have done better. 

 I have come to the conclusion (again) that I really do need to improve my cloud flying.

Themaling over launch

All that said I had a lot of fun.  Two hours and six minutes in two flights.  I climbed up to cloudbase from launch easily on both flights.  Then I lost it going for my first cloud on the first flight.  Arriving over another brown field I could not find a thermal to climb out on.  I had about a one kilometer hike out to the road.  Mary Beth was tracking me and was waiting for me when I got to the road.

Mary Beth arrives...

I decided to try again.  On the second flights I’ve been making this week I have tried to get back to Manilla.  It is a challenge because it has always been upwind.  Winds were pretty dead on the East Launch when I got there.  Mary Beth helped me lay the wing out.  I was expecting to do a forward and glide down to a landing at Godfrey’s farm.  It was looking pretty overcast.  Just off launch I found a thermal and started turning.  It took me all the eay to cloudbase but tracked me over the back a ways.

At cloud base again...

I pushed back east over the hill and headed southeast along the range towards Manilla.  Amazingly I found another thermal and climbed back up a little.  But from then on it was sink city.  I found a field and circled over it maintaining around 680 meters but couldn’t take it higher.  Finally I gave up and headed downwind gliding to Godfrey’s farm.

Getting back to Manilla we went to the IGA and bought frozen dinners and after a shower I started working on installing new door speakers in the Pathfinder.  Tomorrow we will have a new radio installed.  The current one will only play purchased CD’s and has crappy sound.  I borrowed a soldering iron from David at River gums Caravan Park.  

I just finished before the rains came.

Tomorrow is another day.