I am excited about the venue at the covered rodeo grounds in Kahuku: the Pohaku Nui Ranch. Thanks to hard charging new pilot Keal for offering us this unique location for our club event. 56-970 Kamehameha Hwy, in Kahuku.
https://www.pohakunuiranch.com/
Keal has been flying off the property, so maybe bring a wing.
Potluck style, so bring something to eat and drink. I hope to see you all there.
Hi everyone,
As you know, my Dad died last summer after a multi-year bout with cancer.
I was lucky to be in Cave Creek, Arizona for his last months and have spent the last year handling his affairs, trying to guess his passwords, and considering how to best honor his passing.
Thanks to an amazing offer from his paragliding community (and some hints from him, too) I will be hosting a Celebration of Life for him in his favorite place (Hawai'i) doing his favorite pastime (paragliding). I think he would be pleased.
There will be snacks, sun, and plenty of Aloha.
What follows is a bit of my myopic view from our now annual paragliding competition in Chelan Washington. First, there are two different weeks of competitions, the first week is a ‘C’ glider comp, the second week is the US Nationals. Only JK and Reaper double dipped for the second week of fun!
Why teach?
Many years ago, when I watched some gliders run down a hill and get flight, I was so excited to see this. I had been a paratrooper in the Army and always wanted to fly again. I reached out to the skydiving community, but they wanted to charge me extra for my bad static line Army habits and charge my little brother less. I thought screw you guys. WTF? I’m a paratrooper, wtf could you teach me about jumping out of an airplane? (hehe, I had no idea back then).
Thirty-five years later and hundreds of students later I fulfilled my mission. I also spent many years since 1995 launching and rescuing paragliders when no-one else wanted to. As of 2021, I have successfully rescued over 175 pilots and two fatal recoveries. John Clifford died in a river in Pemberton that I found, and James Oroc (Aka Kiwi) we found in Eureka, NV last year. Closure is an amazing life spirituality. It’s good for the living.
On most days, the central flatlands of O'ahu are not an inviting place to fly a paraglider. When the trades are blowing, ragged stacks of cumulus tumble over the Ko'olau range into the saddle that connects the Honolulu suburbs with the North Shore. Here they regain some form passing over subdivisions, solar farms and agriculture land before getting supercharged in the Waianae mountains. If the winds are strong, the hot turbulent soup is swept westward, out to sea in long cloud streets that mark our position long before the island itself can be sighted on the horizon. When the air is still, low pressure systems usually provide ample moisture that collects in the gulches and the vegetation, until the morning sun lights the fuse. By lunchtime the cumulonimbus are breathing deep and by afternoon the center of island is cast into shadow and rain.
Reapers party pad, starting at 6pm at 660 Palawiki Street in Kailua. Pupus and drinks as usual.
Look forward to seeing everyone next week!
COVID rules will be in place, Reaper mom is there. Most of the action will be outdoors. Hopefully, everyone is vaccinated by now, but if you are really worried, stay home instead. And really, getting COVID isn’t even in the top three of bad things that can happen to you at Reapers party pad!
Seriously, we hope to see you all next Saturday!
If you say the word "Chelan" to a free flight pilot who has never been there, it triggers a mental cascade of images and lore passed through the ages. Dust Devils. Wind. Bombouts. Cloud streets. Turbulence. Big lines, big plans, personal bests, and stinging defeats. By the time Matty Senior came touring through Oahu in February with his merry band of crushers, a good percentage of the local crew had already plopped down six hundred bucks to attend his comp(s) this July and sample the goods.
The 2021 Ozone Chelan Open in Chelan WA just finished up and we had a big show of Hawaii monkeys there for the fun and the dust. The old crew: JK, Doug Hoffman (with son Matt) and I, along with the Maui guys Jeff and Louie. The hard charging newer guys, Drew and Marc. And the new comp pilots; Patrick, Marcel, Marissa and Nour. Reaper was also on hand volunteering and doing Reaper stuff all week. Alex couldn’t make it this year due to mechanical problems, lingering symptoms from his pneumonia, but was fully involved from back in Hawaii.
