Traveling to and flying new sites is one of the most amazing things about this sport. Flying is amazing and meeting the people who fly is amazing. The Hawaii flying community treats visiting pilots very well and I can say the same about San Luis Obispo.I have been wanting to fly in San Luis Obispo since last July/August. I had a meeting in LA then, and it's about a three hour drive. That trip conditions were iffy, so I went to the almost guaranteed site of Marshall instead. This week, I have meetings in Shell Beach. Here is a video of flying in front of our hotel. (Hope I get to do this.)
Here is my Tuesday report, I hope I also have a Friday and Saturday report:
Had fun with Tim at Cayucos yesterday. Tim set expectations low with a prediction of too cloudy for thermal and winds too light to soar, so a hike up sled down was expected.
Instead we were able to drive up vs hike up. Then Tim launched and stayed up! I launched but I didn't stay up very long.
After packing up I thought about all the little things I did wrong and I watched Tim do all the little things right. I kept thinking he would sink out, or top land from lack of lift, and drive down. Instead he top landed and relaunched a couple of times and was staying up.
So I hiked up and launched into a much fresher breeze after having Tim remind me to keep my eye on conditions, as it may get too strong at any minute. I went up quickly and out front to be safe. Eventually it lightened up again a bit, and since I was staying away from the terrain, and since I turned right when I should have gone straight, or turned left, or visa versa, I got too low and headed to the beach for a nice landing.
Thanks Tim for introducing me to a new site!!
Here is a nice tandem video of Cayucos by Patrick. (Patrick offered to fly with me in August he is now based in Lake Elsinore -- another must fly spot on my list.)
3 comments:
Both Cayucos and Shell Beach are fun little sites, but like most California coastal sites you have to be lucky to catch them on flyable days. These are on the way to the Big Sur flying site, and in 10 years of going to the Santa Barbara club's biannual fly-in up there I've only been able to score 1 flight at each of these sites. The Big Sur site is a bit of a drive from there, but the site is stunningly beautiful this time of year, a couple of months before the frequent fog of summer sets in. Even harder to catch at the right time are the dunes at Montana de Oro (MDO). Lots of great pilots in SLO that should be able to hook you up!
MauiMark,
Thanks for the stories of your travels, I enjoyed my coffee read in the afternoon today. I hope to someday travel up and down the West Coast to fly and hit all these awesome spots.
Still want to do that crater run with you.
Keep Posting'm up.
Maui Mark thanks for sharing. I lived on Maui for close to nine years and was first exposed to paragliding while playing basketball in Lahaina. Two pilots took-off above Lahainaluna High School and soared the ridge for awhile before heading about a mile out to sea and landing softly on the beach. I ran down to the beach to watch them land with a sense of wonder and amazement.
I have fond memories of my time on Maui and would love to fly there with you someday. Thanks again for your contribution to the flying community.
Brent
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