Thursday, August 25, 2011
Bay Crossing Chronics
This year we've broken the record for the number of bay crossings. We are turning into chronic bay crossers. Pounders must be feeling jilted! Eight pilots flew at Kahana today, and five pilots crossed the bay, landing in Kaaawa, Kualoa, Waiahole and Kahaluu, to cover a cumulative total of 25 miles. Roll call: Doug, Kevin, me, Harvey, Joey, Bill, Duck and Allan. Thanks to Harvey and Joey for the refreshments. Thanks to Allan, Doug and Harvey for the retrieves!
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I know everyone must have some interesting stories to tell from the day's flying. I didn't spend much time writing anything up because I had almost 400 pictures to sort through - and I was only able to chisel them down to 40! Possibly the best lighting conditions I've ever had for that flight. But there are a couple moments from my flight that are worth recounting. I arrived over the Crouching Lion with some decent height but veered wide when I hit some dead air, and then I started to sink pretty badly as I pushed forward. I should have turned back to work the Lion, like I always tell everyone else to do, but instead I stubbornly continued lower and lower, trying to work those nasty little flanges at the foot of the ridge, finally pulling lower into Hidden Valley than I've ever dared. No way would I make Swanzys from there. Somehow I caught a lucky strong thermal just inside the valley that blasted me up high enough to get back in the game. Whew. Don't wanna cut it that close ever again!
When Maui Doug and were over Kualoa, trying to decide where to go from there, Thom heard us on the radio from his house. He asked where we were - I couldn't resist a prank, and said we were over his house on the way to Makapuu. Then I felt bad and admitted we were just over Kualoa. But Thom generously offered to pick us up wherever we might land. Wow! I said we wanted to go to Doug's kite spot and Thom said call him after we land. We glid out over the bay and landed, but when Thom finally realized we were nowhere near his house, he was like, are you kidding? I'm in Kailua! You're better off catching the bus. So the joke was on me in the end. Luckily for us Allan happened to be on his way past and picked us up!
Wow amazing photos Alex! Thanks so much, those are the first photos of my new used wing from Woody. I'm lovin it, thanks Woodrat. After the flight I chased down Duck and picked him up at Hygenic's Football field just in time to see him land and get swarmed by at least 100 peewee football kids all wearing their red uniforms. It looked like a munchkin landing in OZ. Then Duck and I picked up AllanC at Kualoa just as the darkness was setting in. What a fun day, lets do it again! and again and again!
Great to get back in the air after more than a month of a lack of flying. Cloud base was quiet low and I needed to get up into the base of the clouds to have any chance of crossing the bay. After many failed attempts to cross just as the sun went down the wind lightened up and a great group of clouds aided my transition across the bay. The conditions just backed off enough to let me float on by. Pulled in at ridge height at hidden valley and benched up there for the two other crossings ending up really high over the water at Chinamans Hat but had run out of sunlight by this time, it was around 8pm. Decided to land with the help of Doug's headlights. Felt like there was so much lift had there been another half an hour of light we could have made it much further. Maybe next time. Thanks to Duck, Doug, Alex for keeping an eye on me and for the ride. Let's do it again sometime soon.
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