Saturday, October 13, 2012

Mirror for the Sun

It's been said that most of us are content to perceive only shadows and reflections of reality, and we would be blinded if we emerged from our cave to glimpse the sun. Yesterday I flew in rare early morning conditions at Kahana that were rather unreal. I was entranced by elusive shadows and illusory reflections, but I soon traversed the sun's vast mirror to find myself gazing directly upon that shining beacon of truth. But even after that enlightening journey, I can't say for sure that my grasp of reality is any firmer. I'll just have to keep on chasing that sun!

Dorothy is out of town this week, so I have been getting up at 5 AM and driving the kids to school every day. Yesterday when we passed Kahana at 6 AM, the sky was glowing a dim pre-sunrise orange, and we could see a sliver of the new moon and one last star or planet. I had a feeling it would be a good day!



I didn't have any urgent projects for my clients, so I raced back to Kahana, arriving at 8 AM. It was completely clear, not a cloud to be seen. The tide was super low and the beach was massive. Not that I had any intention of landing there! I launched at 8:30, and slowly climbed my way up to a magnificent view of the bay from over 3,000 feet. Not sure why the lift was working that well so early in the morning - it certainly didn't feel thermic. It was super smooth and consistent. Eventually some little wispies started to form below me, and I headed out across the bay on a very wide line, pulling in over Kaaawa at 9 am. Wow that's early! On a day like this, you can do more before 9 am than most people do all day!

Speaking of getting more done: a client called while I was over Kaaawa and I let it go to voicemail. Then I dictated a quick email apology for not being able to take the call. Then she called again! I silenced my vario and answered this time, explaining that I was outside and it was windy. She explained what she needed and I promised to take care of it, hastening the call to an end. Maybe I should take my laptop up with me next time!

Scot and Jorge and Woody hiked up later and I flew back from Kualoa to accompany Scot on a few bay crossing attempts. My third time across ended up with me not quite getting up over there and I had to land at...Swanzys. But I'd been up over 3 hours so I was ready to call it quits anyway. I had lunch and beverages at Bobos and waited for the other guys to land and join me.

After I left Woody and Brian hiked up for another flight, along with Joey. I saw Harvey out there too, and I heard Bonnie and Kevin flew later.

2 comments:

Ka'a'awa Larry said...

"Rare early morning conditions"?? I don't think they are that rare, it's just that nobody gets up that early to take advantage of them. I've been out there plenty of times in the early a.m. and didn't fly only because I was the only one there and was reluctant to go it alone. Guess I'll be a little more adventurous now!

Thom said...

just a little late with this report, but it is a perfect morning for a new story, windy and rainy Sunday morning.

I am still baffled by the 3K that early in the a.m. Why?

I have taken business calls from the air a few times. When the vario goes off I just tell them I tested a smoke detector, so I am hard at work so make the call quick.

It's Time to Fly, gulp your coffee, Get Your Gear and Go!