Spicy Soup

Last Thursday's forecast for moderate trades stood out in the charts like a rare oasis, shimmering like a mirage in the middle of a bleak and blustery long term prognosis. During this painful transition from winter to summer, our islands have been pummeled by weeks of surface highs and the occasional upper lows, adding up to wind, wind, wind, rain, and more wind. Still, every week or so, we are fed a scrap of decent flying to remind us what we're missing. On Thursday, a dozen famished pilots feasted on a long day of spicy and soupy conditions at Kahana.

Thursday's cloud base started low and grew lower, eventually shrouding Puu Piei, so we had to do some clever navigating to avoid the soupy mist. And conditions grew spicier throughout the day as we tried every possible approach to get across the bay, finally giving up as the drizzly clouds and strong wind squeezed us down all the way to the landing zone. It was great to meet our new friends, visiting pilots David and Maurice from Hong Kong.

My hazy recollection of the roll call: Garrett, me, Brian, Woody, HK David and Maurice, Vancouver Jase, Don, Thom, Duck, Steve, Drew, Sebastian.