A Great Year

If the way you start the year means something for the rest of it, 2015 will be a great year. If I haven't seen you in person: Happy New Year! Alright, long story short. After reading on Wednesday that da Prez' sperms got frozen solid, I was hesitating to fly on Thursday, mostly because I still need to keep those precious fluids in good shape. But, well, I took the risk, and drove kinda early to Makapuu, only to find an iffy flow. I knew if I wanted to get the best of the day, I had to get in the air and leave the Makapuu area ASAP. A kinda cross cycle showed up, and I took it. It was still cold, so I barely made it above the power lines, and finally got some love in the corner of the lookout.

The ground wasn't working that well, so I milked every minor drop of lift that I found at Makapuu. With the east flow and the midday sun hitting Waimanalo, I placed my bet on the lee side of that area. I flew low until I found a great lift band that took me above 3,000 feet with no turns needed. I went from Puu O Kona all the way to the Pali on a really open line that kept me safe from the Greenwall rotor.

Once at the Pali, things started to happen really fast, and with the tailwind I made it to the Pyramid in a blink. At this tepee formation, I rode a pretty radical and broken thermal that took me back above 3,000 feet. Knowing that the ground was cold and I had to stay high to survive, I decided to fly through Kaaawa Valley. This was another open line, above the north side of the valley, with almost no rotor effect.

Now the battle started. The Kahana area was cold, and it was hard to stay high. Even though I am used to flying low, today I didn't feel comfortable below 2,000 feet. I played at Kahana until I reached 2,000 feet and then jumped to Punaluu, where I decided to get as deep as possible, and it paid off big time. I found a solid thermal that took me above Sacred Falls, where I cruised for a least half an hour just for the pleasure of it. After cruising and taking some shots above the falls, I kept going, once again at the magic number of 3,000 feet. I kept a deep line, and I thought about going really deep, but no way, that cold ground effect was always in my head. I glided for a while just contemplating the idea of flying on top of the ridge instead of pushing to the ocean, but, well, today this idea didn't feel 100% right. Maybe tomorrow!

After 2 hours and 45 minutes, I flew above Kahuku, and turned around to land at the end of the golf course. We are so blessed to live in this magic place. Thanks for reading all this BS, and I hope to see you out there tomorrow, and remember: this will be a great year.