A Big Farewell to the Gentle Giant

July 1,2009 UPDATE: On Sunday July 12th we will all be getting together for memorial services for Bob Johnson. Services and a Fly-in will be held at Makapuu. We have not ironed out the details yet, but we will be posting the details here shortly.

Yesterday, Sunday June 28th, our beloved friend and fellow paraglider, Bob Johnson, died of apparent heart failure while under care at the hospital. He had been having events of weakness and shortness of breath, enough to seek out medical care, for the last two weeks. He had returned to the hospital on Friday because he was feeling worse, then yesterday he collapsed and hospital staff were unable to revive him.

Bob was 49 years old. He has an elderly mother in Aina Haina; two sisters, and a lovable dog named Gus.

Bob is something of a legend around the paragliding community here. He was a skilled pilot, instructor, and always had the time to lend a hand or share some knowledge.

Many of you have your own thoughts and feelings and are welcome to share them here. As Bob's closest friend, "Brazil" Ray has taken it upon himself to help the Johnson family in these trying days, as are many others. Plans are being made as to services and such, and we will announce them here shortly.

Until then, remember that a little bit of Bob lives on in everyone who knew him, be grateful for the moments we had. We'll miss you buddy!

In Absentia

Since our most prolific contributor, and undisputed King of Kahana, is off to the mainland at Rat Race 2009, I'll do my small part to push the Mad Dog story down the page.

Early in the morning yesterday I took a ride up over H3, since the wind sensors looked promising for flying, as I came out the tunnel the situation looked a litte different with some light rain falling, so opted to wait a couple hours for the rain to dry out.

Ginny and I did a nice hike through the Koko Crater botanical garden, and were treated by a spectacular show of bloomimg cactus plants. As we finished our hike Jeff Mc called to report he was passing Kualoa Ranch and that it looked good out toward Kahana. So off we went.

Jeff met up with Rich and they hiked up, Myself, & Ginny rounded out the early shift. We all got out of low launch with Rich up first, then Jeff, Me and Ginny. As Rich, Jeff and I were cruising up in the back we could hear Fireman Dave, Jetflap Jeff and Nick were over flying Makapu'u.

Ginny made a foray over to the north ridge a little early and did her best to eek it back up on the normal ridge, but ended up having to go in and land. Jeff Mc and I made a few feeble attempts at crossing the bay, with Jeff being the more adventurous of us he pushed it a little low over Crouching Lion and had to bail out to the beach on the return trip from that valiant attempt.

I landed shortly after that to get some lunch, followed by Rich who had a nice two hour flight. BeeMan Mark was down there kiting - he really is enthusiastic about it which is great to see. Jared showed up just after we landed and as he hiked up Jeff Mc, Larry and myself went off to get lunch. JD and Lee Ann showed up soon too.

While we were out to lunch Jared entertained everyone on the ground with numerous stalls, spirals, frontals, and perhaps an unintended maneuver. After lunch JD, Larry, Lee Ann (sans gear) and I hiked up the north ridge since the wind direction had changed, and we didn't want Jared to feel lonely up there showboating. JD did a great job on his first launch out of there.

Soon enough Side Hill Thom drove in but didn't stop at the LZ to chat with anyone, he was in dire need of a dose of Skyalis. Since all the cars were still parked by normal launch he hiked up there even though myself and Larry were over on north side. I got off nicely with some help from Lee Ann and Larry to keep my lines from grabbing the brush. Thom did an excellent job of pulling it off from the high launch on the normal ridge and was able to buzz straight over Larry's head as he was setting up, as Thom went up in the sky his urge was quenched. Larry got airborn on his second launch try. We all had a pleasant late afternoon ride.

Nice day out there once again with good food, beverages, friends and flying.

Mad Dog flies the Tracer

Mad Dog came out to Kahana on his bike and Ray loaned him his skinny comp wing. On our little XC trip, he consistently outglided and outclimbed me - probably the pilot, but the wing didn't hurt. It was the perfect time of day for dramatic lighting. We got high at the last ridge but decided to cut it short to Hauula Beach Park since I was late for dinner.

Downrangers and Debutantes

Friday's stellar tradewind conditions continued through the weekend, giving us a dozen downrange tours to Pounders, with many stops high over the back of Punaluu and one side trip to the Koolau summit behind Laie, while back at the bay we saw close to a dozen flights for our newest pilots, many of them first-time Kahana flyers.

At least 25 pilots and friends showed up each day to help us celebrate our perfect summer tradewind conditions. Congratulations to our newest Kahana flyers Larry, Jason, LeeAnn, Matt, Jessica, Nick Jr, Sidehill Thom, and let's even include Sharky in that group. Great job, you guys - keep it up!

Saturday's XC flying included trips to Pounders for Jim and Jeff on the early side, followed later on by Jorge, Mad Dog, Berndt, me and Hillbilly - seven in one day! Tracking a thermal up over the Hauula ridge, Jorge dove back to the deepest section of the ridges behind Laie, but he found some strong venturi effects over the deep canyons back there and decided to head back out to join us at Pounders. Thanks to Joey for the retrieve. (Recognize where you stay, brah!) Back at Kahana, half a dozen pilots were enjoying their first flights at Kahana, while Jared spent the day stretching out his lines with repeated full stalls.

Sunday's XC flying featured more trips to Pounders, this time by a caravan of six pilots all at the same time: Nick, Scrappy, Berndt, Jim, Scot and me. Reminded me of a great video I saw once. Thanks to Sharky for the retrieve. (And thanks for the Torpedoes and killer tako poke!) Back at the bay, many of our newest pilots got back in the air for a second day, and we finished off the day with a birthday BBQ for Thom's daughter Kalei. Happy Birthday!

Three days in a row flying and celebrating at Kahana, three days touring the trade routes at cloudbase, three days dodging the surf and fishing poles in Laie. Almost too much of a good thing. Almost. Maybe if we tack on another one today that'll be too much...might have to try it and see.

I saw some other pilots taking pictures - send me your links or photos so I can include them in this story. Here is Maui Doug's video from Sunday:

Kahana 6-14-09 from MauiDoug on Vimeo.

There - and Back

Yesterday turned out to be a nice afternoon of flying at Kahana with lots of friends to keep me company, unlike the day before. Ginny and Mad Dog were the early arrivals, Alex, Thom, myself, Reaper, Jeff, Maui Doug, and Berndt rounded out the crew.

Alex and Mad Dog got up high pretty quickly, Mad Dog having launched from high launch, and barely beating Alex off the hill from low launch. Ginny, myself and Thom were next out of low. Reaper did some excellent instructional coaching to help Thom make a pretty amazing low save and get up for his first dose of Skyalis since his family's Alaska cruise. Reaper then opted to launch out of mid launch.

Alex & Mad dog patiently waited for me and Reaper for a while before heading off to Punalu'u ridge. Once we arrived over there, we all got to cruise back up over Sacred Falls, and started making some attempts to cross back to Kahana. Mad Dog planted the seed by pushing pretty far out across the valley before heading back.

Reaper was the man, and slowly worked his way back across in his Magic 3, using no speed bar none the less. Once he arrived back at Kahana, he made a challenge of sorts that involved some tasty beverages - who could pass that up? Since a couple years ago when me and Jeff saw Steve Stackable from SD make that journey, it's been near the top of my "gotta do that someday" list, and so off I went following a friendly cloud street, using some speedbar, unlike Reaper.

I passed Jeff on the way across, as he was headed over to join Alex on the Punalu'u ridge. Sorry for cutting out on the trip to Pounders that Alex, Jeff and Berndt made, but I had to take the chance of pushing back across the valley. My new toy served me well, and I made it back to Kahana! Not many words can quantify my feelings of accomplishment, excitement and elation for having made the trip. I didn't take any pictures, as seems to be the norm for me theses days.

Now it'll be interesting to try and get Reaper to pony up on that wager.

Open Invitation

Dear Hawaii paragliding friends: I left our fair shores last year on a different sort of XC mission. I flew away to embark on a life of committed reciprocal love. The official (legal) beginning of that journey will be taking place on June 20 on a snowy mountainside.

I wish that all of you could be there to support me as I launch into this flight, but it is a long way to go for a simple ceremony. If any of you are so inclined, you would certainly be welcomed to what will be a humble, but joyous event. Given the travel distance, I will be happy to think that you are with John and me in spirit, perhaps enjoying a lofty sojourn along the lovely slopes of the Koolaus at that time. We hope you will be able to join us at a celebration of our new beginning when we return to our island home in a few years.

If you think you might find yourself travelling on the mainland near NE Utah and would be able to join us on June 20, or anytime for friendship and perhaps flying, please drop us a line.

Aloha,
Sandy and John

It's that time again...

Its time for my 31st annual survival celebration. Last minute as always. I've been busy on the other side of the world. Those stories are coming, I swear...



Details:

BBQ at the Phillips Family home
Saturday, June 6th, 2009!
148 Kuupua St, Kailua HI 96734

3:00 till ?

Bring a dish and some drinks. Morning flying to be attended by myself. or not depending on winds.

Kids, Dogs, Significant others welcome... :)

Scrappy's Israel Adventures / Kibbutz Ridge Soaring

Greetings from the Holy Land. It was quite a journey getting here. For those of you not aware, my roommate Mike Ernst and I have come to Tel Aviv for the wedding of our old roommate from years ago, Mike's ex that kidnapped him to Israel for a year. It's complicated, as life usually is. What's not complicated is that we are both very happy for her, and stoked we could be here for her big day. And get some flying in...

I'm going for the full experience. If you want to skip to the flying part, look for: FLYING a few paragraphs down.

Mike and I tried to get out on standby tickets on United, courtesy of my mother's retired employee benefits. Our route was from Hawaii to San Francisco to Frankfurt and then a paid ticket to Tel Aviv. After missing 3 suddenly overbooked flights, we had to split up with only one seat open on the plane. Mike ended up going from Honolulu to Denver to Chicago to Warsaw to Frankfurt to Tel Aviv. I lost a day and a half, and stuck with our original route, but forfeited my Frankfurt tickets and had to buy new ones at a higher rate... :P

Mike, myself, and our bags all went separate ways on separate planes. There was some trickery to do to ensure we all arrived at our destination. I reacquired both of our bags in San Francisco using a facebook pic of Mike's claim check. People were still commenting on the picture, trying to figure out if he was bragging or what it was doing there. It was an ingenious plan of mine to get a pic on my iPhone, since his direct email was not working. I then rechecked both our bags in my name. Though if I missed my flight to Frankfurt, who knows where our bags would end up.

Mike was completely sure he was going to have no clothes for our two week trip if I even made it to Israel. However, I arrived in Tel Aviv just fine. He had no need to worry, because lo and behold, there was his bag...and mine was gone...including my glider. And by my glider, I mean Joey's Freeforce 22 glider, Reaper's Nervures Airtrek harness, reserve, radio, etc, etc, and all my clothes. Oh well!

I spent my first day cruising Tel Aviv by bike after I picked up some new board shorts for a ridiculous price. Pics are on my facebook page and Flickr account. We rode all over and a good portion of the city. I received a message from El Al Airlines via Mike's iPhone that my bag was still lost, and they were sorry, around 7:00pm.

Starting to worry...

Upon returning to the apartment of the bride to be, I called El Al, and after much confusion they said that there was another mistake and that my bag HAD been found. It would be delivered the following morning between 9:00 and 11:00am. Sweet! I reconfirmed on the lost luggage section of their website and it was listed as found and to be delivered...to the wrong address...one more call fixed that...

I have had running posts on the Israel PG forum about the plight of my bag and hoped to get some flying in when I could, since the wedding was Thursday and it was going to be well into Wednesday before I got my glider.

Wednesday arrives and I sleep in. We get a late Israeli breakfast of fresh bread, eggs, olives, hummus, roasted bell peppers, cheese, etc., and I await the arrival of my bag.

9:00 no bag
10:00 no bag
11:00 no bag
11:30 still no bag
12:00 hey, a delivery van...with my bag! And my (Joey's) glider!

I jump on a phone and give Amir (the forum admin for Holywinds) a call, to tell him the good news. He hooks me up with phone numbers for Ilan and Moshe Grad. Ilan lives just north of Tel Aviv and is the local weekday afternoon ridge-soaring addict. Moshe lives in the northern part of Israel near Mt. Tabor, the main thermic site for the area.

I give Ilan a call and ask him when it would be a good time to get some flying in. He replies that he will be hitting a nearby ridge soaring site around 2:30. I got nothing else going on so I say, "Great! Where do I get off the bus?..." "OK... Kibbutz Shfayim...Netanya, great...Cya soon!"

I consult Eyal, the fiance/groom about bus schedules and he tells me I need to walk a few blocks and get on the 601 or 605 to Netanya, the city 25 minutes north of Tel Aviv. I book it out of the apartment and after 20 minutes of walking, I find one of the express stops for the 601/605. I ask a local if this is the bus to Netanya and he says, yes, the 605 is my best option. It shows up 5 minutes later and I'm gone. I ask the bus driver if he can tell me where to get off for Kibbutz Shfayim. He doesn't speak English...oh well! I take a seat next to a man on the bus.

After looking at my map and being confused I ask the guy next to me where I should get off. He looks at me and tells me that this bus does not stop there at all and I need to be on the 601. Oops...

I hop off at the next stop and acquire a ride on the 601 about 5 minutes later. A girl on the bus tells me which stop I need to exit at. I get off the bus about 10 minutes later and...there is nothing around...

The gentleman who told me to get on the 605 bus gets off as well and asks what I was doing there, and I explain I am looking for the kibbutz, and he points me down this small driveway, which I follow for about 300 yards. I feel completely lost, as there is no obvious place to meet Ilan, no one here seems to know what a paraglider is, and I have no phone. There are no gas stations, stores, traffic lights...I wander into an office and a nice receptionist lets me use her phone to call Ilan. She explains to him where I am, gets me some water and makes me feel completely at home.

I have a conversation in halting English with her as she explains to me what a kibbutz is and I finally realize what I walked into. (Look up kibbutz on the interweb).

20 minutes later, Eilan shows up in his truck and off we went. Takes me to a small dirt road into the farming fields right near the bus stop I got off at.

Flying

100 feet from the bus stop is a dirt road that leads off into the kibbutz fields and into a sand/dirt road area. We drive right up to the longest cliff that heads north and south as far as i can see from where I am. It looks a lot like pictures I have seen of Torrey Pines. The cliffs are sheer and about 150ft high with a large decent beach for a bomb out the whole length.

There are a 2 pilots at the launch already, with one flying, and another shows up as Ilan gives me a basic flight briefing. The airspace all over Israel is supposed to be closed due to a massive mixed military training exercise. But we fly so low that Ilan is not worried. You could take off just about anywhere you want to. There are huge areas but there is a nice sandy spot that is designated for the launch with the tellvtale streamers.

I shake a few hands and lay out after Eilan to let him go first. He inflates and takes off and I follow a few moments later into the sea breeze. Its pretty light and I am only able to get about 100ft max above the ridge on my best pop-ups. I head off and soar for about 10 minutes and go in for a quick top land for fun, and to get my phone out because I left my big Canon XSI at home. 2 of the other pilots have already landed a little behind launch, and Eilan follows shortly after. It gets even lighter and we were already barely maintaining ridge height. The only footpath for a really long ways up the cliff is about 100 yards from where we were, and it looks like it's not a fun climb, so bombing out, while an easy landing, means some hiking and climbing.

If it's too light to fly in Hawaii, we fly the cooler. Apparently, in Israel they fly the coffee pot. Eilan makes coffee for the 4 of us as we wait for it to get better, using a portable camping stove on the back of his truck. Keeping in mind it is HOT out, I will still have a cup and do as the locals do, for the full experience.

The other pilots leave, and it is just Eilan and myself. Eilan is looking down the beach anxiously and talking on the radio. In taking in the sites and hanging out, I didn't realize one of the pilots hadn't landed and was nowhere in sight in either direction. It seemed like such a nice bomb out, I was a little less concerned until Eilan explained to me that the missing pilot Carlos only has one leg...

His launch was great and I never noticed that one of his legs was a bit skinny. I suppose landing on a sandy beach and having to hike with a glider on a prosthetic leg and climbing up that nasty path would be rough. However, 15 minutes later a 4WD vehicle showed up and he hopped out just fine, but his radio and phone were packed up, which is why he didn't answer.

After awhile the wind picked up again, a little, and the three of us went for another flight. I followed Carlos south about as far as we could go to some ruins and a small bay. There was a fox startled by our flying that I got to chase down the cliff for about 15 seconds. I wanted to go north as far as I could, but with the wind as light as it was, I was barely able to get above ridge height, and it would be a long walk and climb back to launch.

Ilan was packed up and I landed to follow suit. Carlos was doing doing some cliff edge kiting which was making Ilan a little concerned. The cliffs are all sandy, and crumble easily on some of the ledges. After getting some kiting pictures of Carlos, Ilan and I loaded up and headed off back to the bus stop for my trip back to Tel Aviv. Just as we left, we saw Carlos launch into the waning wind and disappear. He called 5 minutes later to tell us that he beached again but was OK, and we didn't need to wait for him...

Eilan dropped me at a bus stop a 5 minutes later and I had an easy ride back to the appartment. It was a nice first flying day for me and I hoped for more to come.

Solar Suffusion

I met Jim at Kahana for a lucky late afternoon flight during an extended lull in the strong tradewinds, and we managed a nice little XC to Hauula. The setting sun soaked both the verdant landscape and Jim's golden new wing with some sweet crepuscular goodness.

Taming the sea breeze

After waiting on low launch at Kahana while a remarkably strong and gusty sea breeze raised whitecaps on the bay (but nowhere else), it finally calmed down enough for Jorge to launch in his new wing and show us it was working.

He led Mad Dog and me to Pounders, but Mad Dog decided to land early at the beer store. Thanks to Jeanine for the ride back! Jeff, Jim and Maui Doug flew the late session - cloudbase had dropped to around two grand but the conditions had got even sweeter, and those guys soared around (and sometimes above) the clouds, toplanded a few times, and finally came down to share some beverages and stories.