Trece (13)

The day dawned more clear than I have become used to. I was suspicious and thoughtful of the consequences of such intense hearing from so early in the day. 

Breakfast was a tasty granola covered with fresh pineapple, strawberries, papaya and pitaya (the white chunk with dark seeds).

Everyone was ready, excited and probably a little tired, but nobody let it show. John wasn't feeling good yesterday but was ok today.  Jim wasn't feeling well and opted not to fly. Farmer wasn't feeling great, but went up the hill anyway, only to launch first and make the short flight back to La Union to go and take it easy. We suspect it was a drink with unpurified ice at the chicken pace in town that got both of them. 

Flacko brought his dog "Kita" again. She is a real cutie and super excited to hang out with us. 

The sky was bright and blue. We climbed the stairs in fresh shade from the forming cumulus clouds above us. It seemed too good to be true. We urged everyone to launch ASAP and get about while the conditions were soft. 

Dawn and Jim preparing for flight. 

The cycles coming into launch were unusually strong and this made it easier to launch everyone quickly, but soon it became evident that the wind was cross from the North (left of takeoff) and quite strong on the valley floor. This is not an unusual pattern for this site, just an unusual intensity. 

Shredded cumulus from the wind. 

Everyone in the group was off and flying except us three guides; Brian,  Bradley and myself. We were still offering radio supervision and advice. 

It looked stronger than normal and having warned everyone earlier, it came as no surprise to those in the air.  Ten minutes later, Rob reported wind velocity in La Union at 12-14 mph on the surface having just landed there.  That's when I radioed to my group to fly away from the terrain and land if necessary. It was the right call. 

Eagle pilots waking from the LZ to be picked up. 

A few minutes later, a pilot flying alone (or with a different group) had an asymmetric fold in front of launch, while flying through the lee of the house thermal. He may have had a riser twist and the glider began a diving turn with a cravat (stuck wing tip on one side) for a few rotations before his reserve was thrown, opening almost immediately and arresting his rapid descent, allowing him to land safely below, somehow missing the power lines near there. Whew!

Waiting in the shade by sugar cane fields. 

One by one each of our pilots landed safely out in the valley, reporting in by radio and text message. Well done. The remaining guides launched and chose a strategic line to the right, away from the rotor off to our left and climbed quickly to cloud base drifting downwind and down range.  Brad flew on a ways further to land but I opted to push upwind with my altitude and veer out to Oscar's LZ where the bulk of our pilots were safely packing up on grass. Brian did the same and we landed without a hitch. 

Sugar cane

Today it was too much of a good thing, it seems.  This place is epic on average days, so I am hoping for more average weather tomorrow. 

Rotisserie chicken instead of juice today. 

I gave a chat at 5:30 and went over my time a little bit into the dinner service. It seemed well received and I was happy for that. It's been a great group and today helped everyone catch up on some much needed rest. 

Dinner was great. Veggie soup with pasta and grilled steak. People tuned in early and I am sure we will all be rechaged for tomorrow. I know I will be. 

Cheers, and goodnight. 

Martín

Doce (12)

Today looked "normal" to me and I had high hopes (as usual) with a tad more expectation. 

I woke early, readied my gear and had a coffee by the pool as I waited for breakfast. 

Simple fried eggs, avo wedge and fried banana (plantain?) did the trick with guava juice and a roll. 

There was a mystery meat too, but I steered clear. 

Found a cool bug on launch that looked like it had glue on its back and had been dipped in dirt and plant bits. Total camouflage when it wasn't moving. 

Cloudbase was higher than previous days and a local pilot launched and went to base with ease at 9:30 am, as he does every day. What are we waiting for?

Everyone got launched and most everyone had flights of at least an hour or so. For about 8 of us, it was a 4 hour tour. 

Several groups headed south to Roldanillo together and stayed high at the clouds, making the transition to the flats by tanking up at the antennas on the south side of town. Most everyone got e climb there but the crossing took its toll, grounding several pilots in the center of the valley while a few hung in there as I hung out up and down from cloudbase for two hours trying to coach them away from the ground below. 

Several sugar cane fields were burning slowly and he smoke was working to mark the lift. It's potentially very turbulent in string fires but this one smoldered and burned for hours keeping me and two others airborne all the while.  

Eventually Brian and the remains of his group circled back and we made a play for La Union. Clyde and Marge landed back below launch on the way back and a newer pilot, Phil, pressed on landing just a few km short of the soccer stadium to complete a person best flight of 3 hours and 55 minutes.  I told him we'd be okay with him rounding it up to an even 4 hours this time. (Wink)

Brian and I had an easy glide back to town, landing easily in nearly full shade at the stadium.  

Once back in town we got our favorite smoothie and two empanadas each. Bliss. 

This juice bar is also a panaderia (bakery) and I had to snap this pick for my daughter Mia, who has requested I bring some of these home.  I can't imagine it making it all the at home intact, as we share a common sweet tooth. Sorry Mia!

We crammed into a Tuk Tuk taxi and were at the hotel in no time. I showered and did laundry, hung my clothes to dry, pointed the fan at them and took a nap. 

Rob gave a great presentation and that took us to dinner time. Rice, grilled chicken with mushroom sauce, chopped lentil, tomato and herb salad  and rice pudding for desert. Yum. 

Lots of discussions took place at and after dinner and now I'm writing this befor I get to bed early tonight.  Chances are it will be great again.  

Ciao,

Martín