I got to the farm around noon and the wind was a little on the light side Sisters 9kts and Ballenas 11kts, so I sat in my garden chair at launch and waited. I was messing with my radio learning things like "scan" and I lost the weather channel. I spent the next ten minutes working it out and the new update was available and it said "Sisters 15kts", and "Ballenas 19kts", oops, that was what was coming and I could see the whitecaps way down the gulf.

So I hurried and flaked out, got into my stuff and the breeze started to lift the trailing edge and flipping it over. Several times I hauled it all down, hooked in, only to have it get flipped up again. Finally I got a calm-er shot and launched.

Great, I was heading off towards the barn, not towards the bluff and I had a big cravat in the right wing tip. I pulled it free but I was then too far from the bluff edge and the wind was rising, so my glide got me only within about 30 feet of the bluff. Damn....

I unhooked and packed up, then went out to the bluff for some wind readings, 30+kph....ah well....maybe tomorrow. I hiked back up to launch, sat and had some water and noticed the wind was dropping and decided to wait to see what was in store. After about an hour the wind was quite reasonable, there was a possible problem over on the Beauforts where I could plainly see rain, but it seemed to get pushed away from the farm area and looked to be passing to the north of the island. The Horne Lake plateau though, had some pretty big dark rain cells pissing all over the plateau and the mountains bordering the east and western sides. I sat and watched them, and as they moved on out into the gulf they dissipated. Great, time to get ready.

Same story as the beginning, however the flipping was less severe, so I was on my mark quite quickly and made my launch. Nice pull to the glider and up she went. I trotted along and after several strides was in the air heading for the lower bluff. I swooped down and hit the lift band, rocketed up and settled in for an afternoon of cruising. I made a couple of swings along the lower bluff testing the lift and decided to try the upper bluff. I sifted along the front of the upper bluff to my elevator and up I went. It wasn't great lift, as the wind was a little too SE, but the sun was out and it felt grand. Once I cleared the trees and began my rise things seemed to start to accelerate. The lift got much stronger and I knew I was getting to my speed limit so I took a down winder to hover over launch but I just kept going up. Next I tried to get away out over the field, but I was being pushed back and still was climbing.

Then I noticed "IT". A big cell was thundering out of the plateau, grey and angry with several tendrils whipping down from the centre towards the ground, then curling back up and disappearing. It was miles away but coming my way with dark water squalls starting to be noticeable on the water way over by Bowser. I worked hard on speed bar and big ears, nothing, I was still going up. The lift was incredible so I figured I might be able to out run it if I crabwalked towards Sandpiper Beach. The tide was dropping, there was a good shelf of beach exposed, might work.

But I was still climbing and it looked as though I wouldn't be able to get down before the squall hit.

Next! Snarch's. Maybe I could land in the Snarch's (yes, that's their

name) field. I turned and headed downwind. I dropped a bit, thought "Oh, oh, be lucky to get to Snarch's". Then bingo, I was back on climb. Speed bar on. I was still climbing. Checking over my shoulder I saw the squall making for Downes Point, and the race was on. As I came over Snarch's I tried big ears as well, dropped a little, then up I went again. The wind and squalls were bending around Downes and heading for Big Trib, so I headed down the road, flying at 1100 feet and climbing.

Crap, lift everywhere, any other day and it would be a dream come true.

I stopped over Titcomb's and tried to lose altitude with speed bar and big ears (pulling in the wing tips) but it was obviously not going to work. If what was coming down the bay was also coming over the trees towards me, I wanted to be out where I could land in a wide power line free space, so I took off towards Trib. I sat up there working the speed bar and big ears above the barbecue shack, then over to the tennis courts, and had some success, but I was being driven back from the beach into the tree zone, so I thought about a 360 but it was getting pretty rough as the squalls banged into me and the rain started. I turned and headed for the last field before I'd hit open water. I really jumped on the speed bar, tippy toes to cram the pulleys together and pulling big ears way out on the lines, damn things would fold in but wouldn't deflate and it felt like those little lines would just cut through my gloves and hands. But I started to descend, finally. Next I got set in the harness because it was going to get really bad as I got closer to the ground and into the tree's rotor. I wasn't disappointed, left tip collapse with a slamming re-inflation, whoa...power lines down the middle of the field, drift over to the east more and get set up, still at 200 feet. Dropped into the rotors and worked the controls, kept saying to myself, gentle....gentle... gentle.... it was rock and roll as I flew through the upper rotor then I hit lift in the lower reverse direction rotor, which was carrying me towards the road on a down winder, fast. I did a 180 and cruised in on final, popped the brakes, and settled in, just as the rain began to pour down.

Total time: 16:41 minutes

Distance: 4.758 miles

Max height: 1191 feet

Toilet Paper: 3 rolls

Felt like: a lifetime

Pilot-writer: Rusty