IslandSoaring.com - The Zen of Paragliding

Location: Blogs Hornby Airmail
Posted by: rustyh	10/4/2007 1:31 PM
Patience? What's that. The wind was SE17kph, just about perfect, so I headed off to the farm. The wind lines were out there on the gulf but lifting about 200yds from shore. As well, the SE was doing what seems to becoming more common this year, pulsing. That's when I look out on the gulf and see line after line of darker water, one after the other. This is the status quo for Qualicums (S), but has been a rare event for SE's, except this year. Not a good sign. I was so fed up with storms blowing the hell out of the place (lots of tree tips scattered and shattered all over the hillside from the Gary Oaks) or the wind doing sweet fanny adam, that ANY kind of marginal winds seems like a blessing. Well I thought, the tide is tight up against the logs, so any flying will have to be high enough that I could top land on the runway. The runway tape was gone from the last storm and needed replacing, so figured I'd do a flutter flight with some lift zone cruising if the wind held. I got layed out, set up, and stood to watch the wind. The wind lines seemed to be veering, more like massive "Esses", so I waited and watched them finally reach the shore. My upper launch tapes showed a rotor wandering through, timed it, and waited for the next one, timed that, and saw I had two at 2 minutes each. The next set looked good, turned on the video cam, started my run, but had the wind direction change suddenly which lifted the right hand side. Killed the launch, but momentum carried me almost all the way down the hillside. Turned off the cam, bundled and walked the short distance down to the lower bluff top and flaked out again. Checked the wind on the water, it was still coming in, so reversed, and lifted off. It was good soaring for 10 minutes when the wind suddenly dropped. I was at the cairn and it's an uphill climb along the bluff top. There just wasn't enough lift to carry me high enough for a top landing, so it was going to be a "beach log-high tide-hope I don't break a leg" certainty. I held out some hope that I could work the sorry lift until the next cycle hit, but looking out on the water it was apparent that wasn't going to happen. I struggled back and forth losing about a foot of elevation on each pass along the ridge top. The roses were my friends, calling to me , "Come closer....come closer..." not this time , no sirree... I managed to stay up somewhat by letting off on the controls, gaining good speed for a run into a lift zone, then pulled on the controls for a swoop to more height, pitched at max and off the controls for the next leg brushing the grass and into the next lift zone, up by the cabin. Turn, off the controls, to dive back at the bluff face, hauled controls to swoop up the face, then follow the begging roses to the cairn and start it all over again. Hoping for that one last puff that would take me to the newly mowed centre launch. It never happened. On my final turn over the cabin I set up. Instead of letting the controls off I maintained and went on glide towards the beach. Once past the lower beach maple (which will have to come down this winter, as it forced me out over the water to clear it) I eased off, got some speed to hopefully carry me close to the sandstone LZ at the cairn end of the beach. There I thought I could slide/run along the logs piled there. I had a nice run in, skimming the logs, looking for the best, hit a small lift pocket, rose up, and almost made it past a big upstanding root (now that it has my attention, I'll chainsaw the crap out of it as well). I glanced off the root, but managed to carry on, then cruised some small logs and flared in a patch of bark and small sticks that was wave stacked between two logs. The glider dropped back against the bluff and I spent the next 20 minutes picking each line out of the slivers of shag on all the logs and various sticks protruding from the gravel. If there is a crevice or hook anywhere in sight on any log or stick, the lines will inevitably find them and catch on every last one. One of Rusty's flying experience gems from the Zen of Paragliding, pay attention! Don't go yanking and pulling, you'll make it worse, you have entered the world of patience and calm, deep breaths, deep breaths,... because as you free one line and move on, that freed line will inevitably re-catch/re-attach ....ooooommmmmmmm.....say with me ....ooooommmmmmm...@!!#$%!!#, sorry, ....oooommmmm... I packed up and climbed up the bluff to the cairn. As I walked back towards the hill I stopped to replace the tell-tail and turned to see rain obscurring the Beauforts. That's why the wind dropped! The flow above the SE was SW, and big ugly black things were on the march. I managed to get back to the truck before the heavens opened up, drove through a torrential downpour, got home as the sky cleared, and sat out on the deck chug-a-lugging water as my home tell-tails gave a last flutter and dropped to the ground. Well, time for a shower, get a little dinner, and off to work. Still ...... more fun than pickin' apples.......

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