Florida Ridge - Day 3

I was the first or second pilot to launch today. I got dropped off upwind but quickly drifted back in weak broken lift. Paul was dropped off above me and we both floundered awhile before pushing upwind. I was watching the altitude above best glide back to the Ridge drop lower and and lower. I kept watching Paul to see if bumped into a climb or turned back. I was down to 400 feet above and turned back just as Paul did the same. I had a better line back and made a pass over the nursery as Paul was landing. A 1200 fpm monster yanked me upward and for a moment I thought I might get up. However, after a 1000 foot gain, the rowdy climb turned into a trashy washing machine going down. I zipped over to the field and landed just a few feet from the end of launch line.

Although I was the first to launch I was also the last (open class flex wing) to launch. I was clipped in behind Lisa and we began to roll. Just as the glider started "jiggling" in the cart the tug slowed to a stop. Luckily the glider settled into the cart and I rolled to a stop. Since the prop was still turning, I assumed Lisa saw someone on approach but later learned she didn't have full power and properly aborted. The ground crew pushed me back to the start point and clipped me onto Russell's tug. The big engine on that beast yanked me into the sky and just as the start gate alarm went off. So much for an early start! The tug plowed through a strong climb at 700 feet but I shot up and to the right. I was reaching for the release when the weak link blew. It took a couple turns but I centered the thermal and climbed to cloud base downwind of the Ridge.

It was a struggle plowing upwind to the south. I knew I was late so I pushed hard to reach the start gate 6 miles away. I made cloud base over the starting line at the last valid time. Not the start I wanted but still acceptable. I kept pushing against the strong south wind and made slow but steady progress. I started missing climbs that I just knew should be there. I finally noticed that the wind had shifted from the south, to the south west, and then to the west. Duh.

I flew over George at the first turn point, rounded the turn point and headed to the next turn point north of La Belle. The sky over La Belle was dark, low and ugly. There would either be lots of lift or none. I turned back for a relatively weak climb to stock up. There was lots of lift over town, but almost none further north. I glided down to 1200 feet and was shopping for LZs when I stumbled into a weak climb. George flew in over me, worked together to center the thermal, and both climbed to cloud base. I lead out for the 2nd turn point bopping under some dying clouds. George found a little climb but I pressed on.

It didn't look promising ahead. There were already gliders parked along the road at the turn point and a couple other pilots diving over the turn point and heading back. I was very low by the time I got the turn point and drifted down wind looking for salvation instead of heading south on course line. I bobbled in some weak broken lift until I had enough altitude to push south to where George and Nigel were circling. I didn't find anything at 900 feet so I dove across a "tiny restricted" pasture so I could land next to the road. Then the "unplanned" part of the day unfolded.

Nigel floated into my field a few minutes later and George landed 1/2 mile down the road in scrub field. Ron showed up with the trailer so we could fit Nigel on our rig. We had not heard from Mark but Linda was waiting on the ground south of La Belle. Just as we were leaving a cloud of dust with a hang gliding truck in the middle showed up with Mark on board. We transferred Mark onto our rig and drove down the road to get George. We were tying down George's glider when we saw a pilot walking down the desolate dirt road towards us. It was Bjorn. We were not going to leave anyone stranded there so we tossed his glider on and squeezed everyone into the truck with me sitting in the center console in the front.

We didn't have anymore room for Linda so we needed a plan. I knew that Brian wanted to eat dinner in La Belle so maybe I could get dropped off in town, eat, and then get a body ride back. Brian didn't answer his phone so I called Rodger. Rodger said he would track down Brian and mentioned that Dave and Steve were driving in from Wallaby Ranch. So I called Dave. Dave was at least an hour away so I kept my options open, but was holding out for Brian. Brian called back and said he would come get us. So I asked Mark to pull over in La Belle and asked George to drop off my flight computer for scoring. Bjorn also offered to wait in town so we walked up to McDonald's for ice cream. A few minutes later Dave called saying he miscalculated his distance and was just outside town. Before long Dave, Steve, Bjorn, and I were sitting outside McDonald's on main street.

We made plans for dinner when Olav called Bjorn. Olav was still waiting for a ride and it was getting dark. Brian graciously offered to pick him up so we borrowed Steve's GPS while Dave and Steve went to check into their hotel. We picked up Olav just as the light was fading and got everyone back to the Ridge. We capped the evening off with yet another meal at the Gator Bait Pub. I don't think I could have made up a more complicated trip back home!