Playing at the Beach

I had my last flight of 2010 on November 14 at the outer shores of Cape Cod.  Randy and I shared the 3 hour early-morning drive.  We could have joined Jeff C, but he was on a mission set a new personal best for airtime and leaving in the middle of the night with him to launch at sunrise just didn't sound like fun.  It turned out that the winds were light and Jeff was still waiting to launch when we arrived.  With a little encouragement from us, Jeff was soon racking up airtime.

We knew it was going to be a busy day so we quickly rigged in the wind-shadow behind the bathrooms and my car on the other side of the road.  We waddled over to launch behind Johnny while Jeff and two paraglider pilots worked to stay up just north of us.  I launched into the buttery smooth coastal air from the base bar and floated to the top of the ridge.  I was immediately reminded that although it was soar-able, it wasn't foolproof.

 I was careful and climbed to a comfortable altitude where I could relax.

I flew north across a some minor gaps but didn't push beyond a large gap because I wasn't ready to land yet.  I turned back south and played with the ever growing crowd of pilots.  I liked chasing other pilots' shadows.  They would inevitably get nervous when my shadow merged with theirs.

I chased Johnny and Randy as well.

I was getting ready to cross the large gap and fly onto Highland Light before I watched Keith successfully cross the gap, turn around, and unsuccessfully try to make it back.

I decided to return south and dodge gliders instead.

Launch was still busy.

I finally had enough play time and crossed the large gap and flew further north.  I returned and repeated the trip to Highland Light with Randy.  Allen greeted us on the radio when we returned.  He offered to give us a ride if we wanted to land just north of launch where the beach was wider.  It was an offer too good to turn down so I buzzed spectators at the parking lot and a family walking on the beach before landing.

Allen was very patient as I packed up using, at least to him, a ridiculous amount of care to keep the glider and harness clean.  We made it back to launch in time to watch Randy land below in the quickly vanishing beach.

After hiking Randy's stuff up the dune, I hoped into Jeff's car and drove to the northern most extent of the soar-able dunes to pick up Jeff in the dark.  Jeff did snag a new personal best for airtime and the rest of us got a fun day playing at the beach.

Many pilots later posted pictures and videos taken that afternoon.  Some of those videos are available here, here, and here.

Flights: 1, Duration: 4:00, Distance: 18 miles (30 km)