So this time I decided to make the break, stop sucking on the milk, and get some meat...put my game face on and go longer than i previously... It was Saturday, too. And I had a full day kitchen pass... Fortunately, it was a good day with a pretty sweet lapse rate, though a bit dirty skys, still plenty of lift. I had my first flight from SB mountains, to Padaro Road, landing right in front of Padaro Grill on the sand.
Launch time: 11:00am
Flight time: 1:09 hr
Flight distance:10 miles
Ej bowl was light south with well defined cycles coming in, Landing at the beach was calm to light from west
Over 10 Pilots PGs, and we watched a few deltas get pretty high too...fun.
My first launch was into possibly a non-cycle, and not getting up and the prospect of completely ruining the entire day made me decide to put her down in front of the bowl, on the road, and take a second swipe into a real thermal cycle...
- take 1, warmup run...
Take 2. I was the second to last off before Dane, who ended up being my partner in crime for the flight out to Carp. Everyone had gone, and had some great climbs out, Aaron took off once, and top landed, then went back up over LaCumbre, and started his trek to Ojai. My bud George had a great flight to Padaro, as did Tom L., Jesse, Cort, Swiss Pete, and Chad and Jon and Jimmy ? got to beaches? and others... Chuck from LA flew to Parma and had a nice long flight over the main peaks here so we'll see him again for sure... a friend.
Wind was generally light south at altitude, but soon after it would start the West flow which ended up helping the glide out to Padaro...crabbing to the lz.
First task was to use the RR to get up enough to buy some time to make my decision and see where others were. There was no one at LaCumbre anymore, or farther west, so I guessed they all decided that the west was gonna be better enjoyed as a tailwind instead of a head, so I followed that thought, and (flight log) used the RR to start the climb up. For some reason it wasn't as lifty as I had hoped, but gave me enough to get plenty high to make the next jump over skyport (I think i saw Timmay setting up at Skyport) to Thermal Factory. I hit the factory, and it was producing...you can see by my spaghetti that it took a little fooling around to stay in some pretty disjointed thermals, but eventually liked my elevation.
Since my sunglasses are polarized, and my old vario don't play nice, right now i am having to take my glasses off everytime i want to look at my vario, so that gets old. I am discovering that you can estimate ok as to how high you are when you are looking at your next trigger peak... So that's what I did... jumping to Montecito Peak...
- EJ Padaro with elevation
Basically the rest of the flight was using the peaks which I tried to memorize, but you just gotta go and fly them to really understand the amazing joy it is to fly around them. Though I was kinda scratching, I still made it close enough over to the very tippy tops to snag the consistent thermals dripping upwards... it was actually pretty easy... this time.
One wierd thing I did was to decide to go back north/to the back 'ridge' after leaving Romero Road Cut, thinking maybe there was even more lift. No bueno. What i got was schooled in how to fly 100 feet over a spine... wayyyyyyy back in a canyon.... and wonder if I was going to have to hitch a ride with a dirtbike or worse yet hike to the nearest paved road... this was not a good idea.
Luckily I rode the back ridge, and when it seemed the least problematic, though still pretty dire, I cut out to the next spine East which is the beginning of Castle Ridge (didn't see any castles though)... see the track log. Fortunately, due to my insistence on leaving thermals early, and tendency to scratch alot, I was able to maximize the glide, and figure-8 climb up the west end of the ridge to get over it and safe... time to move on...
Unexpectedly found some light turbulence which was created possibly from the crashing of two wind directions exposed on the south faces of Castle ridge...or by the fans/steep spines of the same. So, I decided that I will make the final glide out to Padaro.
Having never made a long glide (does Roundhouse to Parma count
) other than maybe Pine launch to mini-Bates, I pointed her out towards the beach. At this time, on the radio I hear Tom L. announce he was looking at a 15 foot shark, which is a completely sublime thing to hear when you are suspended in AIR... 
Anyhoo, being on a sit-up harness, and remembering what a pilot told me that you can stretch out your body on glides, and get streamlined like in a pod... I did that... and had a uneventful glide over Polo Ridge, though eyeing my LZs the whole time, just in case a freak headwind met me somewhere... ya never know...I had 1,300 feet AGL over the 101 fwy... with a light west helping me with the final landing pattern...
Came to the beach over the Movie Producers homes, hit a left and just cruised. At this time, I believe Dane had already found a place to land inland in a park. And I think Aaron and Chris C. were in Ojai figuring out what they were gonna do. Chris C. had a personal best from SB to Ojai (Nordhoff HS), while Aaron landed at Lake Casitas and hitched to bates, then we all met and had stories at Padaro... even got to see Tom Truax and share in a super day together.
Lessons:
1) spend the time to watch pilots off launch
2) don't be afraid to relaunch (if possible)
(2.1-there are tons of places to land in/around our mts (for PGs), between trigger peaks)
3) don't leave lift early, but don't leave it late either
4) sometimes low isn't a bad thing, and lift can be in front rather than over/behind the ridges
5) have a plan for logistics if possible (parking at Padaro was key to leaving the nest of comfortablility and helped pushed me farther than previously)
6) go with the flow (west wind made this all possible)
7) get a pod
Enjoy it with friends
