From: Dan
Activity_Date: 01/16-20
Remote Name: 24.8.188.224
Last Tues Bill Bailey and myself drove to Torrey Pines. We arrived around noon and the wind was light, 8-10mph and coming in a little crossed from the north. It was quite flyable though and we flew for a combined 2 hours +. Zvi was supposed to drive with us, but came later around 4 and he was able to get in some flying before the sunset.
We spent the night in San Diego and we headed to Torrey Pines the next morning. On the way, there were indications that the wind was blowing offshore. Sure enough, when I got there the wind was blowing out to sea but within a half hour the wind clocked around from the west but was very light. We waited until noon at which time Zvi asked if he could fly my Epsilon and off he went. Just about the time he took off the wind began picking up and he headed to the pier, south, and was skying out. I was trying to get his attention to bring back my wing and by the time he came back the wind was blowing 10-15mph. The time it took him to disconnect my wing and for me to get ready the wind began blowing 15-20 and that was the end of the day. The only wings in the air were the hang gliders as the wind never slowed down all day.
We packed up and decided we were going down the road into Mexico to La Salina where Christy and Brendan flew New Years. We arrived around 10:00pm and booked two rooms at the Hotel, Baja Seasons. We thought we did alright on the price as we paid only $50 compared to Brendan et al's price of $70. Only to find out from some fellow paragliders from Canada (BC), they only paid $40.
We had two good days of flying at the ridge. The walk up is .67 miles from the LZ according to my GPS with an altitude gain of a little more than 500' above the lz.
The first day Thursday, the three of us hiked up but the wind was again crossed out of the north and the ridge lift was poor. We all lasted for about 1/4 hour in the air scratching along the ridge so we attempted to practice our spot landing on the pieces of carpeting at launch. Zvi hit the edge of the carpet so he was technically the champ for that day. The flyers from BC did about the same as far as staying up. Bill left that night to go back to San Diego to visit one of his sons.
The next day the wind was clocking almost straight from the west. Ideal conditions. We hiked up and our acquaintences from BC were already up the hill. We arrived at launch and the wind was 8-12. We all launched and stayed up for about .5 hours when I noticed the one area where the lift was good was no longer working. I was trying to get up when I looked around and every one was sinking out. Another attempt of who could get the closest to the piece of carpet and it was a almost a tie between Zvi and I.
As we talked with the folks from BC one of their pilots who had already walked back up reported the wind was picking up again so we opted for another hike up the hill.
This time the ridge-lift was much better as the wind was now 15-18. Zvi had to back off the launch as his first attempt had his wing flying past him and collapsing in a swirling mess on top of him. Danek, who is an instructor in BC was next and he had a little difficulty but was able to launch. By that time Zvi had straightened out his lines and was back on launch and had a perfect launch.
When I was ready to launch the wind was starting to blow a little harder. I gently pulled my wing up only to have it pick me up about 4' and blow me back from launch where I almost landed on this other American, we called Capt. Don. I managed to keep the wing under control and was able to make it off the hill. Whew!!
There were weak thermals and good ridge lift the rest of the day. I flew for about 1.5 hours and because the time was getting close to 4pm, the time I told the inn keeper we would be getting back to him to let him know if we were staying another day, I radioed Zvi and said I was landing. Zvi decided to land next to the beach near the hotel, and I practiced my spot landing again and only missed my mark by 5'. The mark is a 4x5 piece of carpeting by the way. Our BC flyers flew until dark.
That night,we ate like pigs and drank margarita's and vodka with our BC friends (who originally came from the Czech Republic). Zvi and I headed back around 11pm and the younger group was sitting at the bar until it closed.
The wind was from the south the next morning so we decided to begin our journey back to the USA. When we got to Torrey again the wind was from the north and very light. No one was flying so we decided to make it a day and we drove home.
All in all it was a good time and we now have a new site under our belt and our BC friends have invited all of us to Golden where they say is best in July and August. Mark your calendars.
Ciao
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