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Wilcox to... Elings?

From: Sarah C
Activity_Date: 4-18-02
Remote Name: 207.154.99.100

Comments

High Noon-ish.. Glenny and Jeff had already landed from soaring at More Mesa and then a trip to Wilcox. Advised caution of gust front coming.

I launched backwards accelerating with A risers to the edge. Lift was fast: made it to 750' AGL (beach) within a lazy 10 minutes. (Didn't try to work lift points). Watched folks at the training hill and contemplated the idea of flying to the LZ, but considered the unstable air and my non-desire to start counting broken bones! Philip passed 100' below as I parked above the houses east of launch and called to be careful! I looked out over the water for the gust front Jeff and Glenny warned me of. It was there and I had no idea how fast it was coming--but the water was dark and writhing in texture and well adorned in white caps. After a few more looks over my shoulders to see easily the Mission, State St., Court House, Stearns Wharf... I watched my Suunto vario methodically climb to 750' whereas I said, "Ok, let's get real." And proceeded to try to head out over the water to lose altitude.

The answer was echoed in the singing in my lines: "Not."

I tried speed bar--nothin'. I pulled ears and started going down... then drifted backwards. I did not like looking at homes and powerlines below me! Fortunately dropping did give me -some- forward motion by the time I was at 500' and dropping--fast. I leaned forward in desperation--that helped somewhat. I made it above launch but drift backward scared me. (The over-the-water option was out due to the wind speed tracking me backwards.) I was dropping fast and going behind launch. I didn't panic.. as there were places to land. I nervously eyed the tall Eucalyptus trees behind that though...!!

I was 50-80'? off the deck when I let ears out to slow my approach. Of course I started flying again! Realizing it might help to get within the rotor of the cliff edge trees--as opposed to dropping hard and being dragged on launch itself--I made an asymmetric right ear for about 5 seconds, let it out, and pulled the other ear to stablize and drop watching the behind-launch trees. Mentally I said, "I'm not going to hang up in a tree!!" Then I spotted large bushes below and pictured triangulations between me, the nearest tree, spots of open ground and again the bushes. "Eh, I don't wanna end up in the bushes!" I said. Looked at the nearest tree admiring my wing... "Ok, bushes good." So I fixated and karate kick-landed(one was out ahead of the other to plant directly on a branch and the other to counter further under me) in a big bush that treated me well. (It didn't take two minutes to remove myself and wing from it, and I actually never sat on dirt.)

Walking out I realized I had landed about 150' back from the cliff edge and about that distance west of launch! Some women walked by and told me my landing was "magic" to watch. (I laughed very hard to myself at my worst landing yet!)

Philip was just arriving back at the cars from being dropped off by his wife from his successfull landing at Shoreline Park as I walked to my car.

Answer: "Naw, I don't need to do that again. A window with undisputable doubt on the other side will not provide a pretty picture--no matter how you frame it."


I said, "...then I pulled the other ear to stablize..."

I meant "... then I pulled both ears once stable enough..." --I was closing on the ground quickly and an asymmetric B.E. (big ear) while dropping out of lift did cause a minor left-right pendulum and 15-25 deg. course change.


The gust front did come... hard. As I was still standing in the street with my pack on talking to Philip.

 

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