Tuesday  [Photo Sets]  and Flight Articles by  [Aaron LaPlante] and [Michele McCullough]

Michele McCullough aka SkyOutGirl

Tuesday, 3/27/12
Skyport to Pedaro Beach

Article Copied from: http://scpa.info/bb/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2486#p7592

Re: tuesday dreaming
by skyoutgirl » Posted Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:32 am

My dream was to get high and go far in SB...I scored!

Tuesday was an Epic, cloud base touchin day here in SB. Got a ride up in the Eagle Van with a crew of dubious folks (some high level cirrus was hanging heavy on our minds in the morning). As we drove to launch, the blue sky prevailed and cumis were starting to pop over the range, with little show of wind in them. Cloud base was low, around 4000', but the lift was abundant and right where expected.

I launched around noon, and got a nice lift in the house thermal. I saw Kev Howe at the RnR and considered going West to join him, but as I got up, he made a move for the Thermal Factory. So, why lone ranger I thought, and took off for the Factory. I struggled a bit getting into the thermal there, as it was in a different place then I was trying to make it be. But with Kev above and Chris coming over from launch, I was able to use the help of my friends to climb aboard. We quickly reached cloud base. I saw Howe making his move for Montecito Peak and I channeled my homie Brad Gunnuscio. It's all about timing and commitment he says. So, I took my altitude and headed out.

Kev wasn't getting much love, so I aimed for Shadow instead. I saw a beautiful cloud shadow and sun line on the ridge, and went right for it. The little bumps and beeps greeted my nicely, and I was hooked in to cloud base again. Chris was hard on my tail, and it felt great to have a buddy. Kev was working very hard, and I looked back to see him get out of there and touch the base. Each time I got to the clouds, and was still going up, I peeled out for the next cloud shadow/sun line on the next ridge. Every time I was greeted with reliable, strong lift. Chris and I worked together this way and eventually Kev caught up.

The lift was disorganized low, but if you persisted in it, it got stronger and stronger. There were some pretty intense waterfalls, and the ocean side of the clouds were pretty turbulent although I only took one tiny wingtip along the way. I gave many thanks this day to my Summit XC2, which is so solid and makes me feel at ease in 'some of the spankiest SB conditions'. (I also gave many thanks to my new ratcheting speed bar pulleys, which made my bar mashing effortless..this was their maiden voyage).

The three of us linked up and I spent much time looking down range...to Ojai or to not Ojai, that was the question. I saw the crux of the flight coming up, with committed, deep lines and NO clouds. On a day when clouds are abundant it didn't feel right to to push into the blue abyss. My hands were cold, and it was time to move out. I put on that bar and headed for Padaro. The glide across was amazing, I hit a few super strong thermals along the way that almost teased me into turning in them. But, my bladder got the best of me, and I held course. I kept looking over my shoulder and saw Kev and Chris make the move as well. I came into the beach at Padaro with 1400' and got to enjoy the breathtaking scenery while the other two joined me. We landed effortlessly and heard that Ty and Aaron were shortly behind us. A happy crew of five, eating nachos and chicken sandwiches at Padaro Beach Grill.

This is my second time making this flight, and it was done in 1 hr 7 min from launch. Pretty quick business. My max altitude was 3875' and max lift 875 fpm. Definitely the strongest I have encountered in SB. What an amazing milk run! Can't wait to do it again, maybe next time with Ojai at the end

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