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[Weather Archive] [Sunday Photos] Was in the work mode early Sunday morning when Diablo called for his 7 am briefing. Took a quick look at the weather. Possibly my only chance in March, so I confirmed reservations for seats to the Skyport. Sharon and I dropped our truck and met Tony and Carolyn at the Freeway a little past 8:30. The ocean was calm. Parma had some movement. Light down at The Rock. Light west at the Bypass. On launch about 9:15ish. It was gusting into the low teens at the Liminator. Mostly down but some up and a lot of cross. The clouds overhead were drifting from the WNW about 15 to 20 knots. James was on launch and shared his observations. Debbie is out of action, so Sharon, Carolyn and I took Diablo's truck to check out the ridge line. The Brotherhood was light on the HG launch flag and 90° cross from the west. Straight up in the gap about 5 to 10. The Alternator was WNW 5 to 15, showing north on launch. Launchable and probably soarable, but the lulls might result in sinking below holding altitude. We were just under cloudbase and the drift above the ridge seemed steady and a little stronger than the cycles at ridge line. It was cold, wet, and lonely. We opted to pass and head back to the Skyport for a later look. The Skyport was starting come in more consistently. The high clouds were variable and the stretches that let in more sun also resulted in a better direction on launch. There were some birds at launch climbing and drifting from the SW. Airborne a little before 11 am. Didn't connect at launch, so we pulled a glide to the Round House. Came over the ridge half way between the Round House and the Antenna Farm. Opted to look upwind toward the spine that runs down to the Monastery. Out over the bump below the Round House but no connection. The Monastery ridge was upwind and I didn't' think it would work because of the west wind, so we went downwind toward the Rock. Pulled a good glide and got there half way up to the Antenna Farm. Spent the next half hour struggling. Got a little above the Antenna Farm numerous times only to loose it and have to dig in and hold on to the last chance over and over. Searched the usual triggers. Looked over the SW spine again. I think it would have worked, but the thermals would track toward the Round House. Back to the Rock just over the road and got lucky when we needed to. Finally got into the mid 2s and took the drift toward Parker's where we connected to cloudbase. Easy going with good glides in front of a nice tail wind. Smooth fat lift along the sun line a little out front. Probably could have climbed to 5 or 6 K, but didn't want to loose orientation, so stayed below 35. It was lee side in front of Ramero. Down to 25 crossing the saddle, drifting from the NW. It looked dark over at Castle Point off to our 11 o'clock. We veered right with the drift and reached for Polo Ridge. Polo ridge almost never works for me, and we were off the east end with 14 hundred. Picked up a little on the way to Snowball and came in on the SW spine with 1,200. Worked up the ridge and got stuck below the top with about 15 or 16. It was dark out front. There were some birds circling above the top, but we couldn't bench up. Held on for 5 minutes and opted to look around the corner down wind. Found some buoyant lines, but nothing to turn in. Running downwind about midway into the foothills, thinking we might be able to reach the horse ranch or Cate School with a lucky boost. We didn't get what we needed. We fell below reach of the horse ranch and realized we were going to flush and needed to consider landing options. Looked right, but didn't see anything inviting. Angle right to get out of the foothills. There was some wind that could get nasty if we went down in the lee of something. Was able to reach a low knob on the front side of the foothills, but there wasn't anywhere to land below it. The hill side was cross to the wind with small avocado trees. We were able to put down between the rows and were fortunate on the canopy placement also. Took an extra 5 minutes to pack up amongst the awkward ground cover. Hiked to a house for directions out, but the residents didn't speak English. They were able to communicate the gate combo, but we noticed a more direct route over a fence and took it. Edward was AOL so we called for backup and got Sharon's Carp House team to give us a boost back to the van on their way to UCSB. We considered taking a ride back to SB for another attempt at the mountains, but it looked like more wind up at Santa Clause Lane, so we turned back for Bates. We'd seen several pilots getting a hundred over from our LZ and Pipkin was giving us repots via phone. Conditions seemed about right despite the one airborne pilot only getting a hundred over at best. He seemed to be having fun rather than maximizing his altitude. Called for Ron and Ron to assist with the pull up from the parking lot. A half dozen pilots were marking the lift band. Hadn't attempted the jump tandem, but we got above 450 (250 over launch / minimum go altitude) ten minutes into the flight. Pipkin was getting 50 to 100 higher, so we opted to be patient. If we could get a hundred over minimum go altitude, our chances of success would be greatly improved. My success going below minimum is poor. Probably batting 700 at minimum go, and 90% above 550. Everyone cycled down, and on the next up pulse our sink rate still seemed a bit off pace. We were penetrating with full ballast, trimmers full slow, and some break on for min sink. Faded down the ridge with the pulse and turned uphill with 475. Got the usual surges over the flat spine, but the rotor turb seemed milder than typically encountered in stronger conditions. Perhaps the heavier tandem wing loading made the ride seem better. Did ok at first, but ran out of terrain clearance and needed to get off the flat and over the ocean side edge while still in the lee. Had to go a long way drifting away from the hill. Down about half way between the cliff edge and the road, getting near abort altitude. Finally hit something going up and drifting in rather than out. Got back up to the cliff edge going downwind and did a figure 8. climbed to 600 behind the Gas Plant. Bob Hurlbett announced his run and we watched. He also seemed to get below the cliff, but got into up air further east and connected easily. (Bob's first attempt at the Bates Jump) La Conchita was light. Diablo was on the ground coming back up from Ventura. He reported surface wind in town was only 3 to 7. Our upwind GPS speed with the glider trimmed full slow at min sink was in the mid teens. Bob got to 11 hundred, but the best we could do was 950. We were hoping for more, but it cycled down. We opted to land and dump our ballast. Went back upwind behind the Gas Plant and found a spot that looked like we could relaunch. The mustard looked to be about chest height, so I thought we could lay out over the top. There was a small zone of low vegetation behind the cliff that looked landable. Took 3 of 4 approach attempts but we finally got into position to force a soft touchdown. Dean and Tom P announced their attempt with minimum go altitude. We watched from the cliff edge. They both came up short. Scouted the relaunch options that I noted before touchdown, but the mustard was 2 feet overhead, and the bare zones were too steep. We opted to pull up behind the cliff edge where the vegetation was thinner and only knee to chest height, then wade through the brush while kiting toward the edge. Had to plow through a couple of bushes, but got airborne on the first try. The wind was picking up and our loading was lighter, so we could park out. Got a hundred over launch, but went downwind even and pulled a bad glide. Should have stayed put for more altitude before trying to move downwind to the main cliff. Came in low behind town and flushed. Maybe 2:30 ish? There was a lot more wind further west. Perhaps it was sweeping down the coast and if we had hung on might have been able to boost higher and run to Ventura. We stopped by Bates and considered another try, but I opted for a bike ride with Tess instead. Colorful day and fun flying. Good to be out in the mountains. SD |
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