Sunday, January 3, 2010

Stolen Coastal Flight

Today's forecasts weren't very encouraging but they weren't bad either - showery and strong, but with a decent direction and lapse rate. Things were a little complicated because several sites had encouraging forecasts and monster high tides were due for the coast around 1.15.

After some debate, Steve and I headed to Ecola - a beautiful coastal site, but where the beaches aren't usable at high tide (so top-landing is mandatory). Monster seas and threatening skies made the no-fly decision for me. Steve flew very briefly, but a shower curtailed his flight almost immediately.

Things got worse, so we headed South to Oceanside. There we had soaring flights of 20-30 minutes with a handful of pilots that had spent much of the afternoon waiting there. Conditions were more reasonable (less threatening weather, easy to land on the beach) but still not great. The wind was from the S, which allows you to stay aloft at Oceanside, but makes it hard to go anywhere. There were some threatening clouds out to sea that dissipated without causing problems. I flew my speedwing and kept my eyes on the weather, happy for some air-time.


Some pics at -> http://picasaweb.google.com/DMMullin/Oceanside02Jan#

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