Primary mission – to fly (followed by the mission impossible soundtrack),
It was, for lack of a better word, a crazy weather day today, with almost all of the forecasts getting most of it wrong. We started the day at Signal Hill, but it was over the back, and remained over the back for the hour and a bit we were camped out at launch. It was a again a scorcher of a day with the temperature well in the 30 degrees Celsius from 10:30 onwards. We moved our “bets” to Sir Lowry’s Pass, driving to launch and witnessing the hazy inversion dome sitting above Cape Town.
We waited and waited (and watched the baboons getting into trouble). There were thermic cycles coming through and gradually increasing / building… until I got my wing out of the car and kitted up. Then it all suddenly turned off, not a breath of wind, so stable, like nothing was going to move.
Clint and I moved our “bets” one last time to Hermanus. We picked up a pie on the way and had a good laugh and a meal at Hermanus launch, just as the sun was setting. Again no movement and no flying (we didn’t want to drag our wings across launch doing zero wind forward launches). A super nice day… of nothingness when you consider paragliding. I made a stop at our holiday home in Sandbaai to collect a couple of items that needs to go with the car in the container and said goodbye to our house, in case I do not get to visit it again before I leave. I am acutely aware that my time with Clint is coming to an end and my time in South Africa is also drawing to a close soon. Emotions are stirring… I need to keep a watchful eye out for them.
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43.5323 – 172.5567
4 October 2024
FP-267