Finally, I got to fly at the Cape again. 2 other attempts this year didn't bring anything but hang waiting. The last one was a week ago and I couldn't even assemble my glider - the wind was that strong. The leading edge on my glider is full of sand now.
...
This time, Natalia and I got to White Crest beach in Wellfleet around 11AM. Vitaly Pogrebnoy was already there assembling his glider. Tom Lanning pulled in as well. Since it was Friday, it looked like only 3 of us were going to represent hand gliding that day. There were quite a few paragliders already in the air, or ready to launch, though.
...
The wind was rather light, and, remembering my first launch at the Cape, I was worrying I wouldn't be able to fly.... and somehow, my worry materialized itself by my first flight being, again, a sledder. I self-launched at the cape for the first time, and I didn't do it right. I ended up launching in a not a very strong cycle, losing altitude immediately. I landed a quarter of mile later and was faced with a decision - breakdown the glider, or carry it back to the launch in hope that someone would help me to bring it up. I chose the second option.
Self-launching... (photo courtesy of Natalia K)
...and not flying far
It took me a while to walk the glider back, but when I got to the walkway that led to the top of the dune, Tom Peghiny saw my predicament, and he helped me to carry the glider up. I couldn't thank him enough. He also gave me some pointers on how to self-launch from the dune. I waited for a few paragliders to clear the launch and gave it another try.
Before my second launch, Tom and I talked about turning south (wind that day had some southern component to it), but when I started to launch, wind lifter my right wing, turning me to the north. I went with it, opting for a quicker turn in hope that it would position me closer to the ridge. And it worked. I glided away. I couldn't have been happier.
Tom P. assisting me on the second launch (photo courtesy of Natalia K)
...much better this time (photo courtesy of Natalia K)
When I finally got into the air, it was at least 40 minutes since Tom Lanning and Vitaly launched. A mile or so down the shore, I saw that Tom was already on the ground, packing his Falcon.
Tom Lanning packing his Falcon.
I also saw Vitaly in the distance, still in the air. When I got to the gap where Tom had landed, wind seemed to picked up, and I had enough altitude to cross the gap. After crossing, I joined Vitaly on the next section of the dune.
I greeted Vitaly enthusiastically. It made me happy that we could share this experience. We had a couple of miles of that dune to ourselves.
Greeting Vitaly
We had a couple of miles of the dunes to ourselves.
I was able to cross another, a much wider, gap to the north.
Crossing...
Most of the time when I turned around, I ended up below the ridge. With some difficulty, I was able to make my way back to the ridge level.
Turning around often put me below the ridge.
Barely making it back to the ridge level, while Vitaly had plenty of altitude flying other direction.
Crossing wide gaps upwind was a challenge, too. A few times I had to turn around and wait for a better cycle, hoping it would bump me higher.
Crossing the gap again. This time upwind.
I played with that section of the shore for maybe 15-20 minutes and, to make things more interesting, decided to see if I could fly it all the way to the southern lighthouse.I crossed all the gaps toward the launch, sang a song for Tom Lanning while flying over him, and set toward the lighthouse.
Over the launch. Going south.
Over the launch. Going south.
All was going rather well for a few miles, but while flying over Marconi beach, I suddenly started losing altitude and barely had time to get my legs out of the harness.
A few miles south. Positioned nicely over the ridge.
40 seconds later - flushed
The ground is coming up fast
I only made it halfway to the lighthouse and just like that my flight was over. Good thing I landed only a couple hundred yards from the Marconi beach parking. If I could get a ride, I wouldn't had to walk too far.
The next order of business was to get me that ride back. I tried to call Natalia on the phone and over the radio. No signal on the phone. No reply over the radio. I had to go all the way up and then I was able to call for help. Natalia picked me up soon after.
Eagle has landed. Calling for help.
Going to Marconi beach parking. (photo courtesy of Natalia K)
Not a bad day on the beach. Not bad at all. Considering that it was December in New England - I had nothing to complain about.
