Judith's blog

We were hopeful that we would be able to fly Puig d’Afrou today, despite the forecast NW wind. The copious cava of the night before came to bite me and I was really hung over. Because I felt so ill I offered to drive for the lads and we set off to La Cellera. We could see wave bars in the Pyrenees from the outset and this didn’t bode well. On the drive up the hill we met Xevi who confirmed it was W at the top with only the odd waft up the south face. The wave bars were coming closer, so we canned the day and went to the beach. A good decision in retrospect, as it was W at Santa Brigida too.

We drove to St. Feliu de Guixols and we had a swim in the sea and a walk. Roger kindly offered us beers and snacks at his place before we all went to the fiesta in Girona. At the fiesta there were castlers, the human tower builders, of which there are associations all over Catalunya. There were two teams competing for who could build the highest and most elaborate towers. They each reached six levels high, with the big strong guys at the bottom and the last child up the tower being about 4 years old. The blue team built a six level tower and then built a five level single line in the middle, which they kept standing while the rest was dismantled. The guy at the bottom who was supporting the four people above him was sweating like mad!

When it was finished we went to the correfoc. My favourite! It involves fire – lots of it. You dance with (or in the case of Geoff and Wayne run away from) devils wielding fireworks at head height. You and thousands of others follow a procession of drummers around the narrow streets of Girona whilst devils chase you with fireworks at your feet, next to you, above you, etc. Hats or hoodies are essential if you want to keep your hair. With the music, fire and smoke it’s completely crazy.

At the cathedral they did a big drumming display and then set fireworks off on the steps before spooking the crowd by letting off huge fireworks in the midst of everybody. Then the chasing began again. In another square they had placed containers of fire on the ground which you had to negotiate (bearing in mind there were hundreds of us in the square) while they thew bangers at us. They had hung Molotov cocktail bottles in the trees and there were buckets of fire on the steps out of the square and more being chased with fire. Brilliant!

By the time we left we were too exhausted to think about going on any rides at the fair.

See photos of today.

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Work, work, work. I seem to be coming down with a cold again so was a bit under the weather. In the evening the LMSC babes (the female pilots) went out for a beer and boogie (it was weird to see them in makeup and high heels rather than flying suits). I came home after the pub because I didn’t feel up to the bopping. Not like me to miss out on dancing! It was a fun night out though, and we must do it again. Stupidly, I didn’t take any pictures!

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Lots of doom and gloom as the morning was cloudy and there was no wind. Eventually, people started flying at the Long Mynd and actually getting high at Black Knoll. We headed out and the place was packed, as you would expect on a good Saturday. Dave and I checked my line lengths to try to diagnose my left hand thermalling issue and he test flew it, but no obvious turns. As he took off the sky brightened significantly and it turned into a glorious sunny day.

Andy was one of the first off and pushed out to Norbury but didn’t make it quite back to the ridge. All of us launched and had to slope land and as the day blued out if became less apparent where we should go – either a triangle or over the back. Mercifully this decision was easy for me – I never got the height to do either.

It seemed obvious not to stick to the area of the ridge in front of launch (where all the fields are green) but to head to Black Knoll, where dark fields where being plowed. Right enough, there were loads of thermals to play with and Andy, Dave and I had the place to ourselves (other than Mark’s students). Lovely afternoon.

In the evening we went to a great ska/jazz do at the Three Tuns for a bop and beer.

See photos of today.

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Windy, but dry. I had originally hoped to go to the Arran Open, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather. The DSC was having their annual bash in Edale, but there is no way it’s flyable there today, so we opted to stay local and headed up to the Long Mynd. Geoff flew the hangie and then it was time for Luke and Chris’ big BBQ in aid of the Air Ambulance Service. It was too windy for the marquee, so vans were placed like in a circle like a wagon train, which gave a little protection. Late on a few really keen ones flew PGs, but it was still a tad on the windy side for me.

Lots of people came to the party and in the run-up to the day, they managed to raise £1190 for the cause. This was supplemented with £580 in raffle ticket sales. We didn’t win a thing (we never do!) but Dave Jackson-Hobbs cleaned up, winning three lots including the top prize.

After that, lots of booze, food, silliness and dancing into the small hours. Thanks to Luke, Chris and Joyce – great event!

See photos of today.

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Geoff writes: it seemed likely the day would be a write off, but we hung around for the briefings, until that was confirmed. Once it was, we decided to visit the Big Pit again, having first been there 13 years or so ago, on one of our first holidays together (it was raining then too). The Big Pit was a coal mine, closed in 1980, and reopened for visitors in 1983, using some of the ex-miners to run tours. The highlight for us on our first visit was the trip underground, but then it was raining so much we didn’t bother looking around the surface. This time, there’s a lot more of the museum to see on the surface, it wasn’t raining quite so much, and the queue to go underground was over an hour – so we just stayed on the surface. Unlike on our first visit, the Big Pit is, amazingly, completely free. We’d highly recommend a visit if you are in the area – it’s at Blaenavon, just behind the Blorenge, so a great activity on non-flyable days. The interpretation and historical perspective is really excellent. The only thing where it is quite weak is coverage of the Miners Strike of 84/5, which is a little odd, but maybe too close in time – even if it was over a quarter of a century ago – for the museum. Still, it was such an important event, and coverage at the time by the national media was so incredibly biased, it would have been good to see the miners’ point of view. Nevertheless, well worth a visit.

The evening was made up of talks, music and drinking. Tom Payne (who we met face to face for the first time) did a talk on the X-Alps, about which of course we also have a couple of podcasts done by Tom; and John Silvester showed a film of  a paragliding journey over the Himlayas. Both were excellent.

Judith, of course, danced until the small hours. I bailed out far earlier than that. I think I missed a wild night – pilots who haven’t flown all day, tend to get a bit frisky!

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Geoff writes: a little hungover this morning, but we knew last night it would be too windy to be flyable, and so it was. The day was canned for the BPC (PGs) early on, though the forecast is for warm, sunny weather – just too windy. Lots went for a 60 mile drive to Rhossili, to try to fly the cliffs there. We elected for a lazy day, driving out to a nice lake, a walk, ice creams and tea. And snoozing….

We were woken, though, by a call from Mark the Vet, because the HG British Open Series were asking if they could fly the Mynd, given that there would be no PGs there because of the wind. After consulting with most of the committee, we agreed it. They did have a task, 80k or so to Uttoxeter. We will post the results in the twitter bar to the right when we get them. Great that they got to fly, and got a task in.

On the way back to the campsite now, might possibly be flyable late on (but probably not!).

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Geoff writes: a wet and windy day, but we were off to the Blorenge Bash. Arrived early evening, met lots of friends, drank too much…. most of the LMSC seemed to be here. We could have almost had a quorate committee meeting.

Updates might be a bit intermittent, depending on where we can get a connection.

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