October 2009
Monthly Archive
Saturday, 31st October 2009
The weather today was decidedly more cloudy, but still worth going out for a flight at Santa Brigida. We got there later than desired and Joan and Oriol were already there. It was light, but the high cloud was in the distance, so we were in sunshine. Geoff went off first and maintained, so Oriol followed him. They both got very low but managed to climb back up in a small thermal. When they got up, it was still a bit scratchy, but Joan launched too. For three it was a little tricky, so I held back. As soon as Geoff slope landed (on the tiny bit of the hill that isn’t tree covered) the other two got a good climb and I launched too, and Geoff followed. From them on staying up was a no-brainer, for a while. Big, smooth, lazy bubbles you just needed to lie sideways in. What the Germans call snogging-thermals, I discovered today.
The high cloud did come over us eventually and caused the thermals to get weaker. More and more people turned up as the day got lighter and lighter. On days like today when there is high cloud and little wind you need to be there at the centre of the day – late afternoon is usually too late for anything other than a flydown. The clocks have changed, so it’s actually an hour later, without strong, clear sun to cause proper thermals, and later restitution, getting there at 4pm isn’t going to work.
Friday, 30th October 2009
Today may be the last hot (27C) and sunny day and although Geoff was keen to go flying, we had no playmates and I didn’t want to go to Santa Brigida (we’ll be spending plenty of time there in the depth of winter). I’ve been wanting to go snorkeling for weeks and today was the day. We headed off to the bay near Roses and climbed down the path laden with gear – canoe, snorkeling stuff, books, towels, picnic, etc. To our amazement, there were lots of people there. Normally when we go there it’s deserted. We pumped up the canoe and I paddled out to the island off the shore and across to the cove. It was brilliant being out on the sea. I paddled back and gave Geoff a go while I got my snorkel and went to look at the fish. I saw about 11 different varieties. Mostly saddled bream, black tailed wrasse, cow bream and rainbow wrasse. The water was lovely and warm enough even for Geoff to go in and stay in for a good snorkel about.
We dried off lying about on the shore reading our books and then went in for another go. We’ve discovered we can use the canoe as a two-man job by me lying on the front, so Geoff paddled me around the bay while I sunbathed.
I had a quick look at the blog for this day last year. What a contrast!
Thursday, 29th October 2009
Another hot and sunny day, we were a bit undecided about where to go. Berga was off and we left it a bit late to post a message on the Parapent Girona mailing list to coax other people out. We also want to spend the hot weather doing things we can’t do the rest of the winter, i.e. do stuff in water. The plan was to go to our favourite snorkeling bay near Roses, but there was persistent sea fog at the coast. The forecast said it would burn off, but by 12 noon it hadn’t so we went to the gorge at Sadernes instead with the inflatable canoe we have borrowed from Wayne. We want to check it out on calm waters and on the sea before buying some for ourselves.
It was great fun, paddling around the little lake and upstream (not that that’s very far). It was so hot I went swimming several times to cool off.
Wednesday, 28th October 2009
Judith 28 Oct 2009 | : Beach, Flying
My folks came back from a week’s holiday in rainy and grey Ireland visiting my sister and niece, so I picked them up from the airport and then Geoff and I rushed off to Palau-Saverdera to fly. We met up with Nani, Enric, Oriol and Jesus and headed up to Sant Pere de Rodes. It looked very, very stable and the inversion was solid. It was so hazy you could barely see the sea. No one was really optimistic until we got to launch and there was wind. A soaring flight at least!
Mathias came bounding up behind us and dashed off (he’d come for a lunch break flight) and he maintained, so we all followed him off. I briefly got above launch, but didn’t head along the ridge with Jesus, who landed near Roses. We boated about for a little while, getting lower, but I found a weak house thermal over the church and worked it in a lazy fashion, gaining some height, losing it again and then thermalling up to launch height again. Most of us ended in the bottom landing, where, for some inexplicable reason, there is now a giant shopping trolley (but no river for it to be abandoned in).
It was such a hot and sunny day that we were keen to get to the beach and try the inflatable canoe Wayne has lent us, but the sea was a little choppy, so I just went swimming. Then sunbathing with beer. Life’s good…
Tuesday, 27th October 2009
We arranged with Nani, Joan and others to meet this morning to head up to Coma Negra, one of the sites we can see from our house, but we have rarely flown. It’s not far as the crow flies, but is a long drive. In the middle of the night I started to feel unwell and by 8am I decided I wouldn’t make it out of the house. Geoff could have gone, but decided to stay at home to work on the conference instead (we open to presenters next week. Yikes!).
So on a hot and sunny day (26C) we sat indoors and stared at the computer screens. Apparently it was flyable with bubbles rather than thermals, but nice all the same.
Monday, 26th October 2009
The forecast promised to be promising, but we woke to grey skies and the tops of the hills around were all clouded in. Hmmm… so much for the plan to go to El Mont today. Wayne went for a walk and explore round the village and by the time he came back the cloud was breaking up and we thought we could get in a cheeky flight before taking him to the airport.
There was only time to go to Santa Brigida, and the wind was on and there was lots and lots of sun. Geoff went off first and stayed up. Wayne was close behind and although the thermals were broken they stayed up. One of us had to stay with the car, because if all of us had gone down Wayne would have missed his flight, so Geoff top landed to give me a go. The thermals were better formed when I was flying and there were cumulus popping all over the place. An hour later the conditions would be fantastic. Thanks to Ryanair changing Wayne’s flight times we were never to find out how good the day would become. Geoff took him to the airport and I headed home to catch up on urgent work. It was a difficult task driving away from a flying site under the best sky we have had since arriving here.
This is the worst luck Wayne has had with the weather in all the times he has come to visit and predictably, the weather is going to get really good from tomorrow.
Sunday, 25th October 2009
Geoff 25 Oct 2009 | : Trying, but failing, to fly
Geoff writes: forecasts in Spain (at least this part of it) are as unreliable as they are in the UK, at least in autumn/winter, but normally when they get it wrong, it’s actually better than they forecast. Today, though, it was worse, which is a shame because it was Wayne’s last full day. The first thing we did was cancel the possible trip to Berga, because Nicky thought it would be crap there (and she was right, it turned out). We thought about various sites around here, and then decided to put off a decision by going to see the Argelaguer tree house, a stunning creation by one man, which we often take visitors to. A massive construction, with three towers to climb up – no chance at all it could ever be built in the UK, given obsessive health and safety rules. And totally free.
Following that, we decided to try Santa Brigida, the site which always works, except this time it didn’t – due to the total lack of sun and wind. Wayne ended up doing a fly down. So we then drove to Xenacs, on the way home, a 900m mountain where you get a great view of the volcanic region here. On the way, I got breathalysed, for no reason at all – the police here don’t need a reason to stop you. But given that we were on our way to a bar, rather than leaving one, it wasn’t a problem.
Xenacs was really nice, as always, and would be a wonderful place to have a launch, and it used to be, except for some reason, people didn’t use it and it has now become overgrown. We finished off with a drink in the bar part way down. And it started raining (not much, but a bit depressing nevertheless).
The good news is that the weather should be good tomorrow. The bad news, for Wayne, is that he is leaving.
Oh well, can’t be epic every visit.