March 2011
Monthly Archive
Wednesday, 30th March 2011
Geoff 31 Mar 2011 | : Trying, but failing, to fly
Geoff writes: each day, the forecast for the next day is good, but then gets worse the closer we get. Today, there were big clouds threatending rain all day. In the end, there were just a few spots of rain, but the clouds were very big. We did attempt an evening flight, but even then the clouds were still towering, so in the end decided not to bother.
Tuesday, 29th March 2011
Geoff 30 Mar 2011 | : Boring stuff
Geoff writes: another day of poor weather. It seems increasingly likely the weather here will get good just as we move back to the UK, where the weather will promptly get bad.
So today was a day of packing (at least it was for me – Judith went for lunch with her parents, then stocked up on alcohol for the summer). Later on, in the evening, Roger and Marc came round for a very pleasant evening with dinner.
Monday, 28th March 2011
Judith 29 Mar 2011 | : Trying, but failing, to fly
The forecast today looked unlikely, but there was an outside chance it would work. That chance seemed less likely when I spotted a cunim over El Mont at 11.30am (10.30 really given that the clocks have only just changed), which seemed a tad early and didn’t bode well. So all plans for flying at Sant Pere de Rodes were ditched and plan B was to drive past Santa Brigida, if it was flyable we’d do that, if not, we’d head to the beach.
With the big development all around us, we decided to do a job first and go to Olot to argue with Telefonica to get our land line back. They were actually very helpful, but don’t get me started on Jazztel…
Then off to Santa Brigida, where the wind was too strong, from the NW and with a massive cloud sitting above it. How many more inidicators do you need that it’s NOT flyable? As we drove towards Girona/the coast, the clouds just got blacker and more ominous. Then it started pouring. We ditched the beach plan and decided to go into town and visit Jesus in hospital. He’s recovering from his nine hour operation to fix his pelvis, and is sitting up reasonably comfortably. He won’t be able to walk for three months, but is expected to make a full recovery.
Afterwards we went for a quick walk round town and a sandwich before coming home to start the packing for our return to the UK next week.
Sunday, 27th March 2011
Judith 27 Mar 2011 | : Boring stuff
The forecast for today was rubbish, but Dai had said to Geoff that today might not be as bad as forecast. We woke up to leaden skies and the radar showed widespread showers. The webcams at the coast showed rain too, so we stayed in bed for the morning, until we realised that it was much later than we thought… of course we’re in summer time now!
The sky started clearing from about 11am, but it was never clear if you could trust the conditions and it was windy as well. We stayed in and did some painting. The ceiling on our top floor is now nice and white. We’ve also started packing and sorting for the trip back to the UK. What I don’t get is how we can have a clear out every six months and still accumulate so much crap!
It never did rain so the forecast was completely wrong (and Dai was right). We’re hoping for a flyable day tomorrow before the bad weather returns on Tuesday.
Saturday, 26th March 2011
Geoff writes: the forecast changed a lot overnight, in terms of wind direction, and so rather than go to El Mont, it seemed a better bet to go to Bellmunt, which we duly did with Nils and Mark, meeting up with Joan too. We went up, and there were already a few people flying and getting up, with some nice cloud development. I was the first to launch of our group, and it didn’t seem too rough, and there was plenty of lift. I was pretty determined to cross the pass to Olot, at least, if not go further. The problem was that cloudbase was only about 2500′ above take off, about 6200′ above sea level, and I wasn’t at all confident about making it over the pass – it’s a few kilometers to actually reach the pass, and if you don’t get something on the way, you’ll be below it, in some very inhospitable territory, with very few landing options other than trees. So after three attempts, getting to base each time, hoping that base would rise (but it didn’t) I gave up on that idea.
The clouds were getting bigger and more developed, and I eventually decided to go and land – Judith and Joan had already landed. It took me a while to get down, there was plenty of lift, but I managed to also find enough sink, and I got down ok. The overdevelopment continued rapidly, and an hour after I landed, whilst we were having our beer and sandwiches with Joan, there was no sun, but a lot of rain!
Great to see Nils again, and to meet Mark for the first time – both top class street performers, as you’ll see from their web sites if you click on their names!
Friday, 25th March 2011
We went skiing, possibly for the last time this season. The plan was to get up early and ski at Masella until 1pm, then meet up with Mike for a flight at Targasonne. We did hit the slopes at 9.30am, but the sunshine meant that it was already slushy on the lower runs. On our third run the cloud from the weak occluded front came in and this dampened that slush at the top, so the skiing was ok. We hooked up with Debi at 11.30am, but the increasing wind meant that it wasn’t worth travelling across to France.
My knees told me it was time to quit early afternoon and we headed home – in the drizzle!
Nils and Mark came to visit us in the evening, but because they came so early, we sent them to the tree house and labyrinth. I was in the middle of the supermarket getting dinner when I got a text saying ‘Very funny! How do we get out?’ which had me chuckling in the veg isle. We had nice dinner and a great catch up, but too much wine!
Thursday, 24th March 2011
Judith 24 Mar 2011 | : Trying, but failing, to fly
What a rush around day! First thing into Olot to get the van serviced, then back home to have coffee with Veronica (there was Geoff thinking he was the only English in the village!) and then back to get the van. However, there’s a hole in the transmission that needs to be repaired and it all got a bit complicated, but suffice to say, we couldn’t go to fly in Berga with Nicky. Instead we decided to try our luck at Santa Brigida with Tomas, Marc and Joan.
It was clear even before we got there that it was windy, but we went up anyway to see if it would drop. Tomas is a professional balloon pilot and he keeps a supply of helium in his truck to blow up balloons which he releases to check wind speed, direction, etc. before he launches. It was incredibly thermic, and the wind turned at times, so we blew up balloons to try to see what rotor looks like. This of course inspired lots of silliness – and in the end I got to do something I have always wanted to do, but never got the chance… talk funny with helium. It was hysterical!
We never did get to fly, but we had a really nice afternoon…
See video of me talking funny.
See video of Joan talking funny.
See video of Marc talking funny.