Saturday, 4/7, Alternator to Ojai Plus

[sd]

Friday night guess about Saturday, but I've been 180 out the last couple of attempts, so don't take it to the bank. Getting late in the season, but hoping for April showers mid week. A mild Santa Anna event down south Friday and the coming weekend mornings, but the flow around Point Conception has been from the NW. The afternoon sea-breeze is pulling in a bit near the coast even in Oxnard, so the flow at our altitudes along the foothills from SB through Ojai has been and will be from the west in the afternoon. The big problem is the anemic lapse rate near the ocean. Ojai is getting almost 10 degrees warmer than the beach, so it's more of a sure thing, but you might forfeit half the course and it's extra effort to get to launch. If we can wiggle past the low stretch of range without much protection from the cooler ocean air behind Montecito and Carpinteria, the climbs should get better at Noon Peak. Aaron noted that once you got below about 3K on Tuesday you were toast, and the high ground behind Summerland is only 3K. Expecting a sea-breeze front to push a convergence up the Santa Clara River. You can likely reach it from the Nuthouse, but not sure about SB. The forecasted 6K wind is light from the SSE, so we should be able to utilize the higher ridge line launches. With morning frost in Ojai about 20 degrees colder than the forecasted 6K temp, we need to let the inversion break, so don't expect it to be soarable before 11ish, and it will likely work better after noon if the sea-breeze doesn't pull in too strong and break up the weak high pressure thermals. If you opt for the Nuthouse, the day will get hot, so you can hike early (9:30ish) and bring a book, or start your climb around 10:30 or later with extra water, and of course there should be plenty of newly hatched and hungry spring time bugs to keep you company.

[andy dainsberg]

getting to stellar ojai from the iffier side should be a fun challenge. i say we go for the longest possible flight today- its getting close to the end of the non-inverted sb season. we have all summer to fly the nuthouse!

[SA]

You were right SD. That sea breeze kicked in around 12:30pm, but we were still able to pick up the scraps and get to about 3K. We had a bunch of new pilots ready for their first high flights, and a crew of Jesse Meyer’s students from bay area school Lift Paragliding visiting. We walked Parma and St. Mary’s, and wound up getting to Skyport in the Eagle van at 10am. Neal Parrow hucked off first just around 11am, and managed to climb out a couple hundred over. Travis was next on his first high flight and he managed to work it above launch as well. Marite followed and managed to get up at launch and then maintained at the round house spine and antenna farm for over an hour. It was working out front. Most found it very Bouyant from the round house spine out. We got the rest of the crew off, and the cycles at launch continued to pick up as the west started to arrive. It was all manageable. Ty had a nice tandem flight and went to the beach. Jon Blake and Joel also enjoyed some thermal flying. Marge was getting high out there as well. I had a nice flight with my tandem passenger Tracy. How far down range did you make it Andy? I think I saw you fly over Skyport as I was launching my tandem.

[andy dainsberg]

yep that was me~ very good eye SA! i made it to Ojai pushing thru East the whole way. Brendan, sd and i met up w/ fao to fly from alternator today. brendan had tandem duty.- from launch, sd took a front point E tack and i surfed over to la cumbre below the high ridge but sustained just fine. i had @ 4k at tf, @ 4500 near the powerlines, and well over 5k at several points downrange. I burned thru lots of neurons picking the best glide angles to take out in front of spines (esp whiteledge) on this flight. on 1/2 bar for most of the glides to keep it in the mid-teens- and still, sd was uncatchable. the ojai range was booming and still East. great but punched up lift had me high between Nordhoff peak and the Pyramid- when sd radioed he was turning around from E repeater. i thought "oh thank f-ing god." i was spent enough, it was pretty wind blown and i felt like landing- so took the easy glide out to the high school. sd decided to head back thru the pass... Brendan picked me up on retrieve which was a better feeling than the flight almost. fun day on a good spread.

[sd]

Link to my flight report from Saturday
Alternator to the Repeaters in Ojai, then back to East Divide. Flush and land out in the Pass, 2 failed re-launch attempts, and a hike out.
http://paraglide.net/log/12/12_04-07/1_alternator_ojai_divide_hike.htm

[andy dainsberg]

the pass overview map sd provides is greatly appreciated.