saturday flying

[irene]

Saturday was a good flying day in SB. Lots of pilots at launch, great ambiance. I took off at about 11:30, and decided that I wanted to go to the power lines down range and come back to Parma. I could maintain at launch, but not great, so decided to leave. I arrived a little lower than I like over the power lines, but caught a nice thermal that brought me over 4 K , over the thermal house. Doug and Bo were there at well. Then it was on... I left for Montecito peak, with Doug and Bo right behind me and much higher. Soon, they were in front of me of course. At first, the thermals were so nice , strong and gentle and it was really great. Wind was south at about 9 mph. But we were certainly getting lower and lower over time. The wind was shifting progressively south east. When I saw the power lines in the distance, about 2 or 3 miles, that's when it started to be less fun. We were probably in a convergence between west and south-east wind and it got too roundy for me. I arrived at about 0.5 miles from the power lines, Bo and Doug were a few min behind me and I decided that I was not going to stay there so I turned around. On the way there we met Ron and OJ. Ron continued east and OJ stayed with us. Not for too long, helas. After we passed Castle Ridge, Doug, Bo and I got flushed behind a ridge and OJ managed to stay high. At that point, the wind was clearly west. The 3 of us landed in a private field and the owner was not so pleased. Luckily we had Doug with us who talked to her with his handsome smile and she calmed down ! Retrieve was easy, as Bo talked to this guy in his car at a stop sign, who brought us back to Parma.... What a great day !