"New" Launch at Avila Beach

From: bh
Activity_Date: 4/5/02
Remote Name: 4.35.216.211

Comments

I've often viewed the ridge overlooking Pirates Cove and the Avila Harbor with envy, imagining a flight along the crest when the winds flow across and almost parallel to Shell Beach from the South and Southwest. Yesterday, as I returned to Arroyo Grande from Morro Bay, I received a call from my SLO flying buddies, Matt and Eric, urging me to meet them at the Shell Beach parking lot for a flight on that very ridge. Matt explained the site has only been intermittenly flown by local pilots. He and Eric recently returned there and earlier in the week, soared from the Avila crest down the coast a mile or two past Shell Beach into Pismo. With 2 hours between meetings, I decided to join them.

The launch is west of 101 off the road into Avila. The crest runs generally east and west between the city and freeway. On county property, it is accessible by following a very steep dirt road about 400' above the parking area which is near a paved overlook above Pirates Cove.

We launched in modest cycles (6-8 mph) and cruised the ridge overlooking the Cove, Avila Harbor, the golf course and highway 101, approximatetely 800' above the ocean. Because of my schedule, I left Matt and Eric after 40 minutes or so and followed the ridge around toward the freeway before heading south to Shell Beach for a landing near the parking lot. The views are some of the best I've seen in SLO county and this site exposes very steep faces to the South, Southwest and West making it sourable in light winds.