Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of the ridge race here at Canoe Beach. What an amazing site!!! There are about 40 or so competitors, most in the sport class. Just 11 in the open class. The ridge we race on goes on forever. I don´t know exactly how far you could go in either direction, but yesterday´s task was 46km and that was twice to the south and back. Conditions were perfect for flying although the launch is a bit on the rough side. We had a single start at half past four after having to dodge the clouds at a 600 meter base. Here is a shot just before heading down to the edge of the start circle. The beach is gorgeous, very wide and landable most anywhere along the course.

Que Pasa?

My father likes to tell that when I was a kid he would say "Jamie do you want to go?" and I would say sure and not even ask where we were going until we were in the car on the way. So, I guess nothing has changed ;-). Dustin called me a week ago and said hey, come to Ecuador with us! Without thinking twice, I had a ticket to Guayaquil. I didn't learn much about where we were going or what we were doing until we were on the plane crossing over Cuba.

We've been here now for three days, staying in Guayaquil for a few days of local flying. Raul Gurerra is the key player in the Guayaquil hang gliding scene. There aren't many pilots in the area, but Raul is the main (maybe only) instructor and he is doing quite a lot to try to grow the sport. They have a small group of pilots (probably 8 or 10) and an Airborne trike that they use to tow out of small airstrip on th edge of the city of about 3 million people. Also, just 2 weeks ago, they were able to secure a foot launch site very near the airstrip and bulldozed and nice little patch to land on below. The launch is low (about 200 meters) so you really just get one shot at it. But it is a fairly consistent site and if you can get up a little you can bench up to the higher hills behind and have a great view of the city. We flew there two days in very very light conditions which I totally love because it is perfect for me and my Litesport. Many of the flights were no more than 15 or 20 minutes of scratching. But yesterday, after bombing out 3 times in a row Dusty managed to kick all of our asses and get up and back on the high hills. Finally he was happy!

Now we are on the road driving to Canoa Beach for the ridge racing competition. Everyone tells me it is a beautiful beach site with a 30something kilometer ridge you can cruise up and down all day. They've held this comp for several years now - Kevin won last year, Betinho the year before and Raul the year before that. Dustin is determined to win it this year ;-). It isn't a huge comp (yet) but they are hoping to draw more a more pilots every year. This year we are 4 from the US, there are a few from Peru, a few from Colombia and of course the Ecuadorians.

I couldn't be having a better time - my favorite south/central Americans are here, Raul and Mike Glennon who I met many years ago at Wallaby Ranch and have loved seeing every year at the Florida and Texas meets. They are incredible hosts and when I told them I felt like a princess here they said "No way! You're the queen!". Its fun to be a girl in hang gliding ;-))
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Unusual Gaggle Flying

It's difficult to see, but this is Raul thermalling with three helicopters over Guayaquil. Wouldn't be my favorite gaggle buddies.

The Queen of Ecuador Launching

I've been dubbed the Queen. I sure love these Ecuadorians ;-)

Unpacking in Guayaquil

After only about 14 tries, I managed to get my glider back together.

Loading Gliders in Miami

Last Supper

The world of our bubble came crashing down this week. With less than two weeks notice, Otto and Rudee announced that they had sold Thai Lotus restaurant, our local hangout in Clermont. If you think this is just a favorite restaurant of the Questies, you're mistaken. It really is (was) part of Quest, part of our bubble. Most every local at Quest has waited tables at Otto's place over the years, myself included. Locals couldn't go to Otto's for dinner without being expected to wait on ourselves and often serve a few plates for the tables around us ;-) Any pilot visiting Quest was introduced to Otto's at one point or another and he was lovingly referred to as the Thai Nazi for his quirky rules. There was just no place like it.

Otto and Rudee came to the US from Thailand many years ago when Otto attended university here. They stayed and owned several different restaurants including a Blimpee's Subs in Manhattan and another authentic Thai restaurant there. About eight years ago they moved from New York down to central Florida for a somewhat slower lifestyle. Of course, anyone who knows them knows it has been anything but slow for them. Their lives were at Thai Lotus where they spent often 10 or more hours a day, six days a week making friends with everyone in the community. They haven't taken a single vacation for the past eight years. They are the hardest working people I know.

We all love them like they are part of our family as they certainly are part of the Quest family and we will miss Rudee's amazing Pad Thai and Otto's funny rules for what in essence was his home where he had guests for dinner every night. Steve made up a set of signs for the new restaurant (no plans for a new restaurant, by the way :-(...yet) that he presented to Otto Wednesday night where we all gathered for a last dinner with Rudee and Otto. Here were some of the signs:

"No Reservations Required. Come on in and Seat Yourself"

"In a Hurry? No Problem, Just Ask for the Express Service"

"Never Had Thai Food Before? Don't Worry, its Just Like Chinese"

"Casual Attire Welcome! Especially Flipflops and Tank Tops"

I've never seen Otto laugh so hard.

Here are a few pictures from our last supper.

Home Sweet Home

It always feels so good to be home again (even though there is a very high likelihood that in two weeks I'll be itching to leave ;-). We were threatened by Ernesto a few days ago, but that has now been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm to a tropical depression. So, with any luck, we'll hardly even notice it. Despite the constant hurricane threat this time of year, I love it here when things are so quiet and mellow. The flying is really smooth and relaxing, the Thai food is plentiful, the grass is green and the sunsets are spectacular! Here are two shots of my "front yard" last night.

Streets of Havana

Cool old cars everywhere you look

Revolution is...

Cruising the Cozumel Coastline

Me Atop a Mayan Pyramid

Gerolf Conquers the Mayans

Happy Goalies on the 255km Task

Glen Volk Tries to Land on Me!

Gorgeous Texas Sky

Jonny Having Some Fun

Waaaaaaay Behind

We just finished up the pre-worlds in Big Spring and finally I'm getting a spare moment to give an update. Texas was good (as good as it can be ;-) and the meet ran pretty smoothly. I think we could use about twice as many tugs next year, but luckily I think people were pretty patient this time and everyone got in the air eventually. The weather wasn't as perfect as it has been in years past, but in the end they flew all but one day - with 4 tasks total (2 days cancelled after launch). Attila Bertok from Hungary won and that was good because he seems to be David's favorite international competitor.

It was good to see the town of Big Spring come out and welcome all of us. They had bleachers set up next to the runway and on the weekends, the bleachers were packed with spectators - amazing considering it was close to 100 degrees every day. They also had signs up all over town welcoming the hang gliders. I believe we were on the cover of the Big Spring newspaper every day - not totally sure, but I bought about 4 papers and hang gliders were on the cover of every one I bought. The restaurants even agreed to stay open past 8pm for us ;-)...incredible actually, for a town that rolls up the street at 8 normally.

After a couple of days of decompression after the meet ended, we headed off to Mexico for a little holiday. We have spent the last four days in Playa del Carmen, a somewhat small town on the Yucatan Penninsula about 45 minutes south of Cancun. Thanks to a great tip from Jeff O'Brien, we went right past Cancun and all the barfing spring break types to this smaller town, with slightly fewer barfers. It is still pretty touristy and everybody and his brother wants to sell you something, but it has been quite nice.

Our first whole day here we took the fairy out to Cozumel and rented scooters to putt around the island. The carribean water is beautiful clear blue and as warm as bath water. We made the circle around the island stopping along the way a few times for swimming and snorkling. That was such an exhausting day being out in the sun all day that we opted for a day in town at the local beach yesterday. Couldn't do much other than alternate swimming and snoozing on the beach.

Today, our last day, was pretty cool. We rented a car and took off for the 3 hour drive to Chichen Itza. The Mexican's don't make it easy to rent a car here and if I had it to do over again, I would definitely take a tour bus. The drive was long on roads with potholes bigger that my bathtub, but we made it there. What a cool site Chichen Itza would be without all the tourists ;-) They no longer allow people to climb the main pyramid so we were a bit disappointed that we couldn't go to the top. But, we made up for it by stopping at another smaller set of ruins on the way home. They have a pyramid much taller than the one at Chichen Itza and we were able to climb to the top of it and stand there imagining how it might be to launch into a big fat thermal and float around above it.