Today we awoke to overcast skies but Garth and I still decided to hop into the Parataxi with a full load of other hopeful paraglider pilots, all of whom were German or Austrian. It didn’t look promising when we arrived on launch as the windsocks were indicating that the wind was blowing down the hill which makes taking off impossible. Regardless, we had to pay Wolfgang our 15 Euro and hope things would change, and they did. The cycles (brief periods of stronger wind) started coming up the hill and a few people took off. It still didn’t look like a great flying day with completely overcast skies and increasingly darker clouds but even if it was a sledder (a flight where you get no lift and just go from top to bottom) that would be better than riding an hour down in the van.
More and more pilots began to quickly get ready as it looked like there would be a narrow window before a potential storm would arrive from the south. Just before Garth took off, some wispy clouds started to funnel up in front of launch and were rising quite fast. A number of wings took to the skies including Garth and they all raced down the ridge, hoping to have just enough glide to make it back to Kobarid, about 10 kilometers away. The visibility in front of launch disappeared for a few minutes and then after that I had a botched launch with a knot in my lines. Then it really socked in. I couldn’t even see the vans that were about 50 meters away. I was the only pilot left on the upper half of the launch. I waited about five minutes for that cloud to clear then did a forward launch to huck off the mountain. Turns out that I was the last pilot to launch (some opted to go down in the vans).
Clouds billowing up at launch:
Just after launch:
As I hugged the ridge I not only got no lift but sank at 1.5-2 meters per second whereas Garth had radioed that he wasn’t sinking too much on his flight. He, along with all the other pilots made it back to Kobarid but when I was half way there, it was obvious that I didn’t have the height to do it. I doubled back and headed towards one of the alternate landing zones called Podbela. At first I didn’t think I’d make it there as I was now gliding upwind but it turned out to be fine and I had plenty of height to set up my approach. There was no wind in the landing zone and I slightly miscalculated my final and plowed a bit into the ground. I wasn’t hurt at all but slightly embarrassed as I haven’t done a landing like that for a long time...thankfully no one saw it.
My bad landing:
The threatening storm after I landed:
I radioed Garth, packed up and began the 5 kilometer walk back to Kobarid. I was actually offered a ride part way back but decided that the exercise wouldn’t hurt. A thunderstorm opened up over launch and it looked like the rain was chasing me so I marched at a good pace and reached Kobarid just as the skies opened up with torrential rain and even a few hail stones. I radioed Garth and he had gone to the Ford dealership where I dropped Betty off in the morning, hoping that they might solve the issue with her not starting when she was hot. He picked her up and then picked me up, which turned out to only be 200 meters away (although I didn’t know how close we were) and with the strength of the rain I would have been soaked.
With regards to Betty, finally it seems like someone’s figured it out. They ran her for a few hours and then reproduced the starting problem. They found out that it is in fact the fuel pump and it’s getting too hot. They poured water over it and were able to start it a couple of times. They explained to me that they couldn’t fix the fuel pump there and it would be expensive so for now, I’ll make sure to always have a bottle or two of water just in case.
I also had a problem with the fridge not working when plugged into a main electricity source. This had started way back in Switzerland but hadn’t really mattered as most of the campgrounds in the Balkans didn’t have electricity. I had unscrewed the electric panel and the fridge hoping that they would be able to isolate the issue with a multi-meter but they didn’t seem keen on working on it. Back at the campsite, Garth checked it out and lo and behold he found a loose connection and fixed it! He earned his keep in Betty that’s for sure!
The Soca river near camp:
That evening we had a fantastic chilli (one of the first I’ve ever made I believe) and Garth and I played some exciting Yahtzee , again with his paper made dice and a colander to roll them in. I believe he kicked my butt yet again that evening but the tables will turn eventually.
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