Mallory Takes to the Air, Again and Again

January 2nd-4th, 2011

Mallory, one of the New Zealanders staying next to me in the beach huts, was interested in trying her first paragliding tandem. I introduced her to Deano and on the 2nd we headed up to try and fly. Unfortunately conditions weren’t great with the wind being a bit weak and coming in at such an angle that only a small part of the ridge was flyable. They did get a short flight in but just missed the window where it was flyable for the better part of an hour. They had already landed by the time I got in the air but boy was it busy on the ridge. With everyone packed into a small area you had to keep your head on a swivel. I almost left about ten minutes into the flight as the flying wasn’t terribly fun but thankfully most people must have thought the same and left before me. Regardless, still not one of my favourite flights here.

Mallory and Deano hiking up:

Rewa and Mallory hiding from the sun:

Deano going through the pre-flight briefing:

Excited Mallory:

Deano and Mallory taking off:


Deano, being the nice guy that he is, offered to take Mallory the next day for another attempt as normally tandem flights here should be about 20-30 minutes long for the cost of 1500 rupees ($35). Conditions were even weaker today but the wind direction was a bit better. Deano first took Aussie Shelley for a flight as it was her birthday. He attempted to top land but came in just 4-5 feet too high so decided to make another pass but then sank out and had to land on Kerem Beach. He hoofed his way back up the hill to try and get Mallory in the air. We parawaited a while but conditions didn’t improve so they again had a relatively short flight. My flight only lasted about 15 minutes and I landed at Sweet Lake where everyone else was.

About to take off:

During our post flight beer we noticed a brush fire break out across the beach on the hill that we climb up to go and fly. It spread rapidly and caused all of us some concern but then we noticed a couple of small figures near it and they stamped it out with incredible efficiency.

Post flight beer:

The fire on the hill:

Did I mention that Deano is a nice guy? The next day, after two short flights, he offered Mallory yet another chance at a better flight. Well they ended up doing two more! Again both were fairly short but Mallory didn’t seem to mind. The wind was weak again and for a good part of the afternoon only solo gliders were able to stay up so it wasn’t anything to do with Deano’s paragliding ability. In the end I think Mallory was quite content as she mentioned that she enjoyed the takeoffs more than anything...and she got four of them for the price of one!

Big smiles:

Setting up to launch:

The final flight tally:

Ringing in the New Year

December 31st, 2010

In the days leading up to New Year’s Eve I had three paragliding flights on three different days. One day I had a frustrating attempt to fly but never got in the air due to arriving a bit late on launch and trying a few launch spots that not many pilots opt to use and I found out why. They were both plagued by rotor (turbulence from the wind billowing over the cliff face). Much to the amusement of some of my paragliding buddies, I kept trying for about two hours until darkness became an issue. In the end I walked down with my tail between my legs.

Flying over the point:

Giving a thumbs up to Deano:

There must be a “paragliding karma jar” though as the next day I arrived at launch and took off before the wind got too strong. A fantastic two hour flight followed with me having the entire ridge to myself in the latter half of the flight since no one could launch in the strong conditions yet I only occasionally needed to use my speed bar to penetrate forwards (the speed bar is a system that one pushes out with the legs and it changes the angle of attack of the wing and increases the ground speed of the paraglider). Near the end of the flight I gained altitude which was the highest I have been on all my flights here...but I was starting to slowly go backwards a bit. I also saw a beach parasol tumbling down Kerem Beach and recalled an earlier conversation with a Belgium dock worker and kite surfer Merv who said that he would know when he could hit the water when such an event occurred. Normally if it’s strong enough for kite surfers it’s usually too much for paragliding.

Flying in the high wind:


High over the Sweet Lake beach:

I decided it was time to land so I raced across the main ridge, past what’s known as the bowl, across Sweet Lake to the small southern ridge and then headed across Arambol Beach towards the Olive Garden restaurant. I saw a number of kite surfers cruising back and forth on the ocean and easily picked out tall Merv in his element...he’s quite good. Since the wind had a strong northerly component in it, I expected some rotor from the promontory at the north end of Arambol Beach, about 500 meters from where I was landing. It turned out to be quite bumpy and as I turned into the wind I found myself alternating from slowly moving forward to creeping backwards. I prepared myself to quickly douse the wing but still got picked up just after landing and ran about 10 yards before I succeeded in bringing the paraglider down to the beach. I was able to stay on my feet so it was a small price to play for such a wonderful flight.

Landing in the high wind:


On New Year’s Eve, a group of paraglider pilots along with some of my hut neighbours gathered at the Olive Garden for a big dinner. The paragliding group comprised of Deano, the Englishman that I met back in France in September, another English pilot Mark, Aussie Johno and his girlfriend Shelley and finally Paul, another Brit who is a busker in Europe for his occupation. The hut neighbours included English Jon who’s been here for the last three weeks, a couple of Kiwi ladies Mallory and Rewa, and Jorge and Wendy, a couple who hail from Texas and Alberta respectively.

Wendy and Jorge with a hookah:

Deano, Mark and Paul at dinner:

After a lovely supper and a few drinks the countdown to the New Year was upon us. We stepped out on the beach from the restaurant to ring in 2011 and catch the myriad of fireworks that exploded all along the waterfront (a “fireworks free for all”). It was quite an impressive display. Thumping dance music emanated from three different bars nearby and Ashish, a high intensity 20 year old worker in the restaurant, convinced Jon and I to check them out. “Party party!” he said. He’s a funny guy who’s just go go go. When Jon and I play chess Ashish gets frustrated by how slow we are between moves (“Play play!” he says over and over again). Neither Jon nor I were terribly inspired by the music and were even more turned off by the overwhelming number of Indian men in all locations. I think many women were put off by the prospect of the likely possibility of being groped by drunken guys and I can’t blame them.

Fireworks on the beach:


Jon and Ashish:

We returned to the Garden for a drink and eventually headed back to the huts. Deano and I met some Russians (who I later found out were from Vladivostok) sitting with a couple from Sweden, Martin and Ida. The Russians were staying in the huts across from me, Kir and Eugene in one and Victoria and Olga in the other. It was suggested that we play Charades. Well this should be entertaining. The way they play is not to act out movies, books or TV shows but to do just one word. The first word that was amazingly guessed by one of the Russians was “microbe”! Yikes, that’s tough. By the time I finally had to act, I was given the challenging word “poltergeist”. I tried pulling the most psycho faces I could pull followed by scenes from the movie. When that got me no where I tried to go for “sounds like poultry”...to no avail. Sadly I was one of the few not to succeed.

My new Russian friends:

We finally ended the evening close to 5am and it wasn’t until 5:30 that the manic thumping that earplugs couldn’t even drown out finally finished at the three bars. Normally all bars have to be quiet by 10 or 11pm but these places must have paid the cops some baksheesh (a bribe). Fair enough, it is New Year’s.

2010 was quite an interesting year for me with many ups but some huge downs, the biggest one of course being the loss of my father. I hope 2011 brings more ups than downs and for all of you reading this blog, I wish you the same.

Happy New Year!

Where did Christmas Goa?

December 25th, 2010

It was fairly easy to almost completely miss Christmas in Arambol. In the past week I have only heard one Christmas tune emanating from the speakers of a beach restaurant. For Christmas Eve, I met up with Deano for a drink followed by dinner at the Olive Garden and again the only sign of Christmas was some waiters wearing Santa hats.

On Christmas day I first skyped with family back in North America although it was still Christmas Eve for them. Unfortunately I found out that my stepsister’s husband, also a Dave, had contracted a nasty infection in his hand and had been in the hospital for a few days in Phoenix in excruciating pain. Thankfully he’s on the mend now.

Restaurant manager Manu with some Christmas lobster:

In the afternoon I hiked up the close ridge to see if I could fly and fly I did. It wasn’t an epic flight by any means but my first time flying on Christmas day!

Hiking up to launch:

In flight with Deano on tandem below:

Cute little Santa I saw on the hike back:

That evening I met up with some fellow paragliders at a restaurant called the Outback (yes, right in the spirit of things?!?). It was a fun group consisting of Deano, an Aussie couple John-O and Shelley, a skinny curly haired Englishman Mark and an interesting professional busker Paul who originally hails from England but now often answers “Earthling” if someone asks where he’s from. Paul entertained us and the wait staff with a few magic tricks while Deano also got in the fray by balancing some cutlery precariously on a glass just using a toothpick (and some good physics). As for my meal, I opted for the highly traditional chicken tikka masala!

So all in all it was a pretty “non-Christmas” but perhaps that’s just what the doctor ordered with this being the first Christmas since my dad died. I did think a lot about him and will for many Christmases to come.

The Christmas dinner crew:


Merry Christmas Everyone!

Scootering to Fort Aguada

December 21st, 2010

It’s easy to make new friends while on the road traveling, especially if you’re going solo. However some people you connect with more than others and in the past couple of days I’ve unfortunately had to say goodbye to some great people as they are continuing on with their journeys. First was the couple Vincent and Isabelle who hail from the south of France and are both teachers. They were staying in the hut next to me and over the course of a few weeks we hung out, had dinners together and even battled it out on the chessboard. I was the first “non-Vincent” opponent that Isabelle faced and Vincent and I had three close games with him edging me two games to one.

The final battle with Vincent:

Isabelle and Vincent leaving:

A beautitul sunset:

The next night the Israeli woman Zohar departed to go inland to a place called Hampi which is rich in temples and strange rock formations. Zohar has been an amazing new friend to me and has helped me a lot over the past few weeks. I wish her the best on her remaining couple of months in India. Hopefully my path will cross with these wonderful people in the future.

Zohar departing Arambol:

Today I decided it was time to explore a bit more of northern Goa on the scooter so I headed south down the highway and then headed out to the coast where my goal was to find Fort Aguada. I knew nothing of the place except for the fact that it was on my little map that I’d picked up at an Internet cafe. I correctly assumed that it was built by the Portuguese as Goa was under their control for many years. Turns out it was built in 1612 and the name Aguada means “watering place” as it was a watering station and safe berth for Portuguese ships. It was free to get in however there wasn’t much to do except walk around the ramparts and enjoy the view of the ocean below and Panjim, the capital city of Goa to the south.

The river near Pernem:

Fort Aguada:

Looking out towards Panaji, the capital city of Goa:

Massively thick fort walls:

I hopped back on the scooter and checked out a couple of other beaches, namely Candolim and Calangute. Both were fairly narrow with many more people soaking up the sun or frolicking in the waves than at Arambol. At Candolim there was a large rusting tanker just off the coast which was a bit of an eyesore. I’m glad I’m staying at Arambol!

A rusty tanker anchored off of Candolim Beach:

And a busy beach it was:

A Big Tree & Isabelle’s Birthday Flight

December 18th, 2010

I have been hanging out with some new friends in Goa, namely Zohar, Avishai and Noa from Israel, a French couple, Vincent and Isabelle and a Brit Jon.

Zohar and I headed out for a cruise on a scooter in the late morning. Some of the roads around the area are quite fun to ride with curves, hills and beautiful scenery through the countryside and by a palm tree lined river. By chance we ended up stopping at a massive banyan tree. Another Israeli woman Tal had told us of this massive tree and it definitely lived up to the hype. The base must have been at least 40 feet in circumference and a hundred feet tall. We later found out from a man named Deepak that lived in a nearby house that the tree’s age was roughly 800 years old and it was the biggest banyan tree in the state of Goa. Deepak was kind enough to invite us into his house where we were offered some cookies and he seemed to show off his flat screen TV. After a short stay we hopped back on the scooter (with Zohar driving the whole time...I was enjoying looking around) and continued touring around for another hour or so before heading back to Arambol Beach.

Try and spot me...

Now find Zohar...

What a massive tree!

Banyan Tree:


Our new friend Deeepak:

This was about as much of the tree I could get in the photo:

It was Isabelle’s 30th birthday on the 18th so we had to celebrate. In the afternoon we met up with Englishman Deano to see about a tandem paragliding flight for both Isabelle and Vincent. I met Deano back in September in France at the Coupe Icare festival and by chance we ran into each other walking on the main road in Arambol a few days ago...what a small world it can be at times!

The wind was a bit light but we decided to hike around to the other beach to see if it was flyable. Worst case scenario was that we’d get a bit of exercise. Madu, the long time resident paraglider pilot originally from Holland or Belgium (I met him during my first flight here), was the other tandem pilot. We walked the length of Kerri Beach and at the north end there were three men sunning in their birthday suits. I joked with Isabelle that I had pre-ordered them as a gift for her...she chuckled. We scrambled up the 150 foot hill to the Arambol plateau. Thankfully we saw three gliders in the air, including a tandem one, so our hopes were high that we would be able to fly.

Hiking up to launch:

The lovely couple ready to fly:

Arriving at the main launch area, the wind died off a bit and it looked like the flight was in jeopardy again. Madu went for a short test flight by himself on his large tandem wing and then it was decided that we’d go for it. Isabelle and Madu were first to launch. The birthday girl was a bit nervous but also excited before taking off which of course is normal. Once Madu brought the wing up above their heads, Isabelle began to perform small baby gazelle like hops which made a few of us giggle but really isn’t a good launching technique as it unloads the glider. I gave them a good push and they were off. She had a bit of a struggle to get in her harness but once she was comfortable she really enjoyed her flight.

Isabelle's Launch:


Isabelle in flight:



Next Deano and Vincent set up. I provided anchor support and also gave them a good push. Unfortunately by the time I was set up and took off, the two tandems had already landed although I wasn’t totally sure where. I couldn’t see them on Kerem Beach below so I thought that they must have run around the point to the south to land on Kerri Beach, which saves a long walk. My flight was fairly short but I enjoyed flying over 3-4 monkeys hanging out on a rock. Even though I saw a couple of solo pilots land on Kerem, I decided to chance it and flew around to Kerri and did see Isabelle and Vincent already on the beach. I landed to find them both sporting big smiles...they loved it! We had a post flight beer with the two tandem pilots and then headed back to our huts to clean up.

Vincent's Launch:


Coming in to land:

My Landing:


Post flight smiles:

Followed by the post flight beers:

We stayed at the Olive Garden for dinner (Isabelle’s choice) and had a lovely evening which included some fireworks on the beach, great food and good laughs and it actually went a bit late even though the birthday girl was asleep on Vincent’s lap before the rest of us called it a night.

Our waiter/firework technician Ram:

Panna: Same same but different...

Great display!


Pinku showing our fish options:

The birthday girl and her man:

Me and Deano:

Happy Birthday Isabelle!