Well first off I must apologize for not posting anything for what must be the longest gap since I started this blog. Please don’t lose faith...I’ll never let it just die, or at least I’ll tell you if I do! A major part of the reason is that I’ve been hanging out in Goa, specifically Arambol and will be for a while to come. It’s tourist season here now and every day is around 30 degrees, sunny yet with a sea breeze to keep the heat bearable. This is the time to paraglide here and so that’s one of the things I’ve been doing.
For the first month that most days were flyable I enjoyed just boating around the main ridge enjoying the views, searching for monkeys in the trees and watching beach goers. One day there were 30-40 people down on a secluded sandy bit on the beach between some rocks with a myriad of equipment: many colourful parasols, tables and chairs set up like a small bistro, bright reflective screens used in photography and other equipment I couldn’t identify from the air. I first thought it was a photo shoot of some sort but soon that it was in fact a movie being filmed, most likely a Bollywood one. I watched as a man and woman walked out towards a rock. He quickly jumped up on it and held back his hand to aid his likely love interest up (even though it looked like the rock was 1 foot high) and then they sat down looking out towards the sea as the camera crew slowly circled around them. After the second retake I lost interest and also had to remind myself that I was flying! Pay attention Dave.
Bollywood filming below:
The number of pilots increased over the Christmas period and into the start of January and there were a few times where I counted at least 12 wings in the sky but thankfully the lift band was always quite large and traffic was rarely a problem (it seems better this year than last). I have run into a few pilots who were here last year too such as Mark from England with whom I shared 2010’s Christmas dinner with.
A number of wings in the air:
There’s one German pilot, Stefan, who is quite a skilled pilot. He enjoys performing wingovers (going side to side in a big penduluming motion) close to the terrain and also pulling off 2-3 spirals (fast 360 degree turns) in a row over the beach before flying back to the ridge to regain his height. Watching him inspired me to be a more “active” pilot so most flights, when the conditions are conducive to it, I work on practicing those skills plus top landings (landing where you took off from), dolphining (penduluming forwards and backwards) and spot landings on the beach. I have been able to squeeze in 4 spirals before having to pull out of it which I think is pretty cool considering the ridge isn’t that high.
Trying to spiral:
I’ve also made a conscious effort to do more kiting which is where you are standing on the ground with the wing above your head and you are constantly adjusting for the wind. It’s excellent practice that translates to better piloting in the sky. On days when it’s been too windy to fly I’ve been skiing in the sand with my paraglider pulling me barefoot down the beach. What a blast that is! Sure I have to be careful for the odd obstacle such as a beached fishing boat, sunbather on a sun bed or cow lounging in the sand but that just makes it a bit of a slalom course.
One day when I was kiting and skiing on Sweet Lake Beach, there was a big crowd of Indians around something just in the water. More and more people congregated around so I decided to check it out. It was a large sea turtle who didn’t seem to be moving. It was an impressive animal with a shell about 4 feet long and three feet wide. A lifeguard came over and tried to assess the situation. They flipped it over and no sign of a heartbeat or movement could be found.
It was during a long weekend so there were many Indian tourists, many young urban professionals from the cities, enjoying Goa’s beaches. These guys, many fuelled by strong Kingfisher beers or Old Monk rum, were pretty excited to see the turtle and of course get their picture taken with it. One of these guys became the ring leader and started yelling instructions in Hindi or Marathi. Five or six guys picked up the deceased turtle and began to carry it onshore, giggling, half falling over and really just not respecting this dead animal. A young woman from Holland began to express her displeasure with the way they were treating it and got into a bit of a discussion with an Indian fellow who explained that they were going to bury it deep in the sand as it was going to stink in a few days. It probably was the right thing to do but I think it was the drunken joviality in carrying out the task which put the woman and me to some extent off as it’s quite sad to see such a magnificent being such as this dead. Sea turtles, who happen to be very picky about their hatchery sights, do lay eggs at a beach about 10 kilometres south of Arambol. I wonder whether this one was on her way there...
In my classroom:
So even though it’s just a ridge soaring site here in Arambol, there are lots of things that can happen and lots of things that can be practiced and that’s what I plan to see and do...
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