East Coast Drinking Safari

Above: Jeff Farrell tow launching the 14 square meter Nano into a thunderstorm.
Below: Chazz from Graybird Airsports poses in front of their Dragonfly ultralight tow plane. Chazz did a great job of being our launch assistant while we were at the Dunnellon Airport.





Above: "I'm Rick James bitch, where's my retrieve?" A typical Florida apres vol scene; a great spot to wait for a ride home in the shade of a giant live oak festooned with spanish moss.

What can I say? The weather sucked. North Carolina was cold, very cold. For 2 days the rain fell in sheets and the clouds hugged the ground. Jeff and I sat around the hotel eating local delicacies like Liver Mush and Microwavable Pork Rinds. At night we drank - heavily. We went to Florida a day early. The drive was uneventful, but 10 hours of pounding the rental car (a brand new Pontiac POS) through a 800 mile long slot in the trees left us with the impression of being on a treadmill. Jeff guessed the height of every tower and antenna that we passed.

We arrived in Gainsville in the midst of an Old Testament style rain storm and in plenty of time to drink. The next day offered up a classic, cumulus-filled Florida sky. Unfortunately the airspace was closed to everyone but Air Force One since Dubya was flying in and out of Orlando. We spent the day visiting friends at the sailplane and hang glider flight parks.

The next few days were unflyable because of rain and/or high winds, so we occupied ourselves with other pursuits. We picked up Paco and James at the airport and traded the Pontiac for a Ford E-3fiddy van. We hung out and drank. We also made a trip to the Sky Venture tunnel in Orlando and the four of us shared a half hour of airtime. Paco has about 5000 skydives so he showed off his barrel rolls and docking skills. Jeff, James and I have less than 10 jumps a piece, so we worked on more basic shit like not potato chipping.

Finally, on the last four days of the trip, the winds (and rain of bourbon) stopped and a large high pressure area moved in. The blue skies and stable air weren't ideal, but hell, we were flying! On the first day Jeff got away on his first tow and set out on what was to be the longest distance flight of the trip - a 34 miler in the direction of the Quest Air hang glider flight park. The rest of us took some more tows and Paco and I finally got away about an hour behind El Jefe. Despite a promising start Paco and I dirted 5.5 miles from Dunnellon, unable to find the second climb. J Brazizle made six tows and then jumped in the van to find us. James, studious fuck that he is, made short work of the retrieve and soon we were back at the hotel inquiring about a good local restaurant that served Manatee.

The next days were somewhat windy and or stable and nobody made any significant flights. I got away on one of those days for a 6.5 mile frisbee style XC. I committed to a landing pretty far from the road in a futile effort to stay in the air, and was rewarded with a beautiful 3 mile hike through pristine Florida countryside.

How was Dunnellon as a location for paragliding? To be honest, I was a little dubious about flying from a small airport so close to the coast, but it turned out to be a perfect set up. Gregg McNamee and Chazz and the rest of the crew at Graybird Airsports http://www.graybirdairsports.com/ did an excellent job for us. They were very friendly and laid back, and provided great tows at a reasonable price. All we lacked was the good weather. On the right day it would be easy to go big from Graybird. I'd recommend Gregg's towing to any any paraglider pilots wanting to sample the Florida sweetness, just remember to call ahead and make a reservation - Graybird isn't open 7 days a week yet.

Even though the weather sucked it was a good trip because I got to hang out with some of my most favorite brother apes. The few flights I had were nice enough, and it's clear that Florida in general, and Graybird in particular has huge potential. I'll definitely be returning next spring; until then I'll dream about getting towed and chasing those perfect Florida cumulus clouds.