Michael in Humansdorp.

Michael in Humansdorp., originally uploaded by gomario.

Sat 2009/08/22 12:45 2009-08-22 Michael at the Train Station in Humansdorp. The derelict premises have seen better times during the 'old' South Africa. Theft and poor managing have turn this, once vibrant place, into a rubbish dump. How sad :-(

Nevil and I :-)

Nevil and I :-), originally uploaded by gomario.

Sat 2009/08/15 16:44 2009-08-15 Nevil and Mario at our local Hawkwind Paragliding AGM. Well, once again we had our Annual General Meeting. And once again most club members attended the function. But this time around,we had a champion among us. And a 'true champion' at that.Nevil Hulett, did manage to fly 500+km on a paraglider.It happened last December and it happened here in South Africa. For more info regarding the feat, go to www.paraglidingforum.com What makes it more interesting is that Nevil is in his fifties and while not old, certainly not that young either :-) I did put the moment to good use and after having a fellow pilot hastely take a pic (with a cell phone), I've asked Nevil a few questions regarding the flight. Although I see him now and then, we never really discussed about the 'big one'. You chaps may not know, but I, Nevil, Duncan, Gerhardus and Penny, fly now and then from a hill called 'Rondebosch'. This is our 'local' Site and apart of me and Penny, all the other (3) pilots are top class. On quite a few occassions, what should have been a relaxing flight for our group, ended up with the less apt pilots (me and/or Penny) driving for hours after the other 3 :-)My first question to Nevil was, will he try again this coming season (December)? He gave a very short answer: No, but if someone will better it, he might give it another go. I asked him: Was it dangerous? (I have read lots of comments on the above mentioned Paragliding forum and I got the impression, the flight was quite dangerous) The answer suprised me a bit. He said it wasn't more dangerous then Rondebosch on a 'big day'. Now that expression is used localy when the air is fairly turbulent with strong,punchy thermals. A gread day for a good pilot - not suited for me though.Nevil went on saying,the flight itself was fairly uneventfull apart of the one occassion when the vario showed -5 and he was less the 50m high. Not a big deal one might say, until you realize the wind is 60+kmh.

2009/08/10