A cure to the windy oriented soul for the ATL resident

Last post
Emilio
Offline
Joined: 12/19/2006 - 19:30
Posts: 48
A cure to the windy oriented soul for the ATL resident

Crew. Sorry for this long posting... If you have no time to read all, jump to the last paragraph!

Would you move to Hawaii for the love of snow skiing? …Or, would you move to the Swiss Alps to practice surfing? Amongst the regular Joe, this question is a no brainer. Amongst ourselves - wind lovers living in ATL - I am not sure it is such an obvious answer. We all probably came here for different reasons - non of them the great sailing conditions in the area- however, we all crave the high winds, getting out on one of Lanier’s +20mph G35mph….ahhhhh yes, dry suit conditions, 35-40F days.

Last year I was the most committed kiteboarder in ATL by far, by any statistic or measure, no doubt about it. Maybe Randy kicks my behind if we go tally vs. tally, but I was out there quite a bit. I went to the lake every possible session, risking current marital and employment status (I am still married and employed - thanks GOD). This intro may lead you to believe that last year I went +300 days to the lake. No… I went 34 times. This is short of an average of 3.0 times per month. Why would anybody get in trouble with the law (house’s boss and work’s boss in that order) for participating in a sport averaging <3 times a month? Any reasonable wife/husband should tolerate that. Any reasonable work’s boss should be able to live with an excellent employee, whose only peccadillo is to take >3.0 afternoons a month off (the 3.0 average includes weekend days), especially if it comes out of vacation time. Wouldn’t you agree? Anyway the fact that I did not get in trouble, maybe is leading me to believe, that I can handle an additional hobby, for the sake of pushing the limits, improve upon last year performance, etc.

What then complicates things that make the avg of >3.0 days per month so dreadful? Murphy’s law comes into play. Of course it is only windy when:
· you have that important doctor’s appointment you shouldn’t blow, or
· your boss' boss is in town and they want to talk to you, or
· simply on a weekday when rush traffic is impossible to beat unless you leave from work by 2pm
I guess you get the point. Being able to go out and sail (kite, windsurf, sailboat, etc) is indirectly proportional to your ability to go. Therefore if you must go, you are already - by default- breaking promises to you love one’s, excusing unexpectedly form work, or a combo of the above. Remember that in 2007 my sailing days averaged >3.0/month and that SUCKS!!!....big time because I am getting into potentially serious problems for something that delivers >3.0 days/month of fun. Maybe this is leading me to believe that I can handle an additional hobby.

I hope so far, I have convinced you that I need another hobby – when I say another hobby it means in addition to, and not as in replacement of. Be careful.

I love the wind aspect of the sailing. I don’t want to start running, or going to a gym just for the sake of picking up another hobby…plus running or gym are not my thing. I need one sport activity, preferably something I would enjoy doing. Something that provides me with some sort of physical activity better than my current average of >3.0 times per month (correlation to sailing days 1:1). What other hobby/sport can I do, that has some wind/outdoors aspect to it, and that will be better suited to ATL wind patterns? … Actually better yet, what is that hobby/sport diametrically opposed to a good day for sailing? Light bulb has not gone off just yet, but I was onto something. Maybe there is THIS other hobby/sport that can perfectly coexist with sailing and bring similar level of intensity/adrenalin flow, physical activity, outdoors involvement and for once something that can make me happy weather there is wind or no wind, that was the question.

Well, as you all may imagine by now, I had my EUREKA moment a couple of weeks ago. I re-discovered Paragliding, something I had done many years ago, but forgotten in a remote corner of my memory. Now I want you to see the potential, WINDY day….I go to lake Lanier and have a blast, The next day, I am wearing a smile so big my co-workers can’t explain what has happened to me since the day before (there have been no raises announced to their knowledge). NO WIND day (does ATL rings a bell?) - picture this- brings me a smile the size of a 30mph wind (with no gust) and 90F on Lanier…

I’m telling you, the conditions in ATL are perfect for paragliding almost any day, except when is supper windy, and guess what? When that happens I can go to Lanier and have my sailing session, and a big smile next day. Maybe now, I can even wait for the windy weekend day (a rarity this days). By having the other no-wind activity, maybe I can wait for the windy weekend and I won’t be craving to get out on a weekday afternoon when your boss needs you the most possibly combined with Murphy’s pitching in with a screwdriver ball to complicate things a bit more.

If you want to give it a try and finally find a cure to your soared windy oriented soul, don’t think it twice, give me call, and join me any NON WINDY weekend.

Rgds,
Emilio

0 Like
Randy's picture
Randy
Online
Joined: 05/05/2002 - 10:38
Posts: 4656

Emilio,

Looks like you are coming to grips with life in ATL.

Are you talking a powered paraglider, or the kind you jump off of a mountain with? Sounds like fun, but where would you launch from in ATL? (Stone Mountain??). You might check out Lookout Mountain in TN, which has hangliding. I have seen a number of powered paragliders flying around the lake.

Another, possibility you *might* consider would be a longboard windsurfer. You could easily car top it, and carry one sail and rig. It a lot like sailing a sailboat, though can be a lot faster at times, 1/10th the problems and old longboards are cheap. You can take the set up to the lake with your kites. It the wind is not that strong, you longboard. Otherwise you kite. I use this strategy a lot, and you'd be surprised how many good days you end up with. It is a bit of a "paradigm shift", and for sure is not in the same thrill league as kiting or paragliding. But it does you a good reason to go to the lake. You might visit

http://www.hotsailsmaui.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=4

It on the Hotsailsmaui.com web page. Jeff Henderson is on a mission to make longboarding a mainstream sport again - and he lives in Maui!

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

0 Like
FoilDodo's picture
FoilDodo
Offline
Joined: 03/19/2008 - 23:50
Posts: 2738

There's a nest of those powered flying mattresses in the field across from Gene's neighborhood. When the weather's nice and I see them around the lake a lot. Is that where you fly? The term "flying mattress" came from the the hanglider point of view (from above them). There was a spate of paragliders when I used to fly a lot in the years B.C. (before Christopher) around Chattanooga. I'm not sure if there are many up there now.

The problem I saw with them was their tendency to lose their shape (and plummet to the ground) in turbulence. Once you learn how to do it, you want to stay up longer, so you want to fly in thermal conditions and with higher performance wings. Due to their high aspect shape (long & skinny) they seem even more prone to collapse. Hang gliders seemed so much safer and better in glide ratio that I was never much drawn to 'em. In calm air the powered ones look more stable, maybe because the increased wing loading holds the shape better... They look really fun but like ultralights I could never get past the idea of having all that engine noise... like a chainsaw engine right next to you. Plus if you don't have an engine to start with, you're not so dependent on one.

30 sec into this see the sail collapse on training hill (picture this at 500 ft):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22U3LF9Kq3A

Try this one too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iBjqFJsraM&feature=related

Modern "topless" hang gliders:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KITzUrOTi_o&feature=related

0 Like
Emilio
Offline
Joined: 12/19/2006 - 19:30
Posts: 48
paragliding in ATL

Hi Chris and Randy.

I have been doing the powerless paragliding. No engine/ motor. I have been going to a place on 85 north (exit 154). This is a training school. They have cleared out like 10 football fields on flat land. So, how do you get up there?... they have a tow rig, where you get attached to a line, and they can pull you up from 1000 to 3000'. Then you disconnect from the line, and start your descent (newbies like me) or catch thermals and go up for as long as you can (more advance pilots). It is pretty nice. I invite to come check it out.

Rgds,
Emilio.

0 Like
khalil
Offline
Joined: 04/03/2004 - 09:57
Posts: 49

Wow that sound Nice I cant wait to try it. once I'm done with my exams I'm in.
Emilio, you can get one of those motor towing machines and try it for kiteboarding/surfing on the lake. maybe try fixing the motor to one of the small Islands
Something like this

http://www.extreme-vdo.com/extreme_The-Grinch-Motorized-TowIn-Surfing_9283

PS you might need to find a way to create a huge wave.
khalil

0 Like
Randy's picture
Randy
Online
Joined: 05/05/2002 - 10:38
Posts: 4656

Well, Emilio, looks like you've found a pretty good solution. Biggrin

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

0 Like