Diablo at Ed Levin

The windsock fooled many of us into thinking Ed Levin would be at least ridge soarable Sunday.
Tracey has a new helmet also. Apart from being super cute it also boasts CE EN1077 and even fits, which is important if one actually expects a helmet to do its job. The current range of Hang Gliding helmets offer unimpressive protection and really only two sizes large and extra large. This (Giro Revolver) helmet is intended for Skiing, and appears to offer more protection than the Hang gliding helmets I've inspected by a long shot.Traceys first flight in... many months. Textbook launch - good to knock the rust off. I through myself off, but didn't stick long.
Pretty soon I was in the LZ with everyone else.

Angel Island again

This time we found a much better place to put in. seatrek.com Have a protected sandy beach in Sausilito, parking and plenty of kayaks to rent. From there it is an easy paddle around Belvedere point to Angel Island (providing you time the tides right) Tide predictions here Brian and Jackie joined us for yesterdays trip. We landed on a couple of beaches, this one is designated for kayak camping through Angel Island State Park Then we went around to China cove the immigration station, it is the nicer beach.
As the tide turned we headed back across Racoon straight. Georgeous day T-shirt and shorts weather day on the water... in Febuary!
Good views unlike summer when it is freezing with a tonne of fog blasting passed. We explored some of Belvedere on the way back. There are some nice mansions along the bluff. This one had a cable car from the house to the Garage, as well as its own private jetty. Other houses are just on stilts, which made for some fun navigation. Heading back now. Round trip was about 4 relaxed hours maybe a little less. Lots of sunbathers on the beach when we got back. Febuary 5th ! Fish tacos and cervezas. MMMMmmmm

Ground Hog Day

Feb 2nd.

And one of my favorites movies.

Today Cousin Charlie called me for a Windy Hill Flight. I don't remember how long ago I flew there, but the landing approach had me thinking that I was luckier than I was good back then.This time the glide from launch out to the trees was a little uncomfortable.I got up a little and the view was pretty. A few more weeks and the wildflowers will really be cracking.It was a short flight, but I was happy with the landing much easier than I remember, it was an easy day though. Thanks Charlie :)

Montara Peak

Standing above Devils slide and Half Moon Bay, Montara mountain is not that high at 1850 ft, but it is close by and bike friendly. I started my ride in the dark and cold damp fog in a grove of Eucaliptus trees, and it was a slog before I broke into the sunshine.The road up there in places is carved into granite, its neat looking. I think this used to make up part of the coast road 50+ years ago.
From the top you could see Sweeney ridge where we were the day before. San Bruno mountain behind it. What you cannot see is the millions of houses hidden in the fog. SF is top left.The fog was not quite washing into the Watershed lands.
Its very pretty back there, I hope I get to go soon.
The cairn up top.
On the way back down I found myself stopping frequently to try and capture a moment.
At the fog level the sun was starting to set and the lighting was fantastic.
The fog was very dynamic and I shot some video too, but it doesn't do the views justice. And I have not found a good way to import and edit yet, at least not on my 8 year old Dell laptop.It was right about here, the temperature dropped about 30 degrees.

Sweeney Hike

A few of us went for a nice Hike yesterday in the green rolling hills of Pacifica.Urs and his boys Urs and Nicko, (& Tukie the dog). We started from Skyline college with the rough idea of heading to Montara, but I was not certain of access, and steepness, so instead we did an out and return to see how far we could get.Trace with ACP Chris - finger banging his way through the wilderness.Crystel and Dirk came along too with Lana. There's Sheeba having a dog's life.The trail got a little less than welcoming at the far end... No Loitering ? Does that include a picnic or taking pictures ?So we looped back around and found some beer :) And some more nice scenery.
So here is a Google Earth view with the gps track. You can see the SF watershed lands south (ahead). One of these days I want to take a escorted tour of those grounds. Well I would prefer to just stroll around myself but that does not appear to be an option. By taking the tour I hope to find out why... Here is a handy map of the area.

More Kayaking in S.F.

On Saturday, after coming to the conclusion that the wind would indeed blow the wrong direction all day, It looked to be a perfect kayak day. With that we got a bit of a late start. But our buddy Van was able to join us for some fun. Alas Van needed a kayak and while City Kayak professed to open there was no-one around. We eventually got in the water at 2pm. My vague plan was to make it out to Crissy fields, the currents are quite strong there, but the tides would have been perfect an hour or two earlier. An extra bonus today was trying out my new GoPro camera and the mount I made for it. Always fun to have an extra toy around :)
Around about fishermans wharf we got hungery and pulled in there on a mission to find crab, well Van was anyway, he knew someone somewhere around there.
Or maybe it was the next Wharf along, passed the USS Pampantic submarine.
Going under the wharfs is quite surreal, a little bit like and underground maze by boat.
Amazingly Van did indeed find a whole lot of crab and it was yummy.
We surfed the tide back in to the dock near AT&T baseball park around dusk.
The current was ripping then, a very fun day, and warm for January.
And with the right tides and weather we can give this another go soon hopefully :)