Irma has continued its west north west course for longer than predicted. Landfall is now expected west of Miami with Irma running straight up the spine of the peninsula. Dawn and I struggled with evacuating to Robert and Penny’s house. The storm surge is concerning, if it exceeds 7 feet we are going to flood the garage and 10 feet will wreak the house.

I finished up some loose ends.

Our Beautiful Poinciana Tree is going to have a hard time with all that windage

Tim’s boat is now tied to the shore, fore and aft, with good anchor chains behind the sea wall. I’m sure Eric W put them in for Dave’s Morgan 33 back before Charlie. Or maybe it was after, Charlie kicked their asses. Either way, Tim suggested it and I was more than happy to put another wrap on the boat. The main is looking a lot better after stowing the lazy jacks and lashing the main. The wind gusts are expected to exceed 150 mph. That cat has enough windage as it is.

Bob L called me from the club, 20 minutes later we dismounted his outboard and met Terry. Who, it turns out, owns the big green, Island Packet. I went onboard and got a peak but that’s a topic for another page. We hauled Terry’s big genny over to his car and then I was off to the next thing. Little Force got tied down to a nice strong hedge. The garage got shuffled and the Dock Box went into the back of my truck. Got the comms charged and sorted some first aid gear and electronics that I liberated from WaterWorks. Thanks Tim!

The news from the Islands is all bad. Here is a Huricane hole on Saint Thomas.

Meanwhile back at the Taj MacQ, Dawn was picking stuff off the floor and getting it to higher ground. The Weather channel reported that the storm was not going to track up the center of the state and was now favoring the south west coast, inside the gulf. It’s looking to pass just East, if it doesn’t run right over the top of us. Now we’re sure we’re going to bug out. However, later in the day we saw a details projection of the expected storm surge and according to that algorithm, Punta Gorda Isles should have a terrible storm surge. As of right now, we are staying but our bags are packed just in case. God does have a funny sense of humor.

Started the morning at the club. Finished up with the Harbor 20s and chatted with Dave MacBride. The storm models are now predicting that Irma is going to follow the East Coast but it’s absolutely possible that it goes the other way. The local knowledge is predicting powerful northerly winds and the Harbor going dry.

After the club I worked on my next door neighbor’s boat because he is up North. I got the deck cleared, cross wrapped the Furler and tightened the lines. I’m concerned that his main sail is going to cause a problem. It’s in a stack pack and that increases its windage dramatically. If I had a helper or three I’d take it off, but there is no way I could manhandle it alone. I’m going to ask him if he would like me to wrap it.

Eric G and I drove to Port Charlotte this afternoon to drop off some Huricane shutters at his girl friend’s house. We stopped at Chris and Marchelle’s house on the way home. They are so ready. I was impressed by the selection of emergency gear arranged on the dining room table. They are concerned but excited by the force of nature we are all about to experience. Chris and I are looking forward to putting this behind us and get back to work looking for a new boat.

Talked with Eric Woods and he got Edith’s place taken care of so that’s good. About all I have left to do is tie down the “Little Force” and get the electronics together.

Nothing gets your shit together like Class 5 Water.

Hurricane Prep, Day 2.

Today we moved the Dock boxes from the sea wall to the ramp and cleared the patio/bar area. Yesterday Michael M and I stripped Harbor 20s. I still have to go back tomorrow and pull the batteries and Burgees. The P16s are pulled up on floating docks and lashed down. Dawn and I got all the big stuff done at home. Everything that we could move went into the garage.

It’s a veritable museum of transportation.

Two cars and a truck… 4 bicycles, 2 kayaks, a small aircraft and a tiny little one man Americas Cup 12 meter keelboat.

Depending on when, Irma starts turning North it will either go up the East coast chewing up cities from Miami, all the way up the eastern seaboard or it could start the turn a bit later and ravage the Gulf.

This was a fun morning. I got some glory at 2000 ft.

Nuff said

This was a Quickie

The air was almost nil inside the woods of the Yorkshire LZ.

AFTER, I’d set up the wing, the windsock started to twitch and a few puffs blew in from the rear.

Damn! ….But Hell, it was so damn calm down in these trees. So, I sat, glancing over my shoulder for a quiet moment and when the sock fell slack, I pulled the trigger and started the launch. The roll out was long and the climb out even longer. I stayed above the road, following the turn, while the trike dragged into the sky. At treetop, it was about a 5 bump level and stayed that way to about 400ft. Continuing to climb I saw numerous small bands clouds blowing toward me, about 500 below. I was penetrating at 9 mph bearing 020 degrees. I could really only fly over heavily wooded or swampy ground, the wind wanted to blow me over the city! I suppose, I could have crabbed to the south toward Lake Suzie but every time I passed over one of the baby cumulus, it got thermal and I suspected it would probably get worse as the earth warmed.

So… I turned left back over the labyrinth of blacktop and tall trees. Like Placida and The Salton Sea, the area was a Real Estate Developers failed project. The roads and drainage were in but nothing else. The critical difference is that instead of mowed fields or wind blown desert, it is a Jungle of cabbage palms reaching 30 feet on either side of neatly layed out cul de sacs. Fortunately, if you can find it, there is a wide arc at the end of the Yorkshire loop,that has been cleared. If you know the wind direction ahead you should be able to set a good line for launch. Same thing for landing, and now after riding the currents up to 1000ft, I had a clue. When I got a sufficient distance below the LZ I began my decent. In order to line up with the wind I had to go past the truck about 3/4 of a mile. I bumped into a cloud at 500ft and emerged at 300, right on my line. It was active piloting all the way to the ground and I must say, the APCO EZ glider handled the rotor so much better than any of my older wings. I was getting bumped but I had plenty of flare authority and fine control.

I stashed the wing in the brush and taxied back to the truck.

Later looking at the Google track I could see that if I’d had a better feel for the wind direction when I was launching, I could have taken off where I landed and probably enjoyed a longer and safer flight.

After breakfast at Deans, I drove to Chenago Supply and met Tuck who agreed to service my motor after Oct 25.

It’s all good!

This was a friggin great flight n all respects. I launched a little before the sunrise and climbed to 2600ft. The sunrise was good but the best part was me flying south and watching the boomers. They were a pretty pale pink and in a heartbeat as the sun crested the horizon they turned orange. It was fantastic. I saw the color change and immediately turned my head toward the East and there was a brilliant orange sliver of sun burning brightly.

Staying at 2500ft I flew over Gasparilla causeway and north to Stump Pass. The Return was South East over Rotunda and much quicker than I imagined. This flight was all about the photos.
Here are the numbers and some nice photos.

First launch was aborted when I feared that a line had been cut. First, I heard the distinctive click of a line being cut and when I pulled some left break there was no pressure, so I killed the motor. Turned out to be nothing. Second launch was fine except that at 500 feet I could see rain west of Gasparilla Island moving my way. It was not huge and I hoped it would move off to the North but when I saw a powerful wind line form on the Intercoastal Waterway, it was apparent that I was in the path of the precipitation. So…. I turned back and landed without incident. On the surface the wind was picking up and a nice rainbow had formed by the Marina. I could probably have stayed up longer because when I was pulling away from the LZ, the rain had not yet arrived but there was nothing to be gained by staying in the air and daring it to get me. It's all good.

The following is a totally fictional log entry.

The photos are stock images.
Night flights are against FAA Regulations.

Flight 992.
It would have been great if this had been #1000 but today was the day.
I’d been wanting to do this for as long as I can remember.

Last night the moon was full, the skies were clear and at 3:00am it was 75 degrees. The wind was 4 mph from the East. I set up on the freshly blacktopped road. It was a bit of a trick to clear the lines. Even with a full moon I couldn’t follow them all the way back to the wing to make sure they weren’t crossed and I was doubly surprised when I found one wrapped around the wing while squaring up and folding the tips.

I pre-flighted the rig, mounted the iPad and turned on the Garmin. Everything was done. Try as I might, I couldn’t find anything to keep me from sitting down and buckling up. So I did. My left brake was in my hand and all I had to do was turn the key to start the motor. I was launching to the East the moon was at my back and looking down the runway it was pitch black. The runway was clear but if I was forced to either side, I would have to abort or risk catching one of the Stop signs, 200 feet ahead of me.

It was time, but …. My heart was pounding. I released brake and forced myself to relax. It didn’t take long. It was maybe 30 seconds, when I reached for the left brake, turned the key and started the inflation. The wing came up clean and I knew it was going to be good, the trike was accelerating nicely right down the center of the road. I didn’t need to mash the throttle or pump the brake, it was a clean launch.

I stayed on an easterly course while climbing over the pond south of the RC Airpark. It was exhilarating to see the lights of Punta Gorda across Charlotte Harbor. I started a slow right hand turn and there was the Gulf with that big beautiful moon reflecting back at me. Looking down at the field I could make out the roads but not as clearly as I expected. I knew where the truck was but it was only visible from the west. Worse case, I could navigate back to the launch and that was reassuring.

For the next hour I did laps around the meadows. Going as far west as Gasparilla Marina and back to the Rim Canal. I watched the eastern sky lighten and a few little clouds float across the Harbor. The views were amazing. To the west was Boca Grande, the Gasparilla Causeway and Stump pass. The lights of the Marina and jet port were convenient landmarks, the moonlight reflecting off the gulf outlined the coast and at first light I began to see the details of Cape Haze. To the East was the Myakka and Peace rivers and South was Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island. I’ve flown from Placida dozens of time but this was special.
After the sun was clearly above the horizon I descended from 1800ft and landed without drama.
Cheated Death Again!