Witchie 27 Feb 2019 (my o my what a wonderful day)

Better start with the apology first.  I did try and persuade Ged to do this log but he said he is inundated with so much fan mail from his previous logs that he needed time to catch up.  He has promised that he will write to the nice Nigerian gentleman who offered a share in hidden funds and put him in touch with the glamourous Russian lady, who seems to be offering some sort of special glider service, as soon as possible!!

Meantime - what a wonderful afternoon Ged, Tommy and me had floating around at Witchie after arriving around 2 or 3ish (life is 'ish' at the moment) as the wind strength dropped to 'flyable'.  Wind direction was carefully marked by burning heather further down the valley so a quick walk across to the SW bowl saw Ged and Tommy setting up with Tommy first into the lifty air.  Ged followed, then me and we all just 'boated' around with plenty of dynamic lift and small linear thermals allowing us to play across towards the quarry testing how low we could go before turning back to the hill to top up.  I spent time chatting to Tommy while flying wingtip to wingtip (I was quietly checking the Sigma 6 against the 10!!) watching Ged float across the bowl teasing speed out of his wing.

Eventually the air smoothed (restitution??) making flight effortless with just gentle weight shift required to stay in the linear lift bands. However there was a feeling that wind strength had increased which I confirmed by sitting above the front of the hill at 0.2km/hr.  Time to kick the bar out and head back to the lower takeoff with Tommy following.

Ged was still half way up the bowl at this stage waiting to take off and, being the hero he is, flicked the wing into the air, pushed forward with that 'straight leg pose' and took the height record for the day as he headed out.  His use of big ears suggested he could have gone higher but decided it is always better to return another day.

A great afternoon gently reminding the brain and muscles how to fly before spring arrives with punchy thermals.

Back to Ged to sum up the afternoon in his own inimitable style...……...

"Last gasp harry for flyin think I got the last of Jet stream from Africa. Hippie dee do da hippie dee a,  my o my what a wonderful day 😁"