Paraexploring: Lipoa point, Maui

This past weekend, Saturday the 5th of April, I ventured out to a small ocean ridge on West Maui accommodating a rare north wind. It was the second time at a site I've been pioneering. On this island, at least, when we get the rare day of non-nuking trade winds, this pilot sits up and takes notice, and then goes paraexploring...

OK, so to put a bit of a damper on your anticipation it's not at all like the world-class Ko'olau range that produces state records and epic freestyle flying conditions. But given the dearth of ridge options on Maui and the prevalence of nuking wind days, we'll take what we can get!

The ridge is near Lipoa Point and can probably accommodate a wind direction of NNW through NNE, so basically it's flyable on the same post-frontal conditions that allow O'ahu pilots to fly Dillingham. The Lipoa Ridge is about 70' MSL and has a reasonable beach bailout zone off to the East side (if ya ain't gettin' it!) However directly below launch is giant boulders and pounding surf, kinda like the Makapu'u Crazy Man launch.

View Larger Map

In addition to the beach LZ, there are a few toplanding options, with nothing too tricky for you Kahana jockeys! And behind Lipoa Ridge is basically acres of flat grassy meadows and pineapple fields, so the turn-n-burn bailout option is available. This is an important consideration on Maui, where it seems the wind can pick up very quickly and violently while you're not paying attention!

The launches are all accessible with a short walk from the highway, but are nicely secluded, so you can set up and go without attracting too much attention until airborn. They resemble Kahana in terms of launch difficulty and could of course be improved a bit. I even forward launched at one point because I was having difficulty hefting my wing up into the smooth stream through the dead air near the ground!

Flashback: the first time I flew the ridge in December I had set up in an obvious party spot with plenty of broken beer bottle evidence that could put a snag in wing or pilot! And as Murphy would have it, that's exactly what happened to me then! Focusing on keeping my wing above me after a reverse inflation, I hardly noticed the "scrape" after tripping on the turn around. Got up into the buoyant air, looked down, and was surprised to see a deep gash in my leg and blood trickling into my boots!

Needless to say after a couple of passes in butter lift, I realized I had to land and continue the pioneering another day... As luck would have it I was heading out to O'ahu the very next day, so I needed to get myself patched up for the flying over there. So now you know why I was sporting a nasty wound last time I saw you!

Well that was then. And now, for obvious reasons, I avoided the party place and set up in a different spot: a tight grassy alley framed by ironwood trees and facing the incoming breeze. After a bit of site maintenance: twig cutting, Lantana shrub removal, I was ready!

OK, reverse inflation through the dead and rotoring ground air, until my wing is high enough and getting a solid grip on the breeze... Turn and moonwalk to the void and...

beep, beep, beep!

Right turn toward the beach bailout, just in case... Vario is still chirping happily... Now above the ridge and starting to attract attention from the tourist vehicles... It's all good!

I played it fairly conservative in terms of not going out to do some XC ridge. I stayed within glide distance of the beach. However I did make a few playful passes at a toplanding area before finally committing and getting down.

On the next flight I got high in a slight increase in the wind and decided to test the turn-n-burn bailout option. Verifying I could get way downwind from a stand of ironwood tree rotor, I blazed far downwind, turned back to face it and had a nice mellow landing in a grassy field. It's really good to know that option is available here!

After that I flew two more times and just relaxed and played at the edge of the lift band above the crashing waves, happy to enjoy some smooth and mellow ridge lift on Maui! But I couldn't help but look longingly over toward Halawa Valley on Moloka'i and imagine what the XC ridge potential along that north coast would have been on that brilliant Saturday afternoon...

Aloha!

P.S.: I'd say this site, unofficial as it is, would require a P3 (or advanced O'ahu P2) with a local guide--ME!--to fly safely.

Rule of thumb: only one sketch flight within 24 hours

One person's sketch flight will be another's routine flight.

Yeah, OK, but a night flight in a paraglider is illegal. Legal note: I'm not claiming that I've flown at night in a paraglider, but if I did, here's how I'd do it. Hat tip to OJ.

I'd set up around evening and wait for the clouds to disperse. I'd be swearing at the top of my lungs at the clouds to disperse, because there should be no fucken lift at that hour anyway when the sun is melting into the western sea.

OK, almost give up and hike my sorry ass back down the hill. If it weren't for these fucken clouds the half-moon would be plenty light enough!

Woah. It's clearing. Catabatic winds are melting the thin veil of cloud. Oops, maybe not. Anabatic cycles return and more swearing commences. What the fuck! The sun is down, how can there be lift out there?!

Oh shit. I see vehicle headlights. I'm not even sposed to be up here since those DLNR goons have closed the road. Grab my glider pack and hit the ditch. Wait for the truck to pass me by.

Flashback. I saw four of them drive back down this evening, and I had to hit the ditch 2 times hiking up the restricted-you-will-be-violated-and-prosecuted sign. But fuck, 3 minute flights suck, I needed at least a 12 minute sledder. 6 and now, fast-foward, 7 total DLNR cops up here. Wow, that's a good use of taxpayer money...

OK, so back to setting up the glider. OK, conditions are clearing! Catabatics aren't that bad. Shit, let's fuckengoforit! OK, final checks...

Sorting out my lines in the dark. Turn on my headlamp. Thank Gawd I brought it with me. Everything looks good, no snaggies. Shit, if I fly down under this half-moon, this'll sure beat the crap outta hiking my sorry butt back down...

OK, ready for it. Launch. Mild catabatic. But it's all good! headlamp illuminates a solid glider above my head. Commit...

And I'm flying, effortlessly over a moonlit landscape. Check my GPS. Heading is good and groundspeed is normal. No sketchiness. Relax and contemplate the planet below.

Landing is a cinch, I've done it with my eyes closed hundreds of times before...

And today? Well I hiked back down. My rule of thumb is only one sketch flight within 24 hours...

Someone's got to do it!

Some people have thousands of dollars of debt, and a big 'ole house that they're renting from the bank and a slick Lexus parked out front that they're also renting from the bank.

As for me? Well I've got my phunmobile, packed with thousands of dollars worth of phun. Equipment for Paragliding, kitesurfing, spearfishing and freediving, archery and bowhunting, hiking and camping.

I guess it comes down to values. You could go for the stuff of white-picket fences, cubicles, and 9-5. Or you can go for the stuff of experiences.

...

Yesterday I taught a paragliding lesson, making a little bank, caught a solo flight, and then I did archery all afternoon. I monitored my email and responded to a few IT support calls, making a little more bank, and finally had a nice cookout dinner while a mellow cloudy sunset revealed itself.

I didn't spend a dime all day and only burned a little gas shuffling up-n-down the road from the landing zone. Today's looking like the same. Completed lessons for the day and now spending time watching the clouds. I'm thinking I might do a bit more shooting and then go for a hike with my glider and maybe catch a sunset flight.

In the words of Ed Abbey, someone has to do it!

Semi-houseless, and livin' the life

"I guess you're living the life, huh?"

That's what an old high-school friend said to me recently when he found that I mostly just paraglide, kiteboard, and fool around with my spearguns and new compound bow. (I haven't technically gone bowhunting yet, but I'm getting there. Soon, hopefully; I've been doing plenty of target practice!)

So I rent a place downslope, but I spend a ton of time up on the mountain where I can fly, and teach flying and mess around with my bow for stretches when the kiteboarding looks like crap. I camp in my Phunmobile. And when I don't have a reason to come back down to lowland, why bother driving back and burning the gas?

"So you livin' outta that thing?"

Uh, yes, as a matter of fact I do live in it, for two night stretches at a time! After that, you really start jonesing for a nice hot shower, electricity, and refridgeration!

I've got enough amenities in the Phunmobile to have Internet access (Clearwire), hot food (propane stove), a decent twin-size bed platform with mattress and warm sleeping bags. Got rinse-off and quicky shower water with the ABS pipe contraption on the camper shell.

But I do miss continuous electricity and the fridge at my rental!

...

So the question is, could I do some kinda of timeshare-sublet to save money? OK, Mr. Subletter, you get the studio on Sat, Sun, Mon, and I get it the rest of the week. Wonder if that will become an option for folks as we go forward in this recession.

Why bother own when you can rent? And why bother rent full-time when you can go semi-houseless, saving your money? Plus the sunsets up here are spectacular!

Of course a sublet deal like that would also hafta be palatable to the landlord. Aye, there's the rub.

Deflationista!

OK, as you've seen from my economics posts, I've been a long fanboy of what has become the Deflationista wing of the Doom-n-Gloom camp.

Now I've got a Deflationista store where I can appropriately rant against the enemy!

But don't buy now, prices will be coming down in real terms soon!

Civilization

A Google on Special Forces Training brings up this video.

Wow. That shit looks really cool! Sign me the fuck up! I wanna do that when I grow up! Damn! Reminds of hide-n-seek games when I was a kid!


Except for the part about killing people.


Except for the part about fighting unnecessary wars.


Except for the part about supporting a corrupt and evil empire.


Actually I must admit that I couldn't watch all of it, knowing that raw in-your-face exercise of power is supporting empire. Someone please remind me to read Confessions of an Economic Hitman one of these days...

"Civilization does not mean electric lights. It does not mean producing atomic bombs, either. Civilization means not killing people."

~ Nichidatsu Fujii, Buddhist Nihonzan Miyoji Temple,
quoted by J.D. Forbes, PhD (Professor Emeritus, University of California), 1992

Blog inspiration and quote.

I'm voting for the Old White Dude

OK, so here we are in 2008 and all my liberal relatives and acquaintances and friends are no doubt backing Obama. And of course there's Hillary fighting for the position too. Here we are at the first election where the Democratic nominee is not some Old White Guy.

Hooray! Right?

Well what I think is more subtle and interesting is that this identity issue is not at all interesting at all. Because it feels commonplace. A minority as the next President? So what, who cares? Shouldn't we all just treat each other as individuals anyway? Shouldn't we care more about ideas, like the big questions of war, peace, empire, our money, the lust for power, the love of liberty, the pursuit of happiness, the content of our national character, ...?

Yes. And that's why this time around I'm voting for the Old White Guy. He's the only one who wants to have a serious discussion of these ideas, and is backed up by a record of action.

Full disclosure note: I'm a Caucasian, male, and on certain days I feel real old. So flame me!