Day 4

Windy ... Probably the most since we've been here. At times the tow paddock looks more like a dust storm. I should have gotten in the air much sooner. I will fly the entire course on my own today, much like most of yesterday.

I get the tug with Rhett, his tug is a bit under powered but he tows very smoothly so I know it should be a good tow. Fiona from Canada is right in front of me and pops off the cart into a big wang and barely gets the glider under control to land. That kind of thing scares me a lot and I would normally take some time after witnessing something like what just happened. But here I am on the dolly and being wheeled into position with Rhett. On tow the dolly feels like its wheels are not rolling but skidding and with the power of Rhetts tug it feels like I will never get off this cart in one piece. The cart starts to skid off to the right towards the water truck. I'm fighting the skid but cannot correct it soon enough and left go of the cart. In my head I envision myelf pounding in and the glider takes a bit of a dip off the cart. I knew thnigs did not feel right especially when my knuckles hit the cart when I left it (that has never happened to me before). I let the bar out a bit and I'm now higher than Rhett but in a zone that feels manageable. Gradually we climb out and it's the kind of tow I come to expect with Rhett.

Rhett pulls me to a good climb and I pin off before he waves me off. It's a good one and I soon find myself climbing above 5k. But as I look for other gliders I find none. The 1400 start time is approaching so I decide to move to the edge of the start cylinder. On the way there I spot several dust devils and take the first one. The climb is doing well but I spot a better dust devil and run for it. I can tell right away that this ones going to take me high. Only problem is that the dift takes me past the start cylinder at 14:06. Being that I'm all alone I disregard the start time and take the thermal to 8k and go on glide.

As I glide towards the 1st TP I'm looking for obvious signs of lift (dust devils). The wind is generally from the SW and blowing about 15. Soon I find myself at 6k and hit a pretty good thermal parallel to the airport / drop zone at Eloy. This one turns on and has me holding on really tight as it takes me skyward. I decide to take this one to about 7k and spot a few other dusties further down the road and more on course line than I am so I leave it and the edge of the drop zone in a hurry. I'm still left of course line but staying high and taking thermals to top off so I dont drop below 5k. I've been averaging 4k glides and getting pretty good glides being that the course is slightly downwind. I take about 3 more thermals to get into the 1st TP. For the first time in a long time I see some glider in the air but they are low with one lone exception. Several other gliders are on the ground right after the turnpoint, a disappointment for sure, seeing how the day is getting stronger. Just as I tag the TP with 5.5k of altitude, I grab a good climb that will take me over 8.2k and on towards goal. Still left of course I saw tooth my way down course staying high as I can. 7 miles from the first TP I'm down to 3400' and looking for a climb that will boost me over the fields that are freshly mowed. It looks good and I can feel the air trying to pull me to the left away from the course line, so in need of altitude I go with it and find a thermal that will get me to just shy of 7k

Now back in the game with altitude and 14 miles from goal I'm thinking that I'm going to make it for sure. I'd been on course for just over 2 hrs so my time isn't blazing but I'm pretty respectable I think. With the gps / vario combination I have predidcting final glide isn't all that easy, But I'm thinking that at 10 miles out I can glide in from about 7k still I take it to 8k for extra insurance. But in retrospect that thinking is flawed because goal field is about 2400' giving me an effective altitude of only 5600'. From there I was going to need a 10:1 glide but I could tell that wasn't getting that (especially down at lower altitudes). Still I pressed on into some pretty unlandable terrain with positive thoughts. At some point it was just too apparent that I was coming up short about 4 miles short and now I needed an LZ that wasn't there. I finally see my very last opportunity and I'm going to have to make this one work. Bordered by powerlines on the south side and barbwire fences on all other sides with bushes and dead sticks that look like good sail poking material I take my glide into a parachuting type landing just past the barbwire into a clearing no bigger than a typical california front lawn. I'm very happy now that the wind velocity was 15 or so allowing me to land like that. Top it off I have a gate that is steps away and a good dirt road so I'm pretty sure I can be retieived with little effort.

Total time on task: 2.5hrs
Distance: 88.1k
Missed goal by: 6.3k