Wind was a bit choppy Leave a Comment
Saturday, October 25th, I drove out to Skydive The Farm with only a few hours to spare. Said hello to some familiar faces for a short even though just before it was time for gear check.
This jump was with Bruce, who can be a really talented free of charge flyer. He decided to hold on to my chest strap while I exited into a sit, and go head down. In my eyes, I flew like crap. I kept adjusting my feet, out straight, the close up under me, trying to match Bruce’s fall rate. My body must of looked like a yo-yo. Bruce later commented that I must have just got into a stable sit and held it. But for some reason, I wanted to be able to do more, to support him out to ensure that we could fly within inches safely. We didn’t drift apart far, and I was in a position to turn as I kept adjusting my fall rate to keep facing him.
The landing was smooth as I approached crossing the trees around 500 feet. Did a turn to final close to 250, and followed everyone else’s lead turning a bit far more into the wind. There was a considerable cross wind. I flared, and well the wind had other plans for me. Instead a gust caught my canopy and pushed me down tough. I had no if any forward speed. I remember feeling that sharp pain in my feet and ankles. I had my legs bent and tried to prepare for the landing but still fell forward on my knees. Sky Dave was walking up as I was standing and asked “Does that canopy have any flare?” I laughed …. and responded “sure, when the wind isn’t pushing it down so hard”. I walked away and had no injuries. Damn wind.
Did a 4 way RW jump with Laura, Kyle and Steve. We made the decision to go for a round, and turn a diamond on every person with rounds in between each diamond. We calculated we pulled off seven points ahead of hitting our challenging deck at 4500 feet. Was a good skydive. The landing was soft…canopy flared nicely.
Had to hurry and pack and get back to neighborhood for the holiday bash. Was fun, kids and mommies filed house as a smaller group of guys remained to finish off the keg. I grew tired and we began loading the keg in the back of Mike’s SUV dropping off at an additional guy’s garage.
