It rained overnight and the air was damp. After 3 nights in the tent I realized I am getting old and Mer’s rule of" “.. will camp but not fly or fly but not camp…” started ringing in my ears and sounded like a real good rule to live by!
The day started out great with a pancake breakfast at the Fiasco winery where I had landed out before and the Palmer's put on a great breakfast in a great location. Even the pilot’s meeting at 9:00am was pleasant as it was held outside in the back garden with blue sky and sunshine. I was feeling confident after flying my wing the last couple of days in some ratty air and also getting up to the start gaggle. However, even at just after 9:00am you could see it was going to be a real unstable day as CuNim’s started sprouting up in the distance.
We all headed up the mountain but there was a general feeling that this was going to be a real short race to try and beat the thunderstorms that were forecast to hit early afternoon. The task committee called another 40+ km task of Woodrat-Grants-Applin. Basically heading North up the valley and landing up the valley so that we would not be near the thunderstorms when they arrived.
However, by 11:00am things weren't looking too good to me with CuNims to the East, South East, and heavy overcast skies to the North. Safety Director Jeff was telling me it was going to be fine since we weren't going to be flying in the direction of the clouds and that the air was smooth. They set the start time 45min early, beginning at 12:45pm with launch window opening at 11:30.
By 11:30 folks started to take off. Launch conditions were light but cross winds from the North East. A nice Cummie formed directly over launch and folk got about 1500 over launch and boated around waiting for start.
Myself and a few others were a little hesitant given the size and rate at which the clouds were coming in from behind. Out front looked fine at this time just like the last couple of days but there was still 1 hr to go before the race started. I decided to hang back and see what happened.
At the same time as everyone being a little concerned over the weather, a Russian/Canadian pilot was getting major grief from Mike Hailey for flying in the race the day before and not being part of the meet as well as not being too good a pilot. Seemingly a few pilots had already complained about his flying. Tensions rose and it added to my anxiety levels. Mike was right to point out that he needed insurance and to sign the waiver and couldn't fly at this regulated site, however the shouting just added to the energy levels on launch. It was sort of funny to see Mike follow the guy about the launch site with steams coming out of his ears and adamant that this guy would not fly and getting on the telephone to the local sheriff letting him know there was a person trespassing.
By now there was just myself, Matt Cone, Sam Mulder and Doug Mullins left on launch and it was around 12:15pm. The other 3 got ready to launch however I still was spooked at the size of the Cummies forming over Rabies, directly in line with the first waypoint. At this point I was still being reassured by Jeff but by now heads games were playing around in my head and my instincts told me was it worth the risk, after all everybody else had launched, must be safe right? However, I “woosed” out and decided nope, I had had it for the day. I informed Mike and Jeff and stayed on launch for a while to see what unveiled.
About 5 minutes before the start of the race, the cloud above disappeared and folks started to descend. What a bummer for them after flying high for the first hour. As folks headed off, a lot of others flew over launch about 200 ft over my head and descended into the valley and landed out. Others took a line for the wineries and landed out at Longsword. Quite a few comp wings made the transition and got high in the valley while 1 pilot was right under the CuNim above Rabies. Mike was constantly getting weather reports from a few selected pilots in case he had to stop the task. There was a definite convergence in the Valley as pilots headed up it. They just got higher and higher. However, by now black skies were just about to arrive at launch and CuNims were popping up everywhere. As I headed down the mountain the rain started and I heard Mike stop the task, 1 hr after the start. I believe 1 person landed in a tree and another up high on the mtn. I felt quite happy not to have launched. Talking to Dave Wheeler afterwards he said it was a good call.
I had a glass of wine at the winery and looked at the forecast for the next few days. It was looking to be similar. I decided that more nights in the tent were not for me and made the call to drive back to Seattle and have a weekend in Chelan where the weather was looking to be much better.
I set off towards Grants Pass but got stopped by a tree that had fallen across the rd so had to double back. On the way back to Jacksonville I passed a Jeep that had swerved off the rd also. Things were looking Ominous for me to get out of here. I left Jacksonville at 6:00pm and out on to I5. The scariest part was still to come!
About 100 miles South of Portland the heavens opened and lightening lit up the sky. The roads became like a river and I was aquaplaning going 55mph. 2 lane rds with 3 trailers trucks were in convoy and passing 6 in a row was frickin scary. At times I couldn’t see anything at all except the wheels of the trailers next to me which luckily gave me the line to drive on as I couldnt see the road at all. The car was aquaplaning at times too and I thought how long will this last for. 45minutes was the answer!! 45minutes of the most scariest driving I ever had to do. After that the rest was easy and I arrived home at 1:30am, 7hrs 30min drive non stop.
I hope the weather is much better for the Rat Race, as Woodrat is a great place to fly. Here’s hoping!
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