One of those days/flights

Post by **colin keightley** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:36 am

Ever had one of those flights when you are constantly trying to work out what the right decision is and even once youve landed spent the rest of the day wondering if you made the right choice.

Well it happened to me today, went to Marske and it wasnt the best of conditions but the tide was out so that was something, so first decision was if i should jump the gap at Saltburn ok not a biggy but i knew if i went across i would be walking back or getting picked up, so i went for it with loads of height to spare when i got to the other side, a quick check to see if i could penetrate in all directions and i continued to the end of the cliff, as i neared the end i was penetrating slowly so thought round the corner would be working better and it was so then do i go back or continue knowing that once i got into skinningrove i wouldnt be flying back to saltburn well ive come this far and i have a retrieve sorted so what the hell, the lower cliffs round the corner looked like they may be in rotor so i gave them a wide berth and headed for the hill side next to the mouth of the stream, one beat to top up height and jumped the mouth of the stream with ease. Now do I continue or just land on the beach what the hell we can at least go to boulby for a look, so off i went and with ever corner i went round i turned back to make sure i was able, now came the big dicision im on boulby cliffs going up and up and the cloud is forming thicker and thicker and i know if i go past these cliffs i aint coming back but is there somewhere to land, can i get into staithes clear of rotor in this wind direction, I bottled it and turned back initially i thought i was pinned but it was just that little moment after a shallow turn when nothing happens and then i started making headway but the sky was looking threatening so I bared it into skinningrove and phoned for my retreive, but after studdying the wind direction and looking at the maps could i have got into staithes? its bugging the hell out of me now.

Chris L · Post by **Chris L** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:11 am

Nice to see you are enjoying a bit XC Colin

Jim Bittlestone · Post by **Jim Bittlestone** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:33 am

You probably made the right decision if it didnt feel right.
I don't think flying at the coast is something that can be pushed, it's either on or it's not. If you look at flights on the league from Marske and Saltburn, looking at height in particular, (ignore my flight to Whitby as my GPS wasn't reading true as I coverd the hole in the back up with sticky velcro

), 600ft at your highest point doesnt seem loads? Which suggests that either it wasn't working really well or you weren't hanging about to top up to the max? Most likely it wasn't quite on.
You've done it before after all.
There's a couple of necky bits past Staithes, the route before Staithes has regular top up points if the wind is right.
There's no shame in turning back and landing safe, sounds like a good decision, it will still be there next week.
Look at this as a positive step in your XC career, it's all about making decisions and not being caught in between a rock and a hard place.
I recently did something similar flying from Semerwater, flying with Ed, It was getting a bit gale hangy for my wing, forecast to increase slightly and we were waiting for the clouds to dissipate to allow the sun through. I felt like I would have gotten blown back if it increased so I pushed into a sunny patch down the valley. I bombed at 20k and Ed got 60k+.
I felt I made the right decision with the information I had at the time and I think you should too.
Just my thoughts.

Post by **colin keightley** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:47 pm

I deliberately stayed level with the top of boulby cliffs as 200ft higher was in cloud, it seemed to be strengthening aswell so didnt want to pop up into anything stronger, I do feel I made the right decision as i was studying my moving map all the way on my iphone using my penetration speed and the topo map to work out what was in and out of wind, i just cant help but have that what if niggling away at me now.

Post by **gary stenhouse** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:03 pm

my feelings of the day were dodgy as the true wind was a lot stronger out at see i took off went so far down and came back as i could see the white horses appearing closer in.

my choice was not to go near the big cliffs as i have been there to many times when the wind at the coast has come in. and to be fair in the last five years i have seen more people getting blown back at the cliffs than any other site.

still i think you have to sometimes make your own decisions and i am sure you were right in your decisions, though for me the risk that day was not worth the reward.

there is just something about those big cliffs that i dont like and it is probably the lack of options if things start going wrong.

cheers gary