Marina Oct. 18

It's time for our annual Monterey sand dunes trip!

This time it was Alex, Robin, and myself. Drove down in the Fit (cozy but efficient) and when we left Vancouver it was pouring rain. In fact it poured rain for most of Washington and Oregon, hydroplaning through Seattle and Portland. But by the time we got to Northern California the rain had stopped and it was dry again.

Arrived in Marina mid-day on the second day of driving, and it was SW and light, which is not the greatest direction but doable on certain aspects. We signed in at the ramp and then de-reserved our harnesses (not much point in having one, and you'll just get sand in it), and then it was off to play in the sand!

Robin and I stayed near the ramp while Alex ventured south towards Lakecourt. We played all afternoon in the winds, launching, surfing through the sand, running up the sides of the dunes, and basically getting sand in everything. So fun! A bunch of locals showed up but they weren't inspired to fly (they called the conditions "unflyable", too south for them), but we had a blast.

After it got dusk we headed to Papa Chaco's (our favorite Mexican spot) for our Mexican fix, and then joined up with the locals for an apres-flying beer. Suzie (one of the locals, a former HG pilot) invited us to stay at her house, which we accepted.

We are down here until Thursday, and then will make our way north to stop at the Chelan fly-in next weekend. Forecast is for sun and onshore winds for the rest of our trip so we hope to get more flying in. Stay tuned!