https://airtribune.com/questxc/blog__day_7

Four days in a row with south east winds. I have never seen this before. It
looks like it will be six straight days for this. The high pressure stays put
off the east coast of Florida through Saturday. Usually the predominate winds
rotate clockwise each day as fronts pass through and we'll get maybe two days of
southeast winds. But this week we've had strong winds from the east southeast
through south southeast every day.

After going 173 kilometers to Cross City on Monday we took two days off. Larry
was certain that Thursday would be the day but after watching the winds and cu's
on Tuesday and Wednesday we were wondering if we had missed some goods days with
the the promise of a third day of good conditions. Forecasts don't always pan
out.

Still both Larry and I set up Wednesday evening in anticipation of a windy day
with the wind in the right direction, south east turning more southerly at the
north end of the state. And it was. Belinda mentioned that the floor boards in
the pool were shaking from the winds during morning yoga. It looked like it
might be too strong for the Joel, our reliable tug pilot, to tow us out of the
field. We still planned for a noon launch. (This weekend the clock springs
forward.)

We lined up in the northwest corner of the north south runway and Larry took the
opportunity to jump to the front as I was a bit too slow. This was a major
mistake on my part as I try to get there first and then slow down in the air to
hook up with the next pilot or two.

The winds were 22 mph out of the south east and we could launch right into then.
I was having trouble keeping the glider on the cart even lying down with all my
weight on the glider, so you knew it was iffy. Joel was saying that he would
take it one tow at a time and not go again if it was too dangerous. Kate said
that she wasn't sure I would get towed.

Larry had a very turbulent tow but mine was just fine without any issues. I
stayed on to 2,100' because of the strong winds which often make for poor
thermals down low. Larry was already at Groveland to the north. He was soon 5 km
ahead. Ken then Cory launched.

We got off about an hour earlier than on Monday hoping to have an extra hour
that would get us as far north as possible. Larry was very focused on getting to
Georgia. Maybe even Valdosta.

The lift was 300+ for the first thermal but much weaker after that as I wasn't
getting high and wanted to stay in lift early and drift in the strong winds.
Finally I had to head for better cu's and down to 1,700' found rowdy lift that
got me to 4,200' about cloud base. The cloud base was low but would slowly rise.

With Larry out 10 kilometers ahead and Ken and Cory launching behind me I was on
my own heading up toward the prisons and the intersection of the Turnpike and
Interstate 75. It wasn't until I got to the southeast corner of Marion Oaks
north of the intersection that I found really good lift that averaged almost 500
fpm. With Larry only 4 km ahead and the two of us in radio communication, I had
my first best chance to catch him. Just didn't quite do it.

Larry found 700 fpm but I had to settle for 300 fpm as we stayed west of the
Ocala airspace and high above the top of it. By now the cloud streets were
lining up and as we no longer had to skirt the airspace we just started
following them to wherever they went. Our stated goal of FlyC was just to help
us get around the airspace and our real goal was to go as far as we liked in a
general downwind direction.

Heading on the east side of Williston we just jumped from cloud to cloud. We
were getting 300-500 fpm climb rates on average. With strong winds which were
weakening as we got further north we were gliding at 55 mph over the ground.

Interstate 75 was heading northwest and as we headed north northwest we soon
found ourselves coming up near the highway north of Gainesville. The open fields
were getting sparser with more trees on the eastern side of 75.

We pushed west to get 300+ fpm south west of Lake City just before four and that
got both of us back of 5,000'. Near 75 I found weak lift and things looked to be
shutting down. I spoke with Larry and low he had found lift 5 kilometers ahead.
I was down below 3,000' and over shaded ground. I headed for his sunlit fields
west of some chicken coops.

Down to 1,200' after going through a few kilometers low but with minimal sink I
came in under Larry at the last field before the Suwannee River forested area. I
would be landing here unless we got back up.

Fortunately even after 4PM the lift was 350+ fpm. We both got high, and Larry
higher as we could then see the mining areas and trees ahead, but an odd field
or two also. Larry went straight up the highway I headed northeast to get under
the cloud street while Larry was in the blue.

Larry found a good line and I decided to leave the street as it was zero but
over a large mining area and not that friendly for any possible landings.
Finding little lift over I 75 I went to find an easy field for retrieval near
Jasper.

Larry found good lift and continued on. Cory was just 10 kilometers behind me
and in easy radio contact after I got on the ground. He would soon land 10
kilometers north of me on the same highway and was easy to retrieve. Larry was
still in the air and Ken behind us was still flying. He had turned off his radio
so we were getting information from Belinda back at Quest who was following us 
on Airtribune and guiding Sue in the retrieval vehicle. Don Spratt was chasing
Ken.

By the time we got to Cory, who still wasn't packed, up Larry was landing in
Georgia at Lake Park. Don found us as we picked up Cory and Ken had landed in
the Cypress Creek Wildlife Management area and we were concerned about getting
him out. We sent Don for Ken and we went to pick up Larry to get him out of the
field before dark.

Don found that Ken was almost two miles behind a locked gate and nervous about
getting his low riding car stuck on the sand road drove back to Jasper. We
hooked up with him again and then all together we drove back to the dirt road
and took Sue's car up to the locked gat about 4 miles into the Management Area.

When we got there we could see a small light approaching us from about a mile
away. There had a lot of phone calls, messages, Google Mapping, strategizing,
discussion and understanding which got us to this point where Ken walked out the
right road leaving his glider set up and tied to an observation tower.

It wasn't long before we had everyone back at the paved road and were able to
make it back to Carraba's in Gainesville in time to treat Sue to dinner. Ken
paid for everyone and was very lucky to be able to get out so quickly.

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/para/flightinfo.html?flightId=1711031521

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/1342935

http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/10.3.2016/17:08