Steve and Carol surprise themselves!

Joka and me gliding to the next thermal.
Joka and me realizing that there is no next thermal and the only thing ahead is the big blue hole...

Steve and Carol surprise themselves! Yes, really. They flew 20 k today - a first real cross country flight for both of them! (Carol may correct me on it later...) Well, anyway, they did incredibly well on this difficult day. Too bad that I watched a good chunk of their flight... from the ground as they flew overhead!!! Ok, so the stats - Marko - 40 k, same spot where he landed yesterday. Joka - still don´t know as he was not back when I left to the computer place, but the estimate of 35 k has been floated around by witnesses of his landing out in the bush... Steve and Carol - 20 k, and me... well, I suck.

Sunk out at the same place as 2 days ago, just about 15 k from take off. Avoided mud this time and fought to the last minute. As a matter of fact spent full 20 minutes scraping by at the altitude of 99-120 meters! At some point of extreme desperation I was trying to figure out if there is anything in my load I don´t absolutely need and a thought of ¨do I really need that flight deck?¨crossed my mind. For those who don´t know - that would have amounted of dropping about a 2 pound bag!... with about $1000 worth of electronics in it... Reason, and gravity, prevailed and I finally landed... to once again witness Marko come to the same spot, same altitude and sky out! Unbelievable. Well, somewhat believable as it is happening with incredible consistency but also - Marko is much lighter on his glider, where as I am flying with some extra weight (comparatively to the weight range of the glider.) Now, in most conditions this difference would be negligible but with the consistently light conditions of Valadares it does add up to some incredible saves.

So the first thing I did once getting back to the hotel was get rid of every single non-essential item in my kit - here and there it added up to about 3-4 lb/2 kg - will see what will happen tomorrow!

Now, to the beginning of our day - this will have to be a photo journal kinda thing...

The day started normally enough, with our usual gathering spot near the landing zone. Except, today was a Saturday, so the local pilots were out in force...