Monday, June 8, 2009

Seagull Envy

This was the scene Monday evening at Clover Point in Victoria, BC... when the wind it right, there can be as many as six gliders swooshing back and forth along the cliffs. The below is a tandem flight... likely a very experienced glider and a student or someone just keen on the experience of gliding.

First, much buckling and harnessing and rope testing...




And then the two flying dudes lurch forward to lift the glider enough to get it into the wind that's coming in off the water.




And up goes the glider and two other 'land' dudes hold the flying dudes still.




Then the land dudes walk the paraglider dudes towards the cliff...




And then proceed to chuck them off it and hope for the best... ;-)




And away they go... and they glide back and forth along the cliff just as the seagulls do (without shitting on everyone).




I might as well give Vancouver Island Paragliding a plug as it's always fun to watch them.



For more 'That's My World Tuesdays' - click the pic:

16 comments:

  1. Why not give it a go?

    Don't worry about email, let me know if you are around on IM tho. No rush as sick & grumpy!

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  2. Great post, I think I might be a land dude but Id love to see this event.

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  3. What a fun post! Love your photos! Always thought it looked like lots of fun! Have a great week!

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  4. Wow, somebody was having a good time.

    I don't know if I'd ever do that...I have gone Parasailing, which is close to that. Hang gliding...I'm not so sure.

    But, it looks wonderful.

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  5. That looks like a heck of a lot of fun!

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  6. Reminds me of Torrey Pines down in La Jolla, CA. I spent an afternoon there watching the gliders. Fascinating! You got some great shots!

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  7. you are too funny...have you you tried this yet? it looks like fun but, i can imagine it is a wee bit scarey at first :)
    have a great evening...

    p.s. loved the dancing birdie

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  8. Jayne, erin - I have not paraglided but I have done some very basic hang gliding. Not here but on some hill where I could float down the hill about 25ft off the ground... was orgasmic!

    Then the club lost its lease on the hill and the only other option was running off a very high sheer cliff... beyond my comfort zone.

    I may consider a tandem ride but if I'm going to be harnessed to some bloke and yelling "Oh My God" I want it to be with someone I love... call me old fashioned. ;-)

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  9. Not too sure about the 'harnessed' bit but the rest sounds ok to me.... ;-)
    I quite fancy a go at this but only if I get to shit on everyone below. Why should the seagulls get all the fun?

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  10. That looks like fun! Thanks for the great description and images.

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  11. Not in a million years would I try this myself, but it's great fun to watch. You got a good little photo essay out of it - wonderful pictures.
    Some poll recently proclaimed Vancouver as the best place to live in the world... is this true?

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  12. As I was reading, I wondered how long it would take for you to bring up bird shit....you didn't fail me!

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  13. Thank you, just what I needed. Doesn't it just show you how brilliant Australians are????

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  14. I'd like to give that a try. Unlike you, I just require my harness bloke to be strong, nice smelling, and know what he's doing. :)

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  15. Neil, you devil. ;-)

    Wolynski - Vancouver... if you like big cities, mingling with zombies amped on crystal meth, some of the worst urban poverty in North America, pretentious cell phone fellating yuppies, having your car stolen or broken into repeatedly, paying half a million for a condo, dodging bullets in gang-related shootouts... yeah, it's a pretty city.

    Personally, I'd rather live in a million other places than Vancouver. It's a big city with big city problems but very little of the positives of found in other big cities.

    I live in Victoria, on Vancouver Island... very different place (though some similar social problems).

    Arija - Australians? WTF?

    Bogey, birdshit if often on my mind, sometimes literally.

    Sarah, you little preeeevert you! ;-)

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