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There were no signs of a slow economy in Puerto Rico!
Monday the 9th we woke up early, checked weather and headed out for the 7 hour flight to Puerto Rico. It was certainly a cool flight flying in formation with Dave as my ‘wing man’. We took the opportunity to get some amazing plane-to-plane shots! Yes there is a lot of water on this planet!
First stop was Exuma, Bahamas for some fuel and a pit stop. Next onto Provo in the Turks and Caicos. We checked the weather one last time and saw that there were some storm cells in the path of our flight. Noticing there were some gaps between the cells we decided to go for it. The last leg of the flight is all water, and it gets better…if you get to Puerto Rico and can’t land due to weather you don’t have enough gas to get back to Provo. It certainly is a point of no return!
About 40 miles from Puerto Rico we started dodging some cells, needless to say the excitement levels started to rise. We found a break in the clouds and descended below them and made a mad dash for the airport, which was just barely in sight. As you can imagine it was a great sight to see the runway off in the distance!
We landed in Aguadilla to clear customs where Erin and Karry were grabbing a rental car for us. Once we walked back out of customs the weather had rolled in and we were forced to spend the night there.
Tuesday morning we hopped in the Otter and took the short flight to Arecibo. We were meet with smiling faces after doing a standard wind check.
We unloaded the aircraft and got settled in for what was to be an extremely busy boogie.
Wednesday morning we went straight to work with one Otter not shutting down till sunset. The boogie goers started arriving and before you knew it Jason said the count was 200+!
That night we headed over to the welcoming party and it was nothing short of a party. Local drummers and belly dancers along with other entertainers gave us a welcome show that everyone tapped their feet to.
Thursday we started out with a 21,000-foot High Altitude load. This is a big hit with many of the boogie goers. Many wingsuit flyers took advantage of the extra altitude to get 4-minute freefalls! We started both planes up and never shut them off till sunset.
Another cool attraction to the boogie is the beach loads. With the close proximity to the beach you can get dropped off on any load. Not to mention they give you a free bottle of rum in your goodie bag.
It seems like Friday through the weekend I only got out of the plane to sleep and shower then right back in. By Friday registration numbers were close to 300. This gave 10 & 30 quite the workout. In fact by mid afternoon the manifest was sold out!
Inter mixed with all the excitement was 100 + tandems a day. Jason and Vivana asked me to bring some rigs down so they could book more. I brought them 11 thinking that was going to be enough, man was I wrong. Thanks to Mike Hoyt and Chad who helped them complete over 325 tandems for the event. I’m certain they found a new respect for not doing back to backs.
Once the numbers were added up 320 people registered for the event, the largest attendance in the 7 years the boogie has been going on. The Otter flew over 70 hours not including the ferries. The SDC people made me proud as they closed many of the parties down!
I want to thank Xtreme Divers, Jason, and Vivana for letting us be a part of their event. I look forward to next year being bigger and better.
After the boogie we took one of the Otters over to Tortola, a small island to the east of Puerto Rico. Mostly SDC staff headed over for two days of relaxation. Day one was spent on the beach evening out the farmers tan and splashing in some waves.
On the second day we chartered a sailboat to take us snorkeling around the islands. Captain Paul and crew certainly made our trip great. Thanks to Paul for not letting us drink to much Rum Punch, we still did!
The next day we headed back to Sebastian our memory cards filled from the great adventures. We arrived back to the US just as the sun was setting, and once we landed toasted with a bottle of home made rum.
Thanks to Dave and Karry for being the “wingmen”.
Back on the home front things are starting to come back alive. People and staff are making plans for the trip back home. We sent an Otter home today (20th) for opening day. That’s right we are less then one month away from opening!
Don’t forget that Safety day is 5 pm March 13 in the Skylounge. This is a great way to get your head back into the swing of things. Eat Up will be serving dinner and drinks so no need to worry. SDC Rhythm XP will be organizing the first weekend, take advantage of this great opportunity to get back in the air with a very talented team.
News from Rhythm:
Our February Tunnel Camp at Paraclete XP was a blast. We had 10 skydivers join us for over 8 hours of awesome flying in 2 days. Some of them are already planning on returning for our March camp. You can check out video and photos here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bytN17GZteU&feature=channel_page
http://picasaweb.google.com/janettelefkowitz/ParacleteSkillsCamp20091020709#
The March 28-29th camp is filling up rather quickly. Considering everyone that has expressed interest in March, we expect it to sell out completely. If you haven't sent in your deposit yet to secure your spot, you'll want to do so soon.
We've also added another camp May 30-31st for those that can't make March or want to do more.
How does it work:
During the camp, Rhythm will take care of all of the planning, and work out rotations so that your time is spread nicely across the weekend. Your Rhythm coach will prepare a curriculum with you and walk you through each dive prior to getting in the tunnel. While in the tunnel, you'll rotate with other campers. For example, you might enter the tunnel chamber for an hour, and fly 10 1.5-minute sessions with 4.5-minute breaks in between. Your Rhythm coach will prep you again in the tunnel antechamber, fly with you in the tunnel, and give you feedback in between each session. After the block, the Rhythm coach will provide a video debrief with feedback that you can apply directly in your next session. At the end of the camp, you'll receive video of all of your flights. All of the planning, coaching, organization, snacks, drinks, video, Rhythm water bottle are included in the camp price. You do NOT need to worry about finding people to rotate with. If you'd like to do 4 way but don't have a group, we can help match you up with other campers who have similar plans and experience.
If you'd like to freefly, we can work you in with our camp rotations and help organize a freefly coach as well. Freefly coaching is not included in the costs below. Contact us for more details.
Costs:
Option 1: One hour of tunnel time $1000
Option 2: 1.5 hrs of tunnel time $1500
Or
Build your own: $250 per 15 minute block
Advanced 4 way Camp -- Call for details
2on2 - Two hours of flying time $1000
Three hours of flying time $1500
1on3 - Two hours of flying time $667 (1 Rhythm Coach, 3 Campers)
Three hours of flying time $1000
Or
Build your own: $250 per 15 minute block of flying time
How to book your slot:
A $100 deposit is all you need to reserve your slot -- time is limited. Your deposit will apply 100% towards the tunnel cost. Deposits are due no later than March 15th for the March 28/29 and May 15th for May 30/31, however the time will probably book up sooner than that. Please send deposits to:
JaNette Lefkowitz
2011 N Larrabee St. #2
Chicago, IL 60614
Travel:
Flights: Fayetteville (FAY) is closest, but Raleigh/Durham (RDU) is usually the most convenient direct flight. Please plan on arriving Fri evening and leaving the tunnel no earlier than 3:30pm on Sunday. We do also have some time on Friday evening for those that arrive early enough and want to fly. Let us know!
Hotel: The tunnel has a special rate at the Comfort Inn Cross Creek for $70/night. Call (910) 867-1777 to make a reservation and mention the Paraclete XP Tunnel Rate. Hotels.com also has good deals in Fayetteville.
It's already shaping up to be a fun crowd. Come join us! If you have ANY questions, feel free to email (janette@rhythmskydiving.com) or call (312)543-4857.
-JaNette
www.rhythmskydiving.com
Don’t forget to check your reserve repacks and be ready for opening day. Good time to check dytter batteries and give everything a good once over. You never know if a mouse thought your rig made for a great winter home while in the closet.
Campground residents winter storage rate will end when we reopen for the season. We haven’t started billing for power yet but will start this summer. Please make sure you are current on your rent. Online payments can be made at www.ottawaairportinc.com or mail them to the office.
Can’t believe the season is just around the corner.
Rook
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