Happy 60th Birthday!

December 23, 2009

The second half of this day was our trip to Punta Gorda to tandem hang glide. We rushed from fishing to get into swimsuits and shorts and pack warm clothes for the event. Our experience was with Paradise Hang Gliding, Inc. Holly had been doing business with Scott Trueblood, owner and hang glider instructor, for several months trying to arrange the “big surprise”. Our boat captain was Travis Elms, and our pilot was Alexander Cuddy who is in competition and a tandem hang glider instructor. More information can be found at www.paradisehanggliding.com.

You might wonder how hang gliding happens in Florida where there are no mountains to jump from. Well, we get on a boat with a hang glider tethered on a back platform. After fitting into the tandem “cocoon”, the boat speeds up into the wind and the hang glider glides up to 2500-3000 feet while still attached to the boat. With a signal, the pilot of the glider releases the hang glider and then the real ride begins. Landing, in this case, is a gentle splash in the bay as we float on pontoons near the waiting towboat.

Well, it was my party so I decided to go first. I was excited and anxious all at the same time. Holly went next and Monica was last. We were spooled out and then released. The sudden quiet as we were gliding on our own was remarkable. The view from one half mile up in the air was phenomenal. It was amazing to see the real view of Grateful’s travels through this area as opposed to the charts I had been reading just a few days ago. We did not see dolphins on this trip up, but Alex said that just recently he had spotted a dozen sting rays. Then we all had our chance to “drive” the hang glider with Alex as back-up. It seemed pretty effortless when Alex was driving, but took some strength to make the turns. I think the best part was when Alex asked if I was ready to have fun and then we took a dive. I was amazed I had air enough to scream. Our landing was surprisingly gentle and both Monica and I stayed relatively dry – Holly landed as wave slapped her in the face. The towboat stayed nearby and quickly arrived to pull the glider and us out of the water. Pretty funny watching us taking baby steps in those cocoons.

I didn’t think I could top the tandem sky diving that I did with Bryan and Monica for my 50^th birthday. Tandem hang gliding for my 60^th birthday was not only a rush, but beautiful as well. A big plus was that it lasted long enough to get over the anxiety and to actually enjoy the views and experience. I suspect having a pilot who obviously loved what he was doing also helped, and his enthusiasm helped us all to feel comfortable gliding through the air. All three of us couldn’t stop talking about our flight – What a thrill!!

We took pictures and movies, but Scott posted our trip on his website. You can see us on the video at: http://www.paradisehanggliding.com/?page_id=4. Enjoy!