Paul and Coral on Steenboksrivier south take off

And that is the way to Hermanus..

More Images of the flyaway  - No flying but we had fun :-) 

Thank you to Ian and Grace for all their hard work and getting so many people out there.  It was good to see everyone. 

Voorhoede 4x4 trail - I volunteer to go first :-)

28 March 2008 Update from Ian and Grace

Hello all

Okay, so prediction looks like a light to medium southerly this weekend which is good. We have 30 people booked in at campsite and 40 people booked for the meal on Saturday evening.

SOCIAL

The evening meal (Greg and Tracy's farewell) is at Voorhoede and you must book with Bronwyn NOW 028 2141453 please, otherwise there will not be enough catering.  It will be an outside braai with chops salads and rolls provided, and pudding is an extra if you wish. There is music and a there is a bar with wine and malt, but you are also welcome to bring your own other drinks if you wish.

DIRECTIONS

Directions to Voorhoede are on their website under general and FAQ, but basically go 5km past Caledon and turn right into farm signposted Voorhoede.

FLYING
I think that on Saturday we will go up Steenboksberg and on Sunday, depending on weather, we can try catch lifts with the 4x4's and go up the mountain behind Caledon or go back to Steenboksberg.

MEETING POINT

 

26 March update re pilots who have confirmed:

Gavin
Sofie
Rose?
Stephaan x 2
Gene and Mande
Greg and Tracy Hamerton
Flygirl and family of 7
Ian de Vries and May
Mike Pace and bubbly Karen Ralph from the Glen.
Desmond
Uwe Pitsch + 1
Earl Valentine and Elli
Graham and Vanessa.
Paul Penning and Coral

Base camp is Voorhoede, www.voorhoede.com 
Earl and Elli have booked a house there - most people camping by the dam. There is hot water and flushing toilets but no electricity.

Phone Bronwyn to confirm your booking or camping on Tel 028 2141453  Cell 083 273 8356 (R50 per person).
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Group meal has been arranged for Saturday night at Voorhoede. The meal will be chops, fresh farm rolls, salads. R60 per person. Please confirm meal attendance with Bronwyn as well. Tel 028 2141453  Cell 083 273 8356

Saturday night is also a Farewell to Greg and Tracy Hamerton.

For a video description of the two sites see Greg's link:

www.eternitypress.co.za/freshair/steenboksberg.htm

We might just have a flyaway to remember here :-)

Previously:

The Overberg scheduled another flyaway, but the response was very poor in the beginning.  Flyaways were the highlight of the club so I was concerned. 

It has being worrying that In the past two years, flyaways have lost support leaving only a few die-hards to go where no other paraglider has gone before .. or something like that :-)

Apathy could lead us to the same fate as the Glen Paragliding Club.  The Glen was the mightiest club in the Western Cape.  Now the Glen can't even organise the most important event of the year - The March Gatskop - the friendly interclub competition that once drew more pilots locally and from around the country than any National Competition - except Barberton 2006.

The Overberg became THE club in the vacuum, but in a completely different way to the Glen.  It was fun, the members were diverse and interesting, they flew ALL the time, everywhere, they wrote about it and were infectious in their enjoyment, they challenged one another, they encouraged the newbies to be a vital part of the club, they supported flyaways in numbers and simply put, they had fun.

So why the apathy lately?  Why have pilots not attended flyaways?  What has changed?  Don't tell me the weather has been sh!te.  I know it has been difficult but plenty of international pilots have visited and enjoyed awesome flying.  It is there in between the gales and the rain, if you look hard enough and are prepared to fly sites that are further than your back yard. So why are the locals so apathetic about a chance to get together, catch up on news ... and fly?

Fortunately Ian de Vries, your OPC Flyaway and Entertainment Committee Member has not given up on you.  He has arranged another flyaway  - near Caledon. Not so far away, it's new and he would like you to share in his discovery of these new sites......oh, and it is close to Hermanus if you are not really so adventurous and prefer the known.... :-)

Voorhoede Take off near Caledon

Flyaway on 29/30 March 2008

About Steenboksberg

The drive up the hill can be done in a bakkie or a high clearance vehicle, (do not need 4x4 or diff lock) as all the corners and steep bits have been concreted. It took us 20 mins from the farm to the top of Steenboksberg which is about the same as Koringberg, however it is a lot higher. The mountain is an isolated ridge running in an east-west direction.

The view from the top is really awesome as you are almost 500m above LZ on both sides. The take off from the south side is easy, being very similar to Groot Kanonkop with grassy type fynbos and lots of layout space. The take off on the north side is a little more rocky with quite a shallow gradient so a little more difficult. However, I did fly off the north side and take off was easier than expected as you lift off quite quickly. I would think both sides are fine for basic pilots. Hence you can fly both sides in almost any direction of wind with a North or south component. There seems to be a great network of roads around the mountain as well. There is a ring road all the way around the base of Steenboksberg and for cross country there is the N2, R320 and the roads to Bredasdorp, Hermanus, etc.

I think a post frontal SW would probably be the best for take off and cross country potential, sending you straight down N2 towards Swellendam and then to George. However, I took off on Sunday in an almost direct easterly (the worst wind and direction)  from the northern side and I still climbed to 1100masl, and managed to fly a few km. The view up there was really awesome because you can see the sea over the Hemmel en Aarde valley, and you have flatlands in all directions with the riviersonderend and Langeberg mountains in the distance. It is not in any airspace directly, but Bredasdorp airspace starts a few km to the SE of the Mountain, so if you flew in a SE direction (NW wind) you would have to phone in/radio for permission. SW direction is clear until George I think?

There are also some alternative takeoffs close by, in particular the rubbish dump at Caledon which works in NW, the take off on the Voorhoede 4x4 trial in Swartberg mountians, and Hermanus is quite close too. The takeoff on the R320 could also work but is quite low and works only in southerly directions. 

So the short and sweet of it all was that I was very impressed with it as a site, and I think it will make for a very interesting flyaway. The site gives us access to the Riviersonderend/Swellendam flatlands where I have watched cumulus clouds drift over my head many times on the way to Wilderness. The site is approximately 1.5 hours from Cape Town and 3 hours from Wilderness.

About Voorhoede

Voorhoede is run Albert and Bronwyn Meltcalf. Check out their website at www.voorhoede.com
The 4x4 trial goes up the mountain next Caledon. Albert is happy for us to come and fly off the mountain anytime. He says somebody has flown off there before. Will need a 4x4 to go up hill. R150 to do 4x4 trail.

Our accomodation choices are at the moment Dikyay and Tiger cottages at the south side of Steenboksberg basically where you would land if you did a foefie. He is happy for us to camp on lawn as well.

OR we can go to Voorhoede which has two large campsites and a restaurant where they can accommodate a group meal.

***************************************************** 
This will double as a tribute to Greg and Tracy who have pioneered so many new flying sites.  They will be with us for one last flyaway - and then they are gone to the UK.  Here is an opportunity to feel what it is like to discover and fly new sites, to catch up with old friends and make new ones.  Summer is flying out the window, so get out of the rut you have found yourself in, bring the family and spend a weekend enjoying the spirit of adventure on the mountains and flatlands of Caledon - with friends.

Flygirl

Please respond to Ian via:

Email : ian.devries(at)gmail.com
or
Cell : 082 717 8389