Quest Task3 (Thursday)
Mark and I started the flight off together, getting high, staying high, going sorta fast. Tom said that TP2 was at the end of a huge blue hole so we tanked up before trying to cross. Lift was great, big ass thermals, climbs to 5400' agl. We got high and headed to TP2 and I tagged it fairly high, like 3K, but soon after was grovelling alone in the blue. I got a climb that seemed like a good one and got to 2500', then lost it, pimped off some other people, trying to catch from underneath and it just wasn't working. A few lakes were in the way, but not even those could stop me. I saw Mark high overhead and called to him to try to direct me to the core of this gnarly climb. No answer, down to 1600' and thermalled in weird lift right over the center of the lake. The second lake was too much a challenge to fly over and although I thought the lift would be okay, I didnt want to get wet. I looked for a field to land in. Well, none of those around, so I travelled a little south and tried to pick a line in an orange grove but none were wide enough. A piece of scrub land, right on the lakeshore, would have to suffice. There were trees and bushes and tall weeds- a dry swamp. My approach stuffed my heart in my throat but the landing was just fine, thank you very much.....
Mark made goal in 4+ hours, Jack was wicked fast, Jeff OB was fastest US pilot.... Great flying day- I was just over 3 hours. I hope today is as good.