MR Bumpy

Mussel Rock, Pacifica, 11am. West @ 12mph

Launched W from Walker in a W wind. Left turn after takeoff was too tight and I made a dramatic correction to stay clear of the terrain. Continued S along Walker ridge without incident, returned and transitioned to cliffs. Was unable to get properly seated for 90 seconds, knees-to-chest didn’t work, too much clothing friction. Clear of the terrain, I pushed hard on risers to get seated, noticed this made glider move around a bit. A few wide passes along the cliffs and I got up easily. Experienced patches of turbulence at 500+ feet, sudden moderate lifts and drops (thermals?) I didn’t like how the lifty ones pulled me sharply back toward the cliffs so I pushed out and turned home. One N/S figure 8 over the steps to lose height judge wind direction, came in for an easy cross-wind landing headed south. Transitioned from landing to kiting and ground handled for another 20 minutes.

Errors:

• Didn’t announce launch.
• Vario/GPS was off for first five minutes of flight.

0:17 Mussel Rock (Walker), reverse launch.