Well-deserved landing beer on the beach

This one I really deserved. First the wind was too weak and I had to
work hard in the sand to try to get airborne. In the end I got up,
when the wind was somewhat stronger.
Then it suddenly picked up, way stronger than forecasted, and I had to
fight hard to get back to the right end of the beach. Now I have sand
in my hair, in my ears, in my eyes and in the glider. But it was fun!

Soaring in the sunshine

Today I had my first day of soaring the dunes at Wijk aan Zee this year. And what a beautiful day! The winds were in the the weak end but still flyable. And the sun was sparkling from a clear blue sky :-)

Tomorrow I am supposed to fly to Thessaloniki for a week of work. But with the volcano ash-clouds from Iceland closing down all air traffic, I don't think it will work out. We will just have to wait and see.


I apologize for the low quality of the photos, I took them with my mobile.

Swedish friend visiting

De Druif

De Druif

Anders having a landing beer
on the beach at Wijk aan Zee

Wednesday evening, my old friend from Malmö, Anders (a. k. a. Bonen) arrived to Amsterdam for a five days visit. I am thrilled to have him over – not seeing friends and family so often is one of the flip sides of living abroad.

We kicked of his stay energetically with some paragliding at the coast, followed up by Indonesian food at Kadijk Café and then beer at oldstyle beer cafés Scharrebier and De Druif and alter the Groene Oliphant.
Next day, I had the pleasure of showing Bonen my Amsterdam from the water, taking a long ride with my boat.

Christmas walk

We started Christmas day with a nice breakfast and then a long and refreshing walk on the beach in Wijk aan Zee. Later on, the rest of Femke’s family will come over to her parents place for Christmas dinner.

A beautiful day of flying at the coast

Sky. Sea. Sun. Lots of fresh air. Beach. Dunes. Waving to children. Smiling when seeing dogs at play. Saying hello to a sheep or two.
Flying is a magic thing.


Yesterday, I planned to go flying, but the forecast never came through, and we baked gingerbread instead.

Today, it was the other way around. The forecast was bad, but all the real life-readings looked good, so I took the train out to Wijk aan Zee anyway. And got some really good flying! The sun was out most of the time, the wind was right and not too strong, and the first hour or more, I was all on my own in the sky, except for numerous sea gulls.

As last time, I started with flying North to Egmond aan Zee. Maybe two thirds there, at a tricky part of the dunes, I had to land. But luckily, I had a smooth restart and could continue all the way to Egmont aan Zee. There I turned around and flew back to Wijk. On the way back, I met two other pilots, who I took photos of. At Wijk, I turned around and flew to Egmond yet another time. Then going back to Wijk aan Zee again.

This time, it was a lot harder to make it. At a tricky part, the wind suddenly dropped and I found it impossible to stay up in the air. Another pilot had just landed at the same spot, probably for the same reason. Now, we were both trying to get airborne again, but with difficulties. You need a certain amount of wind strength to stay up – when the wind hits the dunes it is deflected up, and that up-wind is what keeps a soaring paraglider in the air. If the wind is to weak (or if it is coming in on the dunes in the wrong angle), there is not enough upwards energy to keep us “floating” on the air.

After I think three frustratingly short flights, the wind finally picked up, and I could fly back to Wijk aan Zee, land and pack up. It was time to go home. Waiting for the bus, a Dutch pilot, Peter, who I met both in the air and on the beach while packing up, kindly offered me a ride. Thanks!
This way, I got home a lot quicker, which was good because my dear Femke was hungry as a wolf but wanted to eat together and so waited for me.

Ground-handling on the beach

Being the day after a long and fun wedding, I surprised myself by going out the coast for some paragliding. I even managed to drag Andrew with me.

Of course, I had misread the weather forecast, so the wind came from the wrong direction…
Well, well, it was nice to get some fresh air anyway, and we did do some ground-handling on the beach. There, we met Pin & Jelle, Femke’s parents who were out for a Sunday walk.

Moved in and did some paragliding

Finally, we have moved into our new apartment in Amsterdam. We are still unpacking and getting things in order, but it is so nice to have your own place again, and unpack your own books etc. Lovely!

Yesterday, I took a day off from the DIY:ing and unpacking and went to the sand dunes at Wijk aan Zee for some paragliding. In the Netherlands, the dunes are protected, so you are not allowed to take off from the top of them. Instead, you have to start on the beach, below the dune, and then kite your way up. Very difficult, at least for me who never done this before.

But after an hour of sweaty trial and error, and a break, I was finally in the air. Soaring this way is so relaxing - the air is smooth and predictable, the sea is eternal in its very own way, and the views are splendid.

Last Friday, I did the nerdiest thing ever in my soon 40 years long life. I went up before dawn and started the queue outside Amsterdam's biggest T-mobile shop. Queueing for what? For the new Apple iPhone 3G. I got one in the end, and it is very cool.