In sympathy or even envy of our fellow club members who are heading north for fun in Haggis territory, JB and I had made plans to go north too but only as far as the cliffs on the north coast. We managed to persuade Peter F to fly the tug with Liam and Adrian who, came up early, lending a hand to hook on and run wings.
The wind was a strong NNE at 22kts with gusts of up to 30kts which needless to say made rigging interesting. Too blustery to launch we retired to the club house to warm up, have tea and hope the wind would settle down a bit. Fortunately the gods were smiling on us and the wind duly dropped to a dull roar so we readied the tug before Peter gingerly taxied to the west end. M5 launched first, pulling off tow at 2500' over Wiveliscombe under a great cloud street before setting off on a long very shallow looking glide to the coast at Minehead.
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| Turning Minehead Harbour |
The cliffs were romping even with the oblique wind and it wasn't long before JB arrived to join in the fun. Seagulls, walkers and a lone buzzard shared a couple of hours with us as we repeatedly traversed the coast from Minehead to Combe-Martin grinning all the way.
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| Into wind - It will work around the point..Honest! |
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| Combe-Martin - 40km to Minehead |
We even managed to climb away from Porlock in some 'rough as old boots' rotor thermal to enable the glide back to North Hill.
An epic adventure made possible by the generosity of Peter F, Liam and Adrian who gave up their time to come and help us. Outstanding dudes!
