It was a usual day, where at some point you get a little frustrated with the Tbilisi Sea launching site, since it's just too inconsistent. However, Irhan K. did at one point catch a thermal and managed to get up 700 m above the launching site, which probably would have put him on track for cross-country flying, but unfortunately he decided to come back to us.
At any rate, at 6:15 PM in the evening, the wind, which had been coming too much from the east, turned, and suddenly came straight from the south. Everyone else had left, I was the only one still up there. Flying until sunset! Remarkable: within three or four minutes of the sun going down, the wind slowed down, and I sank into the valley. I was surprised, since it had appeared to me that the wind was dynamic, with no thermal component. It could be that the drop was coincidental, but clearly we are still learning about this site.
One day, when we really have it figured out, and maybe if we do a little bit of landscaping, there will be better flights. More generally, a good illustration to how small sites can hold positive surprises.
One particular surprise that evening was that once I had hiked back up to the launch site, to the belongings scattered around my car, I encountered six Georgians having a feast, on the occasion of the date of Holy Mary. They had a campfire, which we later heard people saw in Tbilisi, since it's at an elevated spot. I stayed with the group until almost midnight.
After dusk, the launch site is totally magical: you see all of the city, you see the planes coming in, and reflections on the lake. The stars are clear, and there's a nice breeze.
