Ann soars light conditions at Benicia, photo by James Smyth

As we look ahead to the new year, I want to welcome our new officers including Alex Koorkoff as Secretary, Atta Pilram as Treasurer and Gregg Hackett and James Smyth as Activities Co-Directors.

We also have a new newsletter editor – Richard Hammer has volunteered to be the editor of the Ridge Dancer going forward.  The Ridge Dancer will be a monthly online newsletter with articles, columns, photos and links to information such as the BAPA calendar, classified and so forth.  (For anyone who prefers to read hardcopy, it’s easy to print out the online Ridge Dancer.)

We'll make sure the minutes are more formalized in future issues. During the December meeting (at the special Pilot Summit) the main topic was that the election results were presented. Below is a snippet from the announcement Jeff Wishnie sent out to SFBAPA members shortly thereafter.

The election results are in. Here, drum-roll, are your new officers for 2006:

Annual BAPA dues are due by the end of the year to renew your membership for 2006. 

BAPA is one of the largest and most active paragliding clubs in the country.  Our flying community is made up of a diverse population and it’s great to get to know and fly with so many pilots. 

We all live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are lucky to have some great coastal sites to fly: Mussel Rock and The Stables.  On a good day you can fly until you get tired or hungry or just have to go.  You can see the Farralon Islands, the Golden Gate and San Mateo Bridges, Pt. Reyes, and Mt. Tamalpais.  Scampering on the ground you are likely to see a couple varieties of foxes, cats, skunks, fishermen, locals walking their dogs, and your buddies who came late and haven’t gotten up yet.  Look out to the ocean and you are apt to see dolphins, whales, sea lions, and the occasional fisherman swimming to or from the rocks.