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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.
Coastal Cleanup 2005, photo by Rich Leggett Of course you are going to share the air with your paraglider friends but you are also likely to share airspace with hang gliders, seagulls, red tail hawks, and pelicans. And if you are lucky to be out late on a clear day you are going to see the sun setting the western horizon on fire. While I don’t get out there as often as I might like, I really appreciate everything about those sites: good company, the wildlife, the scenery, the smell and sound of the ocean. Last month BAPA had the chance to get out and pay back our coastal sites by cleaning them. For those of you who were not able to make it, we picked up about 40 large bags worth of trash and recycling. Our bags were filled tons of butts, loads of alcohol bottles, and lot of other things of various shapes and sizes. It was good for the sites (Mussel Rock has never been the subject of a beach cleanup), it was good for the local community, and it was good for the club. We have had a couple of incidents with blowbacks and other things in recent months so we really needed to get out there and show that the club cares for and appreciates what we have. Thanks to the County Coordinator, Lynn Adams, BAPA got some positive press in the local paper. We were all busy cleaning and did not have much time for taking pictures but one of the California Coastal Cleanup volunteers, Sharon MacDonald, did and I have posted them here: http://imageevent.com/rleggett/coastal. Going forward, it would be great to have the club clean up our beaches on Earth Day as well as California Coastal Cleanup Day. Cleaning up other people’s trash is not glamorous by any stretch of the imagination. But it is gratifying and fun to be out making a positive impact on our world with your flying friends – and maybe even get some flying in. Coastal Cleanup 2005, photo by Rich Leggett See you out there! |
