Adios a Poços

My last day in Poços started sunny, windless and warm - finally!
After saying the 'hasta la proximas' to the South African guys, I made a quick trip into town to buy a bus ticket to Rio and then up to launch in the cable car for a final fling with my new baby before I deal with her in the spring conditions at home.
Thankfully we are friends again after yesterdays mess and after some playing around on launch trying to see what works and what doesn't when launching a glider with so few lines, I enjoyed a really nice flight in some gentle, some strong and some broken windy stuff. The early clouds were growing quickly and so shaded out the ground making staying up once away from base quite tricky.
After landing somewhere in the middle of nowhere, ( in the field I was aiming for and on my feet, no less! ;-) ) I hitched a lift back towards Poços. Nothing in life thats free is easy and so after getting in the car and starting up a long long hill we gradually slowed with a shudder and lurched to a stop. The car was out of petrol!! The Brasilien drivers were quick to stop to offer help and after about 20 minutes of arm waving and 30 mobile phone calls, a guy on a motorbike pulled alongside with a 2litre CocaCola bottle full of petrol!
It wasn't a happy car that chugged back to launch but eventually we made it and to make up for the delay the driver insisted on bringing me all the way back down to the city to the door of my hotel and buying me locally made chocolates. I just couldn't tell him I don't like chocolate, so the guys here in the hotel are having a choco-feast tonight! Where's a 'chocolate monster' when you need one!?

I have so much to learn from this wing, I'm climbing like a duck and haven't got the feeling of the dual brakes yet, but i'm sure we are going to get along just fine once I learn to understand what she is telling me.
The stability and feeling of pressure within the sail is way greater than I expected and whilst the brakes feel hard at first its so easy to turn with minimal weightshift that I don't think the brake is needed much, possibly just the trimmers and weight for 'normal' climbing and the the tip line to almost 'carve' the turn. I do need to make some changes to the brake handles. I think i'll go for pink and fluffy...just wait and see! ;-)
Much more will be revealed over the next weeks I'm sure, but overall first impressions are happy ones!

Now I must start a ruthless packing session to fit the Mercury in along with my Venus and all the vitally important stuff that I can't possibly live without...something really will have to go, what shall I leave behind...??