Palatka, FL Jan. 19th

by Nasser Basir

Ah, Florida in the wintertime sounds very enticing for folks buried under a couple of feet of snow. So, with that in mind we looked forward to a long weekend of warm days and blue skies and lots of great CReW. Unfortunately, the weather gods had other plans. Friday turned out to be quite brisk and windy with only one load getting off at the end of the day. Saturday morning 7 a.m. was clear and downright frigid. Only eleven jumpers showed up due to the late announcement and unpredictable weather forecast; quite a change from the last camp at Palatka which had a turnout of 55.

The day steadily warmed up and we were able to make five loads which ranged from 4-way diamonds to a 10-way two point sequential skydive. On Saturday evening we held a train-the-trainer lecture, covering all the aspects of organizing and conducting a camp. This lecture will become a regular aspect of future camps to train and encourage more camp leaders and to ensure consistency in DQ training techniques. Sunday started much warmer and we were able to get off a 10-way sequential dive. We were dodging that white fluffy stuff on our way down and briefly had to go through some industrial haze. The clouds had rolled in and we were socked in for the day.

Although the turnout was low and the weather uncooperative, everyone did get the opportunity to try something new and came away with some new found knowledge. A special thanks to Jerry Hoekstra for his support in setting up the camp.