bendywendy

This year I think I'll even check out the z-hills christmas/ny scene since I won't be tied down by Sebastian anymore! Katie Bear you better be ready!!!

SNE!! If we are voting.

Didn't I meet you years ago? Somewhere.. Sebastian, CrossKeys, Quincy, The Ranch, Rantoul, Richmond, Wildwood or was it an old Keys Boogie? Anyways, Roger Ponce always joins us for this one and Carl has already said that he is coming along as well!

I just sent in a newsletter to go out this week with all kind of good shtuff in it and lots about the keys. Dates are the same. HOTEL ishttp://www.sombreroresort.com/. Let them know you are with Skydive Sebastian to get the best rate. Rooms are condos with 2 or 1 bed and a living kitchen area (full kitchen) pull out sofa. Rates cover up to four people so if you look like you have 10 people staying there - you know air mattresses all over the floor, etc, they will hit you with another charge so just bear that in mind. Please get on the newsletter list so I don't have to answer four hundred individual emails asking the same thing over. I have carpel tunnel and telephone ear right now so please, help me out. Forward the newsletter to people you know are interested if you get it. Registration is already up on the website and sorry, you can't be first because someone has already hit it today! $45.00 jumpers $35.00 non-jumpers if you pre-register - wait until the keys and it'll cost you $60.00!!! so save yourself some $$ We'll be letting people pre-purchase jump tickets as well so as soon as you check in you'll get your bag with your t-shirt in your requested size and your tickets. Wel'l hit you with that wrist band and yes, keep the damn thing on for four days - you'll get over it! - and you can run right over and manifest. No waiting in line. If you are really smart and have a current waiver at Sebastian AND you pre-register we'll bring it with us so you don't have to even do that. The secret to this boogie is play hookey - take off Thursday and Friday. Those two days usually see a lot of real good fun skydiving at a less hectic pace than Saturday and Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon usually winds down a bit too. So get your rooms - we have ours already -well I hope we do - I emailed the manager about them this morning! The party will be at the Sombrero poolside. I've got two young men playing percussion (they play clubs in West Palm and are looking forward to partying with us) Bryce is from an old Sebastian favorite - Boxelder! They got too big to play DZ events a few years back but we are winning them over again. The Sombrero has a tiki bar beside a nice pool and a restaurant there as well. Quite a few of us stayed there two years ago and we really had a blast. They were extremely tolerant of our antics and hey, they even let us come back. The official Dinner and Party is Saturday night but of course, every night is a party when we hit the Keys!

You would suspect correctly. We probably wont know for sure until we apply for our dates after this one and they fall on the floor laughing at me!

This has become a very popular bird boogie! I expect to see some gorgeous shots again this year in the air - not on the ground obviously, you look like a bunch of penguins waddling out to the plane. I'm still waiting for the final word from the hotel so hold off just a bit longer on that room reservation. I'll try them again this afternoon. Spread the word....Just in case this is the last one we need to make sure it's the best damn Keys Boogie we've ever had and that means we've got quite a bit to live up to!

What is the point of keeping anyone out of the USPA? This is not a high-society snooty little club. The more members we have the better. Some "tandem factories" are tandem factories simply because they do not have the lift capacity nor the landing area to have a regular jumping facility. A tandem jump whether or not the jumper can return to the facility where they did that tandem or not will either spark the desire to become a skydiver or not. If the feel the need strongly enough they will seek out a dz where they can train. It seems like the only person who wouldn't want these type of dzs to be group members is maybe someone who has a dz that loses a lot of business to them and perhaps thinks they would get more if the "factory" could not claim to be part of the USPA. If they are close enough to feel the pain on the loss of business side in tandems they should be close enough to reap the benefits on the student side. USPA does more than most skydivers realize. I hear everyone complain all the time about the membership issue. They do a lot of work on the political side that none of us thinks about or sees. We don't notice that side until a dz is forced off an airport or airspace is limited. There is a reason why they are located near the capital of this country and not built up right outside a nice southern dropzone so that they can all be close to warm year-round skydiving. Numbers carry weight in politics - that is all the government ever cares about. Don't try to cripple what little power we have. If a dz - any kind of dz - is a good, safe facility then don't try to keep them from being members.

This is the earliest they have ever officially approved us so everyone should have plenty of time to plan. Thursday, November 9 - Sunday, November 12. I will have all the dirty details for you very, very soon but for now I just wanted to let everyone know that yes, it is a go. Mark the dates, make your travel arrangements and I will tell you the hotel in just a few days where the main group will be staying and the party held. I know it already but they have not called me back to finalize pricing yet and I'd like to lock in a good Skydiver discount for everyone before youstart calling and they decide they don't need to discount at all! There will be a big difference this year in pricing between people who pre-register and those who just show up. We need a much more accurate count for dinner and t-shirts so maybe this will motivate people! I will also not guarantee the t-shirt or dinner to same day registrants since I will be using the pre-register list as the basis for the numbers I turn in. See where I'm going with this? Pre-register is the way to go. You'll be able to register online on our website www.skydiveseb.com very soon. Here's a few tips too. If you aren't coming from too far away and you get out to Sebastian to jump - get there and get a nice new waiver on file. If you pre-register and have a waiver at Sebastian then we bring copies with us and you don't have to deal with that when you get there. If you haven't pre-registered we won't have the copy and you'll have to go through the whole process. I believe that we will also let people purchase tickets before the event as well to avoid that whole bottleneck so we can get jumping quicker on Thursday. Pre-registering, already being waivered and having jump tickets there waiting for you will really speed up everything. If you can play hookey from work make your vacation for a few extra days show up on tues or wednesday and do some snorkling and settle in and then be ready to start jumping first thing on Thursday morning. Thursday morning and Friday are great days for jumping since a lot of people don't show up until Saturday and Sunday. Sunday afternoon is another good time - if you can stay through Sunday - everything gets pretty laid back as the pack starts to thin on Sunday. Requirements are still the same a USPA membership and C license or if you are a foreign jumper the equivalent (200 jumps) with membership to your countries governing body AND third party liability must be valid in this country. ALL jumps require flotation gear. If you have been to the boogie before and been getting away without it - we will be more diligent this year about making sure that everyone is playing by the rules. We aren't picky about what exactly it is but you must have it. It needs to be worn outside your jumpsuit not under it. If you've got to get out of your rig and your jumpsuit before you can even get to it, it isn't really all that helpful, now is it? If you are on the Skydive Sebastian newsletter list - there should be one already in your mailboxes except I don't think it has been sent out yet with pretty much just what I've told you here and then as soon as I get the quote from the Resort we'll be at I'll get the detailed one out and have Jim get the web part up and running. If you can possibly make this one - do it! The airport is starting commercial flights out of there which is great for those of you flying in but I think we are about to see the end our annual adventure to the keys as the airport grows.

Wow, we must only get the nice brits at Sebastian. I'm not sure what you were reading but you seem pretty pissed off on a couple of your posts for no apparent reason. Is the weather bad as usual over there and you guys stuck on the ground? I'll tell you what - forget the world freefall convention and I will personally put up our circus tent next to the hangar for you and your friends - it's 30' x anything up to 120' long depending on how many panels I put in. BUT you need to lighten up, jump all day and then you can teach everyone how to sit on the couch and drink beer at night here.

The problem is they are in a legal loophole. Legally they can't sign a waiver and even if their guardians do - it doesn't mean a thing. The guardians can't legally sign away their rights so they are in a very scary loophole. If anything happened the dropzone and everyone involved may as well just hand over their business and personal life.

Beach jumps are back at Sebastian. For the past two weeks we've enjoyed an afternoon jump onto the beach in front of SBI (Sebastian Beach Inn). We plan on doing these jumps every sunday as long as the winds/weather cooperate. The beach is as long as you want but not super wide so we do not jump there if the winds are questionable. The jumps are $25.00 and include the use of dz flotation gear and if you need it a return ride to the dz in the bus. The bus waits for the jumpers to land, pack and have a drink if they so desire but if you want to stay late drinking and watching the bands then we suggest you arrange your own transportation. The easiest thing to do if you want to stay at the bar and all your friends are jumping in is to drop a vehicle off early in the day so it will be there when you land. If you have friends who aren't jumping in they could drive over and meet you. The beach is close by the air but not by car. You do need to have a C license and we prefer that you have done a jump once at the dz that day before you jump at the beach. So come on out. If things continue to go well with them and everyone does a good job, doesn't get into any bar brawls and has fun we are looking to expand them to include maybe Friday afternoons as well.

You know we haven't seen you here in a longtime! We could always work up somekind of event around you... just let us know when a good time would be.

No, kidding...we all noticed the title it's just silly and foolish but it still came from somewhere in his psyche

Wow! I guess everyone should just let you go on your litlle rant and not really say too much back since stirring things up is what you seem to want to do. Your whole point of view is outdated. When freefliers were the dirty little rebels on the dz and bellyfliers were the 'normal' skydivers. You only have a couple of years in the sport and missed people having these silly heated debates years ago. There is no need to act or speak this way. It doesn't make you look cool nor anyone fall down in adoration of your freeflying skills. All it does is put that "stupid arrogant rebel" sticker back on freefliers. I am a freeflier, if I feel like doing an RW jump I will and this year is my year to get better at it. I would say unless you have the skills of the team members of say Airspeed or Magik when on your belly and Alchemy or Guano when on your head that you should probably be just a bit more humble and not alienate people just for the sheer hell of it. Not that you should do so even if you ever do make it to that level in skydiving.

Come on people - I've gotten a few people let me know they are coming. This is an awesome deal - I may have to play hookey myself to take advantage - only I think they'll figure out what I'm up to