Sunset loads and Night Cross Country's

Late start yesterday for weather. We were on first load when it went off at
1:30, and got to 4 before people started to drop off to go for dinner. I was
going to stop as well but the Brits invited me along to fill out their 6-way
so away we went on a quick call, with me pulling a dive out of my butt that
I explained to them on the way to the plane. considering where the dive came
from it worked pretty darn well.

Once I got packed I debated going on the BFR shorts jump but decided to call
it a day. Then Mike Crow and Olga invited me to fill out their 4-way,
so...... I tried to get on the shorts jump and the sunset load but they
were on different planes and even with 2 rigs I couldn't have made it work.

As we're on jump run with the 4-way the pilot passes back the word to "Track
North" Why? "Because the Casa is on a parallel jump run and they are going
to track South, East, and West". Yep. We're at a Boogie allright.

The Skydive goes very well, lots of points, and we track North as
instructed. Under canopy, as I fly back towards the airport, I can see
canopies scattered everywhere off to the south, and it doesn't look like any
of them are going to make the airport. In the twilight I watch as people
start landing anywhere they can find. Some waited too long and don't have
any outs. One guy lands in a back yard with the canopy draping over a roof,
some are over on the other side of the river, and they're the lucky ones.
Several land in 7 foot tall corn, at dusk. Some look like they went down in
the forest, and a few simply vanish, swallowed by the growing darkness below
me.

When I walk into the hangar manifest is calling for everybody on the last 2
loads to check in. Turns out they lost the entire Casa load. 30 Plus people
dumped over the river, the forest, and the swamp. At dusk. It takes a couple
of hours but they find them all.

Movie night last night. A giant inflatable screen they set up right next to
my tent. If I had known I would have pointed it a different direction when I
put it up so I could lie in my tent and watch the screen.

It's Saturday morning, the sun is barely up, I'm sitting on the deck down at
The Swamp, coffee in hand, waiting for things to come to life.

2 Days left.
Larry