Another Weekend, Another Jump

Not wanting too much time to pass following my first jump, I went skydiving again this past Friday, this time near Wilmington, NC.

Despite having done it once before, preparing to exit the plane is still scary as hell; however, the resulting joys turn out to be no less diminished by having gone through the experience previously. One of several factors that made this jump a little different was the location: perfect weather (90 degrees and clear skies) provided fantastic views of the Atlantic, the Cape Fear River, the Intercoastal Waterway, and both Oak and Bald Head Islands. Stunning.

Had a slight problem with this jump when, halfway through freefall, my goggles went flying off my face. It took several seconds to readjust, and I have no idea how it is that I was able to keep my glasses from taking a two-mile plunge back to Earth without me. I've brought a spare set of glasses with me both times I've jumped, and I now have ample reason to continue doing so on future jumps.

UPDATE: Somebody made a comment joking about my having become an adrenalin junkie. While that may be true, the thrill is about much more than just the rush of freefall. Once the parachute is deployed, everything becomes instantly calm and peaceful. That serene glide down is normally about five minutes, but Friday's jump featured competing interests between me and my tandem instructor: a vertical draft had developed over the landing zone that was preventing us from coming down as quickly as we normally would. So while I was loving the extra time up in the air (judging from time stamps on some pictures, it was at least 10 minutes between chute deployment and landing), the instructor was fighting hard to get down ASAP as there were several other jumpers waiting behind me.