bendywendy

Anyone else??? I think he'll be disappointed. Who hasn't been in the SkyVan with it's beautiful red & gold tassles all around the windshield, hula girl & mary on the dash? If you jumped in at Panama Beach City, FL PST event; Wildwood, NJ; CrossKeys, NJ, the very unpopular skyvan at THE BOOGIE (according to them) Richmond, IL; Puerto Rico; Sebastian, FL; Mardi Gras Boogie and what one was that where they used the SkyVan to pull the truck out of the mud??? Anyways, send Rob some goodbyes to remember you by.

Anyone who has jumped at Sebastian, Crosskeys or any of the many events which the Aire Express SkyVan has flown at probably knows Rob Branch. He asked me a couple of weeks ago to post a message here on dz.com. Yes, I'm a little slow - what can I say? Anyways, Rob is now on his way to the sunny islands in the Carribean to fly tourists back and forth between islands in seaplanes - (glorified otters). He wanted me to let everyone know how much he will miss everyone he has come to know and love all these years hauling our lazy butts around the sky. (He was actually a little misty eyed when he asked me to do this). Oh and I kick myself for not having my camera on me because for those of you who didn't see him before he left - he had to shave off that signature moustache & beard to take this job. Anyways, I digress again. Blatah, blatah, blatah, will miss us, blatah, blatah, blatah, oh yeah now I remember... For those of you he didn't get to see before he left. It's been a fantastic time, he loves you all, and don't hesitate to look him up if you make it down towards St. Croix. If anyone wants to forward on messages to him. I told him I'd print this out and send it on. I know I forgot half of the things he asked me to say but you guys know him and you get the general idea. Goodbye, Rob! We'll miss your smiling face in the SkyVan & bellied up to the bar after flying - and I'll really miss those killer bbq's and grouper dinners you'd make after you guys would go out deep sea fishing. Cross Keys Boogie in a box just wont be the same without you. Have a great time in the islands!

What is this all about? I'm at the opposite corner of the country but have met Andy & Kerri and other Kapowsin jumpers and I'm upset that something like this could happen. The thread doesn't say what it's all about though.

We will be jumping at Sebastian during the week except for on Tuesdays, of course. We usually have some RW jumpers around on the weekends. During the week - it's hard to say who will be popping in. The plane will be flying but it's hard to say who will be on it. We don't have any RW organizers on during the week.

At Sebastian we close on Tuesdays but we jump throughout the week. It's very hard to say what the loads are like throughout the week. Somedays we fly 4 loads and some days we fly 12 - depends on how many people show up. It is hot and humid but beautiful. Nothing like jumping in shorts and tank tops with the Intercoastal waterway and the Ocean for a background. DeLand (I believe) is open every day. They always have teams so they will be sending loads. They are probably your busiest summer dz in Florida but we do still jump everyday and unless you are desperate to do 12 jumps a day - you'd be fine at Sebastian.

Yes, we jump all summer it just isn't as busy as the winter, that's all. Sebastian is closed on Tuesdays for the summer. Z-hills I believe closes Tuesdays & Wednesdays. Most summers it rains at some point everyday - it really didn't do that last year. We had some pretty decent weather most of the time, at least at Sebastian. We have been very shorthanded packing for quite awhile. I spent a couple weekends on the mat myself recently. (Funny how fast it comes back to you). I would have a hard time committing to hiring someone to pack short-term a couple of months from now. I have no idea how much work we'll have at that time and hopefully, by then we would already have all our staff shortages resolved.

Sebastian will be closed on Monday for regular aircraft maintenance and we are closed on Tuesdays for the summer. So don't come out to play with us until Wednesday! Actually, I'm looking forward to the time off - anyone want to meet me for rides on the rollercoasters at Busch Gardens?????

DeLand will be flying everyday, I'm sure. Sebastian is flying everyday but Tuesday and we've had lots of students so have been jumping very regularly.

When you find yours could you see if mine is there as well, wait - I see something here buried under a pile of paperwork.... It might be yours...

What does your opening have to do with the type of aircraft you jumped out of. A hard or sketchy opening is hard or sketchy whether from a 182, a 206 or a CASA. Anyways, 11 for me - no special reason other than it was an absolutely gorgeous day much later than we normally would have them (it was an Indian Summer) in late November or early December in CrossKeys several years ago. Packed for myself and it was a pretty laid back day. If you start in the am they are usually doing about 30 loads a day so 11 isn't such a rush. All of their jumpmasters do about 15 - 20 in a day work jumps and put all of us to shame. Of course, they are getting paid and pack jobs.

It's already settled - it just took some communication and there was no need for it to be on a public forum.

YES, there will be a Skydive Sebastian Keys Boogie in Marathon - barring any unforseeable glitches. The hold up is only on securing the date. It is usually the first or second week in November. I am actually going to down there either next week trying to finalize some details. The exact date is usually up in the air until all the redtape gets sorted out. So Yes, there will be a Keys Boogie - plan on coming and as soon as we have the exact dates we will start giving out all the details.

Whoa! I didn't call you any names nor try to make you look bad. I was just saying that this is not Skydive Sebastian and we are disappointed that you would take those dates. Anyone is welcome to run an event there and the more the merrier. Don't be so hostile. You have always been very respectful and great to work for so don't change now!

I'm laughing at some of the responses. I'm not going to point any out in particular but Tony is looking for outstanding scenery for background. Not just amazing dropzones. They've listed a lot of really awesome dz's but not too many of the ones mentioned have amazing views - other than the fact that it's all great from 13 - 14,000 ft. I'm not mentioning any in particular because I love those dz's and think that they are worth stopping at no matter what the view is in comparison. Why don't you just come back to Sebastian?

OK, I'm not real happy about this. We do not have a solid date yet. The Keys Boogie has been a Skydive Sebastian event for a number of year now. There seems to be some confusion going on at the moment because one of the Sebastian staff who has left the company is trying to run their own event there. Any dz can run an event there - they just have to take the time to set it up. Historically the first or second week in November has belonged to Skydive Sebastian - that is trying to be usurped at this moment. That is not very nice - they should pick their own dates to start a new Keys Boogie - so if you are asking about the annual SKYDIVE SEBASTIAN KEYS BOOGIE - as soon as we get it sorted out we will let you know when that event is.

Skydive Orange is a great DZ BUT it is a very different kind of dz. They don't call it the home of the naked people for nothing. The like to get naked around the bonfire and walk the number naked a lot so it can be a little weird for outsiders. It's a club so it's a little different from most dzs but once you get used to it - they are great people and a lot of fun to be around.

Does the dzo own the plane? If he does then he can just be an invisible person who doesn't count. If he does not then he has to pay for the slot to the aircraft owner. Now he probably claims his own slot as a load organizer slot which he doesn't have to pay the aircraft owner. BUT he can only claim LO slots on loads that have met the minimum. If that is the case, then it is a pretty shitty thing to do because he wouldn't have been able to jump for free unless you bought the slot. I had someone buy four slots at our dz a couple years ago to get the otter in the air. A bunch of staff went out and got on the plane thinking that they could use those paid slots. I refunded the guy his money and charged the staff. He'd been begging people for an hour to get on the plane and I'd even offered discounted/discounted rates to the staff to get this guy in the air then they thought they could just take advantage of him.

well....... Pink Wing Boogie will be in Sebastian, next fall - details to follow ...

It's an awesome freaky movie. Get it on DVD and look at all the extras. The stuff on time travel and some of the stuff that they cut out that made some things a little clearer. The song by Gary Jules or whoever it is... is excellent. Very haunting.

Pink Bird Boogie! OOOOHHHH!! Let's save that one for the begining of next season. We'll start with a BirdMan weekend and then we'll plan something big to welcome everyone back to the south next fall. The wheels are turning, smoke is coming out, I keep picturing all those guys in the pink mafia shirts again....

ok, I'm in. I'm bugging Jari for the dates. Maybe we could all bug him and say we heard the rumour - when the hell is it??? You know he sometimes needs a little help to stay focused.

As soon as Jari gets back to me with exact dates we'll be doing a Bird-Man weekend here at Sebastian. At this time of the year I doubt we'd be shooting for the biggest flock ever but... you never know. It will be beautiful flying out over the inslet. You'll be here, right?

It's their dz they can price how they want but if it was the other way around you can bet your ass the women would be raising holy hell. I could see if it was a special once in awhile for the women and sometimes for the guys but it does seem kind of unfair to have a whole season of different prices based on gender. I can almost say without a doubt that if it were the other way around the women would be quite upset even though $14.00 is an excellent price as well. I'm not saying that if I lived closer that I certainly wouldn't take advantage of it!

Get used to it! Rumours always abound about dz's, dz managers, dz employees, dzs closing, being bought, being sold, being taken over, run out of town, etc, etc...

I feel left out! I didn't get a DD from Katiebear! Not that I would have noticed I was totally sucking asleep on my couch very early. Actually that is not sucking - it's so nice to catch up on some sleep.