SEBASTIAN — “Come for the jumps, stay for the parties!” the invitation read. And they came – from South Africa, Russia, Spain, Germany, the UK, Canada, Asia, South America, and all over the U.S. – 200-plus adventurers converging on the Sebastian Airport for Skydive Sebastian’s annual Skydive Invasion, 10 days of jumping and ground classes for all skill levels.
Carrying the skydivers to altitude – typically 13,500 feet – were three Dehavilland Twin Otters and a Skyvan, all leased from Skydive Chicago.
Depending on weather conditions, there were from 25 to 75 flights a day.
After enjoying the first few days of blue skies, New Year’s Eve dawned rainy with low clouds. With jumps on hold, skydivers hung out in Skydive Sebastian’s little café and at tables on the deck swapping stories.
Matt Green said that after his first jump, he had decided he’d never, EVER do it again. But after he had calmed down, he decided he could – and he’s now got 310 jumps under his belt and is currently getting into Wing-Suiting.
On New Year’s Day, the clouds finally cleared, blue skies again prevailed, and the jumpers were back doing what they love best, leaping out of perfectly good airplanes and relishing every single adrenaline-drenched moment.
Amanda Smalley, Skydive Sebastian’s drop zone manager, talked about the genesis of the annual Invasion, which was conceived in 2006 to provide a location where skydivers could continue their training during winter months, when weather closed many northern operations.
To put on the popular event, which has seen as many as 500 participants, Skydive Sebastian partners with Skydive Chicago and Skydive Cross Keys (in New Jersey); several product manufacturers come to display their wares and provide prizes for the various competitions.
In between the classroom work and serious aerial exercises, there was plenty of not-so-serious fun on terra firma.
The world over, skydivers are a diverse, fun-loving bunch and, after the adrenaline rush that comes with leaping into the blue, flying for a few brief, exhilarating moments, then landing at a lope, it’s time to party, and entertainment, good beer, good food and good, like-minded pals are just the ticket.
Although skydiving is still a mostly male sport, Smalley said, there are a significant number of women participants.
Smalley said there are different types or categories of skydiving: Relative Work (free-fall flying in a group, on your belly, holding hands); Free Flying (various positions including sit, headstand, flip, etc.); Wing-Suiting (wearing a special aerodynamic bat-wing suit which allows gliding and slower descent); Angle Flying (tracking a forward momentum but without the wing-suit); Canopy Relative Work (in a group, opening canopy early, then flying into formation, holding each other’s lines); beach jumping (onto the beach at Sebastian Beach Inn); and Tandem Jumping (a student strapped to an instructor).
The number of jumps made determines a skydiver’s “Class,” according to the U.S. Parachute Association (USPA): 25-50 jumps – Class A; 51-100 Class B; 201-500 – Class C; 500 plus – Class D.
The Class determines what disciplines a skydiver can undertake. The USPA works closely with the FAA, Smalley noted.
Rudolph Van Wyk, from South Africa, and Jonnie Barratt, from England, two self-proclaimed “newbies” who had hoped to make their first jumps on New Year’s Eve, were among those killing time at Skydive Sebastian’s café waiting for the weather to clear.
The two had booked the adventure through a skydiver friend, South African Mark Farmer, who himself has made 475 jumps.
“I’d always wanted to do it,” said Barratt, frowning at the low gray clouds.
Sebastian resident Erin Franke said she had been jumping for six years.
After two tandem jumps, she signed up for the course and that was that.
Her favorite skydiving adventure was jumping onto the beautiful beaches at a major skydive event in Puerto Rico.
Franke and her partner, Brian Greeson, have just started a business producing high-tech altimeters which can be installed on the helmet and provide both visual and audible altitude “readings.”
Rocking an impressive blond mohawk, Vanessa Meyer, from New Orleans by way of Chicago, shared the story of how she became “a crazy skydiver.”
Planning her bachelorette party, she decided on something a little different than the customary champagne-and-Chippendales event.
Meyer convinced her girlfriends that skydiving would be just the thing.
“The skydiving worked out,” she said, cheerfully. “The marriage, not so much.”
Back on earth, Meyer holds a PhD in neuroscience and proclaimed herself proud to be both a “nerd and an adventurer.”
