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Review of 2008 Hawaii Boogie
by Harry Parker |
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Party in paradise Thanks to Clint Clawson and Joey Jones, The Party in Paradise is BACK! From February 23rd through the 1st of March almost a dozen jumpers attended the little advertised boogie. Craig O’Brien and Harry Parker showed up to document the week long events activities and jumping. “This event was more then just about Skydiving, its about sharing one of the most beautiful skydiving locations on the planet.” Joey Jones Said. Attendees were welcomed with more of an open house as opposed to the rush and hustle of a regular scheduled boogie. A full day of arrivals allowed everyone the chance to relax in one of the 1st class beach houses rented for the week on the North Shore or go make a few jumps. Jumpers were given ample chance to jump by staying right across the street from the DZ. The freedom to jump or just relax was a nice change to regular hard scheduled boogies. “This is the most relaxing and fun jump event I’ve ever been too....It’s actually hard to go skydiving with the view and the beach,” said Chans Rich. That evening, for anyone who knew about it showed up on the beach right down from our house and took part in JC’s wedding. Yes, John C. Colclasure of PD fame. Yeah, a wedding Hawaiian style. The wedding was a surprise for most and the full colors and beauty of Hawaii greeted attendees on their first day for sunset. JC jumped in his Beautiful bride Marissa via tandem and the local tandem masters jumped in the wedding party. It was quick, to the point and filled with flowers. A perfect way to start the boogie. Scheduled events utilized the best in what Hawaii had to offer and the combination really gave everyone a chance to really see and feel the island. “I don’t think I have ever been on a jumping event or a vacation where I got to see and do so much. I really feel like I got to see more and do more then if I was just on my own and for the money.” Jon Sikorsky, said. On the second day after jumping and settling in, all jumpers and some locals were treated to a big Cat sailing cruise aboard “Northshore Catamaran Charters” for a sunset whale watching cruise. The winds were up and under full sail everyone’s eyes were on the water searching for whales. Being the season for Whales it wasn’t hard to get your fill of sightings. “After a while one would think after seeing so many that you wouldn’t look any more after some yells WHALE! but you still do, it’s amazing” Chans Rich, said. The third day Greg Kauppila jumped his 50th State at his 100th drop zone making his 1000 jump to a full load of boogie participants. “It’s been a long road to fulfill the mission and it was shear luck that my 50th, 100th and 1000th all came together in Hawaii, it’s been a blast!” Greg Kauppila, said. Later Greg was treated to his Honorary Pie Hawaiian style surrounded by new friends. Joey immediately began his back flying jumps with participants pushing the edge of everyone’s comfort and skill levels. “I love the way something new like this seems to level the playing field for everyone, no matter what the experience level.” Joey Jones, said. This set the tone for the rest of the boogie. By the time jumpers made it back across the street to their first class accommodations, Clint Clawson showed up with a fresh tuna, the whole tuna, for dinner. From that moment on jumpers realized that even the food was going to be a treat for the rest of the stay. “Unkle” Jon Sikorsky did the honors of carving up the beast on the patio and Blossom helped with her magic hands, love and secrete island sauce for the Sushi everyone devoured to Rum and Cokes. Early morning found jumpers piling into the van and heading out to the other side of the island for a morning swim with the dolphins. After finding the pod, well all slipped into the water watched over 100 dolphins swim in the area. “There is just something majestic and exciting about being in the water with nature and animals that are bigger and stronger the you,” Rob Herrick, said. Back to the beach homes for more relaxing and some challenging back flying skydiving capped the afternoon for everyone. Bright and early on the third day Clint gathered jumpers for a hike up the mountain directly behind the DZ to a private memorial site dedicated to fallen skydivers. “This is a very sacred place for all of us here at Skydive Hawaii and I can’t think of more I could share with my friends and jumping comrades then this piece of our Hawaii, Clint Clawson, said.” The Hike was amazing. The weather was awesome. Everyone got their fill of the sights, smells and surroundings of the area. By the time everyone made it to the rock pile, Clint’s dad was met us there with a C-182 and air dropped two cases of cold beer, on ice! To avoid carrying it down everyone pitched in to make sure we drank every last beer. Unkle Jon used the hike to place his Fathers ashes and war medals at the site. “I have finally put him to rest and I got to do it with my friends in the place he wanted, Hawaii. I can’t thank Clint enough for sharing this memorial with all of us,” Unkle Jon, said. As a matter of fact, everyone carried a rock up to the pile for someone they had lost, for a family member or a fallen skydiver that had made a big impact on them. It was quite emotional for everyone and it was there and then we all realized that this was more then a boogie, Clint was sharing his own back yard with us and to everyone, that meant a lot. Finding ourselves just past the midway point on the sixth day again we all shlepped out to the van for a ride into town. This time everyone was wide awake by the time we got there. Today was Shark Diving. Not only that, but it was the company Jimmy Hall owned and which is now run by his closes friends and skydiving comrades. That was an honor by itself. Getting in the water with more sharks then one could count was a thrill not many get to experience and here we all were getting to do it together. “I was so pumped full of adrenaline! They were like a pack of dogs. I could’ve stayed in the water all day. I’ve never petted a shark before, that was one of the coolest things I have ever done.” Craig O’Brien said. The shark diving trip was by far the most exciting for the group as a whole and many pledged to do it again. Before the trip was up everyone was treated to a huge Luau complete with local delicacies and an action packed show. Oh, did I mention we did some more skydivng too? Harry coached a couple of the lower experienced guys and then Joey brought us all together for some fun mixed flying jumps including, belly, back, sit and head down all on one jump. Again, the mix, especially the back flying leveled the playing field for everyone. No one got out unscathed, which made the dives a new experience and a fun one for all. It’s been a long time since Party In Paradise has really been celebrated and Joey and Clint are determined to put the party back in paradise by creating and offering something different to the traveling skydiver. We are not doing anything new, just following and modifying the destination plan started by others. I believe it meets the needs of today’s skydivers by increasing skill levels, leveling the playing field an challenging everyone.” Joey Jones, said. Fluid Sky’s mission is to provide a unique skydiving adventure, while making skydiving fun again. We pride ourselves in sharing experiences that exceed expectations, Clint Clawson, said. Talk to anyone who made it to this year’s Party in Paradise and they will tell you they will be back. Don’t miss this next year! This debut was a success and their upcoming events will use the same methods and vision. Creating events that bring the fun back to skydiving, keeping the learning curves high and sharing the unique area jumpers travel too isn’t new, but Joey and Clint seem to be bringing something new to the idea.
Links to check out http://www.flitesolutions.com/ http://hawaiisharkencounters.com/
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