The first time I went skydiving in New Jersey was August of 2005. Shortly after I got my license, I went on a road trip with one of my fellow AFF classmates, Nate. We did three jumps out of the skyvan at Skydive Cross Keys.
Over the last year, Matt and I have talked about doing New Jersey / New York a few times. One time, we even started the drive only to turn back because the weather took a turn for the worse. That was no fun.
Today was the day! Perfect weather and we didn't have to wake up super early because Skydive Sussex was only six hours from our house. After a quick breakfast at home, we packed the car and went to get gas/drinks/cash. By the time we got on I-295, it was about 8:30.
Before we left, we grabbed Cathy Baites! She had missed out on our last trip.
I had printed directions which took us up through Delaware and onto the New Jersey turnpike. However, Waze recommended a different route - through Maryland and Pennsylvania (369 miles). Two things were awesome about this route: less traffic and NO tolls. We did elect to use the EZPass in NOVA, but it wasn't necessary.
Traffic wasn't bad and we had very few delays. We stopped to use the restroom once and then again to grab some lunch from Wendy's. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was before 3 PM. According to Waze, we were an one hour and two minutes from Skydive The Ranch in New York. Not bad!
In an effort to save time, I decided to just wear my street clothes instead of putting on a jumpsuit. We filled out our waivers, got a drop zone briefing from the DZO, Rich Winstock, and manifested. We were on a 25 minute call. Both Matt and I were impressed with the facilities at Skydive Sussex.
The parking lot was a little rough, but who cares about that? In the grass nearby, there were a few campers and a couple of tents. While I was at the car, I grabbed some SIS socks for the local female jumpers. One of the women working manifest said they have 20! Wow, that's a bunch. Fortunately, I had enough with me and was able to leave a pair for each of them, and I also gave a pair to a TI's girlfriend. Karma...always spreading good karma :)
They have real bathrooms, food available on site, an airport restaurant nearby, and a bar within walking distance. The landing area is a decent size and the manifest trailer was air conditioned. As we walked around the drop zone, we marveled over the set up. I loved the deck!
We put on our gear and waited in the shade near the packing tent. Just before the plane landed, one of the local guys told us it was shutting down. When I told him that manifest put us on a call, he said that it wasn't going to happen because the tandems were running late. Seriously? Needless to say, we were both just a little frustrated. We'd had our gear on for 15 minutes and we were both sweating buckets. Plus, we needed to get to Skydive the Ranch before it closed for the day.
At the manifest window, we asked what was going on. The woman told us they were hoping to put up a fun jumper load before the tandems, but they needed more people. We took off our gear and went inside the trailer to cool down. While were in there, one of the TIs joined us. We chatted with him until the tandems arrived. Then, we went out to the car to get a drink and to take some more pictures.
What were we going to do if we couldn't make it to NY on time? I figured New Jersey would be easy and we'd in New York by 5, but it was after 4:30 and we still weren't on the plane. The Ranch was only an hour away, but the last load would probably be getting off the ground around 7. It was going to be close.
By the time we got on the plane, it was almost 5! At first, the Caravan was climbing fast. Things slowed down when an experienced female jumper signaled the pilot 3 were getting out low. Matt kept trying to tell her that the pilot already knew, but she kept gesticulating. The plane stopped climbing at 4K. Apparently, the pilot thought we wanted out at 3K. Another up jumper, commuciated with the pilot to let him know 1 low pass @ 5 K - 3 jumpers. 3K...5K...I don't care! Just get us over top and let me out. We were in a time crunch.
When it came time to leave the plane, I did my normal exit complete with thumbs up!
The airport was easily located and as you can see from this picture, they have a fair number of outs scattered around. I flew a nice predictable left handed pattern and had a beautiful landing.
We daisy chained our rigs and went right to the car. Neither one of us wanted to pack in the hot tent. By the time we arrived at The Ranch, it would be a little cooler. PLUS...we were hoping to get packers so that we wouldn't feel rushed.
Matt ran back to the manifest to pay - our jumps were $18 each. Not bad, but we waited almost 2 hours to get on the plane. By the time we left the drop zone, we were both a little less impressed than we were when we arrived.
As soon as Matt was in the car, we left for Skydive The Ranch. Our estimated arrival time was 6:26.
