December Xmas time is time to see the family, an opportunity to strength your references and get attention from people who really care about you. I have lived away from my family many years when I was abroad and now I know how it can be the greatest support whenever you need help.

Me, my friend/brother Peruca and Naufrago, Los tres amigos, make every year a trip to see the family who live in Santos, a coastal town 75km from São Paulo and 705 km from Floripa. This year couldn’t be different but it was. Hitting the road (BR-101) at 15:00 pm we passed Curitiba (310 km from Floripa) about 20:00 but about 22:00 the car broke down! We had to stay overnight in a little town called Jacupiranga (215 km from São Paulo) to get the car fixed next day. Funny was, waiting for the tow-car, drinking beer in a simple bar beside the road, a place where we would never imagine to be drinking beer that late night and also the fact that my mother’s side family background lives in the region. After tasting the local night food: a big hotdog filled with chicken, cheese and fried portatos, just awesome, we walked to the hotel and had a good night sleep. In the morning we had a impressive great breakfast and on the garage, changing the radiator solved the problem so we could continue to our destiny. We arrived in Santos in the afternoon making 48 hours since we left Floripa.

Most of my family lives in São Paulo ( 695 km from Florianópolis), a capital city where every possible combination of people is present in the city’s population. I spent Xmas night and day there where I had the best food I haven’t had for a long time and also meeting new relatives as well as long time-no see ones, all those good things on family reunions.

Back to Floripa, my feelings are good and my mind is clear. I can enjoy this day feeling the cool wind, seeing the clouds reflecting the sunlight in red and orange warm color tones and watching flocks of birds flying to their nests, joining their families, to where they belong.

The last couple of days marked the start of the flying season in the island, and the conditions were awesome. It has been raining less, the sea breeze is constant and the long waited eastern wind is blowing.

Flying has been possible in most of the island with some pilots making big flights like a friend of mine who launched from Rio Vermelho, crossed the Lagoon and landed on Lagoa centre. Another experienced pilot broke the local record making 73km from Santo Amaro to Braço do norte town. Just amazing.

I had myself a good time flying to Farol da Barra and both sides of Mole beach in one flight, something I haven’t done before. The lift was so good and smooth and getting height was so easy.

Today I have experienced a quite scary situation in flight. I flew in Rio Vermelho and the conditions were strong for me. My equipment was under the recommended weight for this condition, so the thermals were launching me at 10m/s + not to say the colapses I have had. I was on control, though. A little experience helps on those difficult moments so I could manage to keep myself from having a serious colapse or stall. But I thought it wasn’t a good idea to keep flying on those conditions and I decided to land. For bad luck I landed on a water stream which soaked my harness and pants. I was pissed off but I started to think about a curious situation in my life. I have done many stupid things since I started flying, very silly mistakes, but despite the risky situations I was envolved, I have never had an accident.

To clarify things, I am not an advanced pilot - just know enough to be considered an intermediate one. For the time I have been flying (7 years) I could be a lot better but my evolution is slow. I am conservative, I don’t take much risk and sometimes I am a bit chicken. But it doesn’t mean I don’t seek challenge. I have done amazing flights and I have also defined goals that I wanna achieve in order to improve and experience great flying moments. I believe I can do that on my pace and taking the advice: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, the courage to change the things I can change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”.

For those interested in getting airbone, tandems at Mole beach cost about R$ 80 for a flight. There are many pilots offering tandems now but I usually recommend Icaro Flying school ( 48 – 9997 4939) or Parapente Sul ( 48 – 3232 0791) because they have been flying Tamdems for a long time with reliable pilots and also run courses for beginners.

Summer holiday is on. Thousands are heading to Santa Catarina state beach resorts which will be booming, just like every year. But if you really want to enjoy in safety, there is a warning for those planning to drive along the precarious roads in the state.

Last sunday main circulation newspaper reported in the front page the dangerous situation drivers will face in the next months of summer holiday.

The famed national highway BR-101 which crosses the state from north to south , is nicknamed “ the death road” for a bad reason: 52 people died on accidents last summer only.

Other roads connecting the interior to the coast such as BR’s 282,470,280 also have high number of accidents.

If you are driving south to Guarda do Embaú, Garopaba, Imbituba ( Praia do Rosa) and Laguna all popular beach destinations, be very careful: This part of BR-101 higway, is the most dangerous. It has only 2 lanes, many trucks, many holes on the asphalt and audacious overtakings, just to name a few. I know how dangerous it is cuz I had myself an accident there 2 years ago. The duplication of this highway has been on debate for many years without solution until recently, so watch out for parts of it at work.

If you are driving north to Balneário Camboriú, Bombinhas, Governador Celso Ramos, despite the BR-101 higway having more lanes, pay attention the same way: The signaling is not good and the cars drive faster.

In Florianópolis city there will be high traffic in most roads, especially on the SC-401 and SC—406, leading to the most popular beaches so watch out for back collisions.

Emergency numbers: National road police – 191 and state road police – 198. In case of accident always head for main hospitals such as in Florianópolis or Tubarão town (lat=-28.48, lon=-49.02) for better assistance.