Canopy Washing 101
When people skydive in to the Blue Hole (salt water + canopy and skydiving container = not so great on the longevity of the gear’s life), it’s vitally important to care for the gear once the jumper has returned to shore. On this trip, Rigger extraordinaire (Aidan Walters) took the task to heart and washed, rinsed and again rinsed all components of the skydiving system (that being the main canopy, reserve and container + components) in a 3 stage barrel washing process. This is then followed by a production-line operation where many hands help in hanging up the canopies to dry from the bannisters of the Sunbreeze Hotel. All this for the bargain price of $100US (truly worth every penny, having witnessed the ordeal involved).
It was quite fascinating to watch the skill, dexterity, speed, and teamwork of Aidan with his busy group of workers Not an easy task when bombarded with 15 − 30 rigs per day of jumping in to the Blue Hole!
The vision of canopies billowing in the night breeze, hung out to dry (alongside container and freebag) was a sight to behold worthy of many inspired photographs.
