That just about sums up gliding for me too. When I got good enough to fly the club 'hot' ships I would book to fly at say 1PM (you were only allowed 1 hr max unless on a task), spend all morning sitting on the winch/repairing cables/DI'ing said hot ship when one of the 'club fathers' would come along at 12.45, take your ship, do some local soaring for two hours, land and then bugger off. Used to make me spit blood and was the real reason I packed in TBH, but gliding itself is the sport of kings.
Interesting - I never knew gliding was like that. For some reason I thought people had their own gliders and either kept them at their club or trailered them about, then booked the use of either a tug or winch to get them airborne.