Happy Holidays ( w/ santa sail video)

Merry Christmas to all.


Right on time... Here is the video of the annual W.E.T. Santa sail.

Santa Sail 2009 from Javier Garriz on Vimeo.

Something different

I found this video on a WS forum and thought I'd share it.

Breaking in the new ride.

Wednesday was looking like a great day for sailing locally, except for the rain. Fortunately I got the call that my new stick was in at Ride Hatteras waiting for me to take delivery. The forecast was even better down there so it was a no brainer to make a run down to Hatteras Island. Billy called Tuesday and told me to come on down stay the night and we would hit the shop in the morning then sail the rest of the day. Bob posted that he would be down in Rodanthe and sailing at his place. Everything was falling in place for a perfect day. I picked up the new board, a sweet 84l Cross II around 11:00 and were on the water in Rodanthe by noon. I sized up the straps, finned the board and rigged a 4.1 for the 30mph winds.

After the first two runs I was in love the board. It was smooth and fast. I couldn't resist launching it off the first nice ramp less than 2 minutes of it getting wet. Once I had the sail dialed in I played with the mast base position, first in the forward position then in the middle. The middle brought a little more speed and maneuverability.

I was trying to jump the board off every decent ramp I could find. I locked it out on a blistering beam reach and never felt the slightest bit out of control. I attempted numerous jibes and tacks but was only successful on a few of the jibes. The board is really short so tacking it is definitely going to take lots of practice. Finally I worked the board on the little bit of breaking wind swell we had to test it's maneuverability. The thing turns awesome and snaps right around when you want it to. All in all it is exactly what I need for high wind bump conditions and I think it will serve me well once I get out into the surf.

The rest of the crew was out on anything from 4.8 to 4.0 and 100 to 76l boards. We had Paul from DC show up, Wayne, Billy, Rob, Carl, Vito and of course Dr. Bob. We all sailed about four hours straight in December and the only cold we felt was the post session beer. Sorry Wayne, stole your line. I don't think the day could have been any better.... How often do you get a new ride and have perfect conditions to break it in the same day!

Additional photos Click here.

Billy

Paul

Carl, Duck Jibing

Billy getting air

Rob lifting off

Carl

Bob

Wayne mid flight

Vito getting ready to join the fun

Vito

Bob preparing to touchdown

A couple rare shots of me (thanks Bob)

Paul

Billy

Calling it a day

Black Friday Sale oops… Sail

Sorry but my retail roots from what seems like another life made me do it. This post isn’t about shopping.

We had nice conditions anywhere from 4.5 to 5.5 depending on the chosen venue to burn off the calorie OD’s from the Thanksgiving feasts. The day started off chilly and sunny with winds pushing into the low 20’s. As the day progressed the clouds slowly gathered the wind increased slightly and temp hovered in the low 50’s. The sailing was done at two venues Willoughby and Factory Point.

I hit Factory around 2:00 by then the clouds were darkening and the winds were fluctuating quite a bit. I checked on the guys already out on their 5.2’s and 5.3’s and it seemed like they were having on and off runs. I thought a 5.8 and 85l would do the trick, actually other than 140l that was my only choice as my good intermediate and small boards were damaged by a tree limb during Nor-Ida. I put on my wetsuit and started rigging when the first of two heavy squalls came through. The wind speed in the squall jumped up well over 40 and blew everyone off the water. There was a guy kiting with us fortunately he kept it under control till it backed off enough to land and secure the kite. Now we have been through squalls while out sailing but this one had a surprise for us in the form of sleet. The exposed skin took a painful pelting for a few minutes as the worst of it blew over.

After the squall the wind died and slowly started to rebuild as it usually does. About the time it became sailable again the next squall started bearing down on us. This squall came through with similar results 40+ mph wind, 40 degree air and sleet. This time we all rode it out inside our vehicles. Once it passed the sun came back out, the sky cleared but the wind didn’t return. Everyone else de-rigged I ended up pulling out the 140l and putted around with the 5.8. for a half hour or so. Normally I would have re-rigged but it was already getting late and the wind was even marginal for my largest sail.

When I returned home I read that the Willoughby crew battled the same sleet squall but also had to deal with a small waterspout. From the report it sounds like some of the guys were still out when it hit and had a close call with the spout.

I only took a couple photos because of the weather and desire to sail.

A little bit of carnage from Nor-Ida.

Nice way to end the day

Remnants of Ida bring epic conditions to Tidewater.

Today in the tidewater of Virginia we saw Epic conditions from what was left over from Hurricane Ida. These conditions will continue through Friday and possibly into Saturday morning. The day started out dreary and rainy with a 20 mph wind blowing out of the NE. I loaded up the small stuff and headed out to Factory point hoping to catch the early portion of this storm. When I got there conditions were perfect for rigging 4.5 and and 85l board the water was low so there wasn't a whole lot of chop. The only problem was that no one else was there Everyone had committed to sailing York point or Buckroe. I didn't even rig, there is no way I would go out in high winds without a sailing partner.



I rode over to Buckroe to find Glenn and Tom B. de-rigging they had been out on 3.7s and 80l boards and had already had enough Keith was still out so I snapped a couple shots then headed to York Point. When I arrived the wind was already up over 30 the tide was rolling in and the waves were in the 2 to 3 foot range surprisingly there wasn't much chop just smooth crumbly waves. I waited till a couple guys went out before deciding to rig. Everyone went out on 3.7 to 4.0 they all did well except for one guy who I will not mention by name so that he may save face. He had a hard time getting started and was rapidly drifting down wind and away from the launch. York point is just that a point and NE winds are side shore but they make you drift into deeper and more sheltered water. Once you are in there you are at the mercy of the current unless you can waterstart and get upwind. If you can't then you will eventually wash up on the other side about a mile away. The kicker is to get back to the launch you now have better than a 15 mile hike. I wasn't going to take that chance so my gear stayed on the truck. Eventually the guy previously not mentioned found his groove and was able to work back upwind of the launch.



Since I wasn't sailing I took hundreds of photos. It turned out to be a regular jump fest. There were people flying everywhere there was even a loop attempt. I was hoping to get a loop sequence on the camera but shortly after Rob threw the only attempt of the day he came in and ended up with a huge gash in his foot requiring 15 stitches. The wind steadily ramped up and the crew pulled out their pristine looking 3.3 and 3.5' s. There were only a few runs made on those sizes the previous several hours of sailing and the 45 mph gusts were taking their toll.



I've perused the photos and here are some of the shots. Some are good some are fuzzy but they depict the conditions quite well.

Link to Public facebook album where there are more photos

This is the actual wind from a sensor upwind of York Point.


Keith Knight at Buckroe around 11:00am

Dave Kashy and Rob Spurgeon

Rob and Carl

Carl

Bob R.

Rob Solly launching huge air all day.

And the loop attempt.

Kashy

This is one of my favorite shots

Rob Solly

Contos

Spurgeon carving a wave. What a tiny sail.

Inspecting the pier.

What a sunset.

Sometimes being Outdrsmn isn't about doing something outdoors. Sometimes it's about doing nothing. Just sitting on the pier, having a beer and watching the sun set.

What a sunset it was.