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.

Update to "I've been a slacker lately"

In my previous post I've been a slacker latley I mentioned there might be a video floating around with some footage of me sailing. It turns out Javier made me the star of the little clip. I don't know why, there was far better sailing going on than what I was doing but here it is anyway. This will be a momento of the infancy stages of my sailing progression... One of my first chop hops, a terrible attempt at a shortboard tack and a dry jibe.

Thanks Javier.

Click here to check out some of his other windsurfing videos on Vimeo.

Chris Coyne at Factory Point on a gray afternoon. from Javier Garriz on Vimeo.

Anyone for seconds???

I was. Yesterday was just a warm up session. Today was the real deal.
I checked the wind meter that corresponds to the Factory point launch and it was reading a few miles per hour stronger than it was the day before. I knew it was going to be a good day.

I rounded the corner at the launch and water was covering the road. The little creeks that fan out through that area had overflowed due to the high tide. I popped out of the pine grove and caught my first glimpse of one of the small creeks. It had white caps so I knew it was on. I immediately called Billy to pass along the on site conditions and rally the troops. I think "honkin" was the word used to describe the conditions.

I was waffling on rigging a 4.1 or a 4.6. Finally I went with the 4.1, 85l combo. In hindsight I would have been happier on the 4.6 when it lulled but the 4.1 was more than sufficient in the gusts.

The water was rough, or chop-a-licous depending on how you look at it. It took me a while to get in tune with the board. I haven't sailed it since August so just getting to the straps was a challenge. I had one massive catapult as a result. It must be a sight. Here I am getting pitched over the bars, legs flailing skyward then crashing head first into the water with a massive explosion of spray and the first sound anyone can hear as I surface is laughter. Anyway, once I remembered how to sail it I started to make good use of the terrain. A small jump here, a slashing turn there, blown jibe after blown jibe after blown jibe. There were times that it got rough enough that I wished it were 70 liters. Thank god the water is shallow I would have worn myself out just getting going again.

A couple of the jumps I made felt pretty good. I was actually getting air measured in feet rather than the inches I typically feel like I'm getting when chop hopping the 102. I was starting to feel pretty good about them until I saw Billy clear what looked to be about 8 feet off the same little patch of chop I had been using. Amazing!!! How does he do it?

The cold finally took its toll and I had to call it quits for the day after a good 4 hours on the water. At least the next 45 degree day won't be as much of a shock to the system. A shout out goes to Billy, Vito, Keith, John Q, Matt Yvette and Peter for sharing the day. Unfortunately Yvette and Peter didn't get wet. The conditions were a little more then they could handle with their gear. I'm sure they will be ready for the next time.

Sorry no photos today.

Got to love Coastal lows.

We have been in a prolonged period of storm activity with coastal lows spinning up just off shore and heading out to sea. That means we have had bit of wind over the last week. I finally got out today and sailed Factory Point with a 5.8m2 sail and 102l board. NW is usually good at Factory and brings out the crew. With most of the W.E.T. contingent sailing all week in Avon no one was there. I thought I was going to end up sailing alone but Matt the guy who runs the Windsurf Resource website showed up as I was getting ready to rig.

It wasn't epic just a good hone your skills day. The wind swell from today's NW and the leftover swell from all the NE wind the previous couple days combined to make it pretty rough. Not exactly what I would call psycho chop but pretty close. It made straight line runs interesting and every once in a while a nice peak would pop up in front of you for a little air. Jibing was most definitely a challenge but it helped me work on keeping my weight forward to smooth out the transition. I even managed to plane out of one or two. There were also quite a few that felt like rodeo rides so I blew my fair share.

Matt went out on a 6.6 and 145l board so he experienced a bit of jostling. He did well though and was planning quite a bit.

The wind is picking up as I type so I expect I'll be out on small gear tomorrow. Hopefully the sun will show itself and take some of the chill off. If not, Oh well. It wont be any worse than sailing in January or February. I do like sailing this time of year. The wind kicks in and the water is still relatively warm so the colder air isn't usually a problem.

4 days of solid wind on tap

Seems like we have gone from summer to winter in the last few days and skipped fall all together. Sunday it was in the mid 80's. Today we will be lucky if it gets over 50. I like the warm weather but I also like the consistent winds of the cooler months. I guess I'll have to break out the thick wetsuit a few weeks early this year. The water temp should be decent for little while longer. I guess it could be worse I could be on Long Island. Michael the Peconic Puffin is already talking about drysuits, hoods and fleece for this wind event. Yikes!!!

Here is the forecast graphic. Nice 5 to 6 meter sailing for the next 4 days.