SE day at York Point video

What better way to spend an August Sunday afternoon. SE wind Upper teens to low 20s and a bunch of friends. Dave Kashy running helmet cam chasing everyone down.
Thanks again for the video Javier.

Kashy-Cam at York Point, August 15, 2010 from Javier Garriz on Vimeo.

....and now flat water, Hatteras style!

Some footage shot from a flat water session in Rodanthe a couple weeks ago. I like Javiers videos because I usually get a brief cameo. We sailed from 11:00 till 4:00 when the wind ramped up a bit but too tired (and hungry) to rerig.

Relaxed Rodanthe June 27, 2010 from Javier Garriz on Vimeo.

Wave sailing, English style.

Here is a video of a friend doing doing some wave sailing on his home turf in England.

Hayling Island 15th July 2010 from Rob Solly on Vimeo.

The content lul on this blog will come to an end soon.

Trying new things.

Sunday I tried out a few new things... First was a Formula board in conditions that were conducive to sailing it. Second, my new GoPro digital camera.

The formula board was awesome in the conditions, a nice steady 10 to 12 knot SW wind (at least for most of the session). Air temp was in the 70's and the water was in the low 50's warm enough that gloves and cap and booties were not necessary. Unfortunately I sailed alone so I couldn't compare what I was doing to the other sailors. I will say the ability to point up and down wind was instantly noticeable. The ease at which it planed up was also immediately noticeable.

I can sail in 10 to 12 knots on my freeride board with the same 7.8 sail I was using but it is only good for BAFing, planning is marginal and I generally wish I had a bigger sail. On this a couple pumps and I was off and running. Transitions were mostly dry thanks to the width.
All in all I enjoyed my first formula experience. Now I'll need to try it with a real race sail.

As for the GoPro I'm impressed! I don't have any elaborate mounts for it yet so I basically tied it to the tail of the boom on one side and filmed from that location only. The video quality is nice for it not being the HD version.

Attached is a quickly edited (No music) clip of the session including a nice little wipeout at the end.

YP formula 3.21 from Chris C on Vimeo.

Crab cage meet fin, fin meet crab cage.

John Contos and I went out last Sunday to get in our February sail for the 12 month club. The weather was bright sunshine with a balmy 40 degree air temp and a refreshing 35 degree water temp. West wind was blowing 15 to 20. Yes it was cold but it happened to be the warmest day we had for the first two weeks of February. Being that we already had two snow events and a possible third coming down the pike it seemed prudent to get out and get it done. Who knew what the rest of the month would be like, a deep freeze, a Blizzard or it may even hit 70 degrees. With the trend being on the unusually cold/snowy side it seemed like a good choice.

The session started off nice, floaty boards, 7 meter sails, enough power to plane better than half the time. Made a couple dry jibes and even when I didn't the waist to chest deep water kept my head dry. Not that it would have gotten wet with all the protection I had on. I sailed for about an hour and went in to take a break. I needed some water and to cool off a bit. Yes, I was sweating in my suit. Figured I'd take a few photos of John too.

On the way back out the water had gotten quite shallow so I touched bottom with my fin in a few spots. Once I was in the deeper water I caught a gust and started to accelerate. Just as I was making my way into the straps my board bucked and pitched me. John had just passed me going the opposite direction so he heard the hit and subsequent splash. I knew I hit something big and unforgiving. Now I've hit gill nets, a crab pot float I was trying to jump and run aground but this felt like none of the above. I wandered back 20 feet to the murky sediment filled spot in the otherwise clear water to figure out what it was and assess weather or not the object could be moved or if it should be marked to keep the next guy from hitting it. I was expecting a piling, a boat motor, a boulder, a whale skull... Turns out it was a crab pot, not just your average run of the mill crab pot but something that looks like it was built as a maximum security prison for crabs. Were talking a steel cage made of 5/16 inch steel round bar. At that moment I started thinking about my poor fin. I flipped my board over and low and behold it was still there, cocked in the box with a nasty scar down the leading edge near the tip. Even after cleaning off some of the muck and oyster shells it still weighed a ton. We set the trap on Johns foot straps and walked it back to shore. There was no way we were going to leave it there for someone else to hit.

It took a few strategic whacks with a mallet to free the fin and to reveal a decent crack in the back of the fin box needless to say my day was done. Fortunately there was no water intrusion so the board should be able to be fixed up good as new in a few weeks.

I still rode home with a smile on my face. It was a good day of sailing prior to the introduction. I got to blast around on my big board for a while, maintain my 12 month status and I sailed in the coldest conditions yet. The 75 degree combined air and water was 15 degrees lower than my previous threshold. Now I really don't have an excuse for not sailing all winter.





Stout enough to contain the Kraken


Ouch! Believe it or not!! It did dent the cage.

Too long!

It's been forever since I've had wind in my sails, at least that is how it felt. December 9th was the last time I was out on the water. Between the Holidays, snow, cold and sickness I have managed to miss every single windy until yesterday.

It was a nice day the temps started out in the mid 40's and was supposed to get up near 60. The pre-frontal winds were due to start kicking in from the SSE and top out around 20 mph. Good for a 100l 5.8 day. Becky and I headed down to sail in Aydlett as the wind was to be stronger and the water about 5 degrees warmer than in the bay. When we got there the clouds started breaking up and the sun was causing the temps to rise further than anticipated, ultimately starting the wind decoupling from the water. That is one of the drawbacks to sailing winter southerly winds around here if you get a 15 to 20 degree difference in the air/water temps The cold water can create a bubble over it causing the winds to lift off the surface. Steve and Billy were out planing on 7.5 and 115ish litre boards when we arrived but within 25 minutes they were schlogging.

I rigged a 6.7 and 140l made a couple runs out and back planning occasionally. Becky used 5.8 and 145l, only made one run due to inadequate booties but she caught a nice gust and motored on out. Billy went back out on a big board schlogged most of the way and came back to try his 9.0. I was way too much for the outside so he put the 7.5 back on. Vito sailed 7.5 and a large board He planed a few runs but the wind had finally completely decoupled only giving us teases of what it could be.

My January sail is in the books maintaining my 12 month club status. Hopefully with all the cold weather coming early this winter, we will get a nice warming trend in February. I hope I don't ever have to go 46 days without sailing again.
No photos this time.....

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.