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.

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

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.

I have been a SLACKER lately!

Not really!!!


I can't believe it's been two months since I've posted anything. It's not that I haven't been sailing I have, I've been taking tons of photos too. It's just between work, a drastic change in my home life and recreational activities I'm too drained to post anything. Facebook hasn't helped any either. So for those of you who have been asking for some content and some picks here you go.


I don't know where to start. I've had so many sessions over the summer with significant things to blog about. If I did my normal thing and talked about each session in detail, I'd have to write a novel. I just can't bring myself to torture any of you with crappy writing and poor sentence structure for that long so I guess I'll just touch on the highlights.


Here we go.


I spent a good bit of the summer sailing weekends with few odd can't miss weekdays thrown in for good measure. I sailed quite a bit locally and made a couple trips down to NC to sail at Rodanthe, Avon and Aydlett. I was glad I have extra gear because most of the weekends I had an instant sailing buddy. She ( yes I said she ) is from Germany and had done some sailing. While here she progressed quite rapidly, She learned beachstarts in one day and the next session a highwind day in Rodanthe she started making some waterstarts.


My accomplishments over the summer included hitting about half my Jibes ( though the last couple sessions I seem to have regressed) low volume shortboard tacks, making jumps and I even ventured into the waves out on the bar at Factory Pt. Unfortunately I still struggle with the sail positioning while trying to waterstart. I also have to get the obligatory catapult out of the way the first 20 seconds of a session.

The memorable moments consisted of.....

A vacation in Avon with an old friend from high school where I took my first ride out to the reef 2 miles out behind Island creek. The wind direction wasn't ideal for waves out there but I now know what to expect getting there.


A session at Factory point where I managed to Jibe dry most of the day until Javier pulled out his video camera. I think I did make a couple that were caught on tape maybe even a couple small chop hops. It was strange because the last time Javier brought out a camera was the first time I ever made a Jibe, now he pulls it out and I regress???? When I get the link to the video I will put it up on here.


Another was my first small wave session with Pete out on the bar at Factory Pt. It was a 5.8-100l day with little waist high wind driven waves breaking in the shallows. I had a bit to much power with my sail so I wasn't able to stay on the waves but I did learn a little about how to get over them. Made a couple jumps while pinching upwind and I was able to catch a wave from behind, de-power the sail and use the wave to gain momentum. I even managed to catch 2 or 3 by using the wave face to jibe off of.


The Rodanthefest at Bob's was where Becky started hitting waterstarts. She impressed me so much with handling the higher winds and her progress. A true natural. To give an idea she started on a 4.6 and my big board in 18mph winds and ended with the same gear with it blowing steady around 28mph. That's significant because she can't be a pound over 100. It is amazing that a few tips here and there from someone as unskilled as myself and she is able to make it happen. I started out the day riding 5.8-102l and stayed on it all day. The last hour I was insanely overpowered. At the end of the day when Becky was done I took the 4.6 and went back out on the 85l board. Even then I was over powered. I still can't believe she was able to hold it down. She should have been on a 4.0 or 3.5.

Now for the Present....

The last couple weeks we have had a persistent NE flow. That's very unusual for this time of year, there was a 5 day stretch where it blew 20+ every single day. I was able to get out on the best of those days for an after work session. 4.1-85l in upper 20 to low 30 mph NE wind. Unfortunately I forgot my boom as I hurriedly loaded that morning. Glenn saved me from not being able to get wet by loaning me one of his. But the damage was already done. My head just wasn't in the game so I floundered in the swell trying to waterstart and get back to shore. It didn't help that I completely screwed up rigging my sail and over downhauled the crap out of it.


We also had a bit of a rescue take place that day Peter B. was sailing along on his 6.5 and 100l board when all the sudden he blew up on the water. It was taking entirely too long for him to get underway and we were starting to get a rescue party underway thinking something must have broke, that's when we heard the shouts. Apparently the mast base wasn't tight enough and had come loose from the board so Peter was stranded rig in hand and the board heading downwind. he decided to ditch the rig and swim for the board but he couldn't swim fast enough to catch the board. So he was out there with no board, no sail, no wetsuit. Normally that's not a problem at Factory because the water is shallow enough that you can pretty much walk in from near where he went down. But because of the 3 previous days of NE wind the tide was running around 5ft so everywhere was overhead.
Keith who was out on the water at the time also heard the shouts spotted the board and spotted Peter swimming. He sailed over and grabbed the board and kept it stationary by holding his own rig in the waterstart position. I didn't realize you could essentially hover in one place like that. About the time Peter made the swim to Keith and his board John had finish preparing his Kona for the rescue. Seeing that Peter was safe John set out to find the rig which we were all sure was now settled on the bottom of the boat channel he crashed in. Amazingly John sailed that beast of a board out in 30mph+ conditions. What was more amazing he spotted the 2 inches of Peters sail that stayed above the surface. He tied it onto his back footstrap and drug it back to shore. The whole thing turned out well.... Windsurfer safe, gear recovered and nothing broken.
While John was searching for the sail it was interesting that the experienced guys said Peter should have stayed with his rig and waited for help. Their reasoning was that with the wind direction, the enclosed space that the Back River is and knowing there is really no way to catch up to a free floating board in 30 mph wind, He was at more of a risk of losing the rig to the bottom than of losing the board. The lesson of this story is don't go out in heavy wind without making sure everything is tight. Plus it is a good idea to think about what you might do for any given problem you may have taking into account the location, wind direction, currents and speed of rescue. A secondary observation is a 2 bolt base would have prevented this.


I too had a rig separation at a little fun race we were having just three weeks prior but mine was due to a mast track failure on my long board. I immediately went after my board and caught it after a 20 yard hard sprint. I paddled back for the sail and secured everything well enough and sailed back in without any trouble.

Current Week......


I was able to get in three sessions at 3 different venues. A nice after work NE 6.7 145l session at Dave Kashy's. Dave was on his formula gear with a 10.6 being that it was lighter winds. The water was 3ft above normal so I got plenty of waterstart practice even in the areas where it's typically waist deep. Because the water was so deep I also took some nice photos of Dave sailing near the dock.


The next was a short lived 5.8 102l session at Factory, again out on the sandbar playing in the waves. The wind went from nothing to to 18 to 20 and dropped back down to the low teens in about 2 hours time. IWS predicted it perfectly except for the timing, fortunately several of us kept an eye on the actuals and watched the wind band slide down the bay. We timed it just right and were able to catch the sweet spot. Once it lightened up I rigged a bigger sail 6.7, after about three runs it was even too light for that. Peter let me ride his kit, a 148 Techno and 8.5 retro which I was able to zip back and forth on. I did get a bunch of shots that day. It was great to have 16 of us sharing a great day at arguably one of the best multiple terrain launches in the area.


That's all for now I'll post up some photos I'm torn between posting the best ones. I've been getting better at using the camera so I'm starting to get some decent shots. Shots that might one day look good in print. Well they are as good as I can get with an inexpensive telephoto lens.

Better photos require......
Better lens = more $$$$ or
Extra $$$$ + upgrade gear = more fun.
Life is full of trade offs.

Here are the photos captured as video slide show.
The first one has shots from July and August. The second has shots from the beginning of September.


Very basic.

This one has music.

Fathers day session. Paying some dues.

Well I spent a couple hours in the morning figuring out what had happened to my truck, Torque converter failure and lots of metal going through the internals. Going to have to pull it and get it overhauled.

The wind was strong so I decided to take a trip down to Ft. Monroe to check out the Sunday sail. I had missed the field trip down to Avon on Saturday thanks to the mechanical issue. I was really looking forward to it but there isn't much you can do about Murphy. The beginners attending Sunday sail had been cautioned that the conditions weren't conducive to progressing their basic skills so there weren't too many expected to show up. 30 mph gusts and newbies really don't mix well.

When I arrived around 3:00 there were only a hand full of sailors and most were experienced. The wind was holey now so I decided to hop over to Factory Pt. to find better wind and see who was there. Being that I was showing up late and it was Fathers day I didn't know what to expect in terms of who would still be sailing. Pete T. and Tom B. were just getting off the water with small 5's and saying it was backing off. I rigged 5.8 and got some nice planing runs on the 102l. The weeds would sneak up and get you every now and again. I almost got launched over the bars on two occasions thanks to some exceptionally thick floating mats. There never was a problem with water depth, even with the tide being at the lowest part of it's cycle there was plenty of water everywhere. Before Pete left I asked him to snap a couple photos of me. Thanks Pete.


The wind shifted NNE and faded a little so I pulled out the 145l big board and made a couple on and off runs with the 5.8. Peter and I were the last ones there we were talking about his gear and his need to get a weed fin for summer sailing around here. We were just about to pack it in when the wind picked back up so we went back out. I stayed on the big board expecting the wind to fall off again, it never did. The wind just continued to strengthen and shift back to N then NNW. It got to where I was way overpowered and the board was just too big. I really wanted to stop and get my smaller board back out but I was tired and I was only going to make a few more runs anyway.


The wind felt like it was blowing in the mid to upper 20's with higher gusts. I kept getting air off each wave peak I hit. I finally decided I'd had enough but I was out in the Long Creek channel heading toward the sandbar when the wind ramped up even more. I new if I tried to jibe or tack in those conditions, on that gear I would blow it and then be stuck in overhead water wrestling the board and rig into position then waiting for a lull to waterstart. Then I thought I could continue on out to the sandbar, I could give the sail some more outhaul and downhaul and sail back in relative comfort.


Lets just say I misjudged where the bar actually was. Too much sail, too big a board and rough water = a slow drift into Long creek a swim and a long walk around the point to get back to the launch. Don't get me wrong I tried to waterstart, did it twice only to end up crashing after about 30 feet. I tried to uphaul the sail. It might as well have been a tied down piece of plywood, the wind and the swell kept me from getting it upright and sheeted in. I did manage to get part of the way across the Creek by uphauling till the mast tip was about a foot and a half off the water and clew dragging in the water. That allowed the wind flow create a little forward motion.


It took me a little over a half an hour of walking and swimming to get back to the point so that I could sail back to the launch. I'll chalk it up to dues paid.


Here are a couple of the pics Pete took of me.




Not in focus but I was flying.


Jibe sequence. Now I can see some of what I'm doing wrong.
In this case I'm not keeping my weight on the carving rail.









Setting up for a waterstart

This guy was fishing near the bar, He had a pretty tough paddle back in after the wind picked back up.

Nature Therapy

Today started out like any other day get up and get ready to do some work. That's not a bad thing I really enjoy what I do. I did my morning ritual of checking email then the weather and Iwindsurf for the forecast. There was a pretty good chance of wind so I loaded up a couple boards and sails thinking I would finish up @ 3 or 4 and spend the rest of the day sailing.


I started working and in between jobs I noticed I had a small hole in the lower radiator hose. Now I haven't had the best of luck lately, it seems Murphy has a real grudge against me. Anyway when I noticed the hole I restarted the truck hoping the pressure and the leak would subside as the coolant did it's job flowing through the system. That worked so I allowed it to cool for a few minutes then popped the cap relieving the pressure and wrapped the hole with one of the best inventions ever Duct tape. There was enough coolant in the system to safely drive it to the auto parts store and buy the supplies I need. Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to make it back home or to the shop so I had to change it in the parking lot of the store.

On the way to the store I remember thinking this detour would kill any chance of being able to windsurf. I went in and bought the supplies radiator hose, coolant a drip pan to catch any old coolant from the system ( can't have that coolant just pouring on the ground ). I figured I have to wait for the truck to cool down so I could fix it. Then I remembered I had start pulling the engine out of the race car for tech inspection within 10 minutes of bringing it off the track for a race. I could deal with the hot coolant get this done and go about my business. Well I got the hoses swapped and the truck ready to go in less than 15 minutes. With the hour and a half of downtime I could still get everything done, then spend a couple hours on the water and that just what I did.


There was a decision to be made about where to launch and talking to Glenn about Buckroe's shore break made my mind up. I showed up a Factory Point around 5:20 several guys were on the water Billy, Dr Bob, Pete T. Javier and Larry. Glenn had arrived fresh from Buckroe to say hi and Marcy had just left with a most contented look on her face. Billy, Bob and Pete were all on the outside past the sandbar. They were all well powered on the sails they had, every now and again you would see somebody launch a nice jump off the breaking swell.


I went to set up my board and I saw that everybody was coming in. I walked back over to chat and see what they were on so I could select the proper rig. They were all dialed in on low to mid 6 meter sails and 100l boards. I figured I could get away with a 5.8 and 100l as I'm lighter than most of them. Once I rigged I headed out solo. The combo was perfect I made a bunch of runs out and back hitting little jumps off the swell breaking on the bar. I'm going to have to get some pointers on jumping it seems when I really try to pop the board and get air I just skim over the top of the ramp. It's when I don't really try that I can usually get a little bit of air. I just don't understand how it is done. It is nothing like trying to jump a wakeboard. Though I did get some air on 2 jumps in quick succession. The first one my back foot came out of the strap but I still kept going the second one both feet came out, the board flipped and I came close to landing on my fin.


I had to come in for an adjustment on the mastbase once to settle the nose down on the speed runs and I had to come in once again to tighten my fin screw. I could actually tell that it was slightly loose because of the way the board was feeling. Other than those two instances I spent 2 1/2 hours on the water. I worked on my jibes at each transition. I'm so close but I keep fumbling the foot switch and or the sail flip. I'm going to do a little dry land simulation to build some muscle memory so my feet land in the right spot when I make the switch. I was also able to figure out how to get some speed out of the board in the flat water and how to surf the swell breaking on the bar. Mind you these weren't even what most would call waves maybe 2 feet but I could feel the acceleration on the face, I could sail out ahead of it and cut back to it. I know it isn't much but I figure it will help me prepare for the real thing.


I sailed up until the sun started to set. I didn't have any of the stress left in me from earlier in the day just an nice dull burn from the days work and the windsurf session plus a permanent grin on my face from the fun I just had. One of the crew likened it to an orgasm and I can understand the analogy.

It is not often you get a day this good so close to home, usually you have to go to Hatteras for these conditions. ( steady around 20 from SE ) The best part is there might be more on tap for tomorrow.


No action photos. But here is the sunset that ended the day.

Survival sailing is fun!

I was lazy so you get two sessions in one post.


Wow!!! Thursday was a great day for high wind sailing, almost too good at times.


Factory Point was the call Glenn, Bob, Jack, Billy, Tom and I hit it around 10:00. Chad and John C. showed up later. We were treated to steady 60+degree, 25 mph west wind and an incoming tide for the first hour or so. The water had actually warmed up quite a bit, mid to upper 40's, thanks to the unseasonably warm days we have had for the past week.

Most rigged low 4m sails and 80 to 90l boards. Tom rigged a 3.7. I used the Bic Saxo 85 liter for the first time and a 4.1. Everyone was powered nicely.


I had a time getting used to the board. It is very different from my other two larger boards the mast track and straps are further apart which made getting into the straps difficult. When I did get a foot in, the board was a little too loose for my taste. So most of my day was spent sailing strapless. I couldn't really push the limits, but I did find that smaller boards really are so much more comfortable in rough water. I think with 5.5 to 6.0 conditons in rough water this board would be perfect. That is just not what I need so I will likely be looking for a different high wind board.


The wind shifted toward NW and picked up while we sailed, it also became quite gusty. I had started a run out after making an adjustment to my outhaul and got flattened. I assumed the adjustment caused it until I surfaced and got ready to go again. The sail was ripped out of may hand and the board and rig did a cartwheel across the water. I raced for the board and grabbed it. This was when I realized it was a nasty gust that was causing the trouble, the water looked like snow from all the whitecaps and the spray was obscuring the shore on the other side. Now I understand "liquid smoke". I walked my gear back over to the launch area and tried to wait it out in the water. The board kept getting picked up and tossed around from the wind. Thankfully, I had good control of the sail so it didn't get away. I spent 10 minutes waiting for the wind to die down, it never did so I headed for shore. When I tried to grab the board and sail to carry it up on the beach the sail slipped from my hand and went directly at Bob. I instinctively backpedaled into the wind while holding the back footstrap. Fortunately the sail missed him by a couple feet. I thought for sure he was going to get clobbered but he didn't seem phased by it. I made sure no one was even close to me when moving my gear the rest of the day.


I'd estimate the wind was 40mph+ for about 20 minutes. Bob, Billy and Tom continued trying to sail. Bob and Billy had a much tougher time than Tom on his 3.7. The blow did claim a few pieces of gear. Right after I nearly clobbered Bob he made his run out and heard a pop on his way back the subsequent start from the launch made it known the he snapped his universal. Moments later Billy came in with a busted Stainless steel spreader bar.


The wind did drop back down after a while though it did get a bit gustier with the difference between the gusts and lulls getting greater. Glenn got tired of survival sailing on his 4.2 and rigged down. I didn't have anything smaller so I added some downhaul and went back out. I spent a lot of time water starting thanks to all my crashes. I would get going nicely and because the board felt good where my feet were, out of the straps. I'd end up going a little too fast, catch air off the chop and lose touch with the board. If those darn foot straps had been about 10 cm closer to the mast track I would have been much better off. As it was I still had a blast, I learned some things and I found I really enjoy High wind sailing. The moment I realized it was right after getting launched this one particular time. I lost my footing on the board and fell to windward because I didn't let go with my front hand, the clew rotated 180 and dug into the water first, my body contorted and I smashed my hip into the mast. I took a few minutes to walk it off but I couldn't resist getting right back out there. The next couple days I will nurse my wounds, begin my search to replace the Bic with a board that better suits my style of sailing and keep an eye out for the next 4.1 day.


Oh I forgot to mention there was one additional piece of gear claimed by mother nature John ran a ground and snapped both arms on his carbon boom.


The previous Sundays post is below this sessions photos.


Glenn



Billy

Tom




Bob Jibe Crash

Broke Boom

Separated Uni

Jack


Jump shots

Sunday's post....

York Point was again the call with a 15 to 20 knot SW to W wind forecast. The air was warm 65+, even the water had warmed up considerably thanks to several days of 60 to 70 degree temps. The previous session the water was 37 and today it was 5 degrees warmer. Not bad for February.

The ride out the launch was a little hairy I almost didn't make it and if it weren't for instinctive reactions and lots of practice driving on slippery roads as a teenager I might not be doing much sailing for a while. In my rush to get to launch I accidentally took the interstate off ramp at to high of speed It is a ramp that have used many times so I should know better but I was really anxious to get on the water. well it's really tight radius cloverleaf, fortunately it was pretty smooth and wide. I got off the Interstate traveling the legal speed limit of 65 but I only bled off about 10 mph of speed in the deceleration lane before entering the leaf. The moment I started the turn I knew it was to fast, a second later all 4 wheels started squealing. I knew if I hit the brakes I would just loop the truck into the guardrail so I hung with it drifting 3/4 of the way around the ramp. By then I had bled off enough speed that the truck regained grip. After that hair raising experience I will be sure to put pre-session day dreaming on hold while behind the wheel. There is a little chatter on James' blog about pre and post session driving.

The session was nice the wind was up and down. Two other guys came out to sail the launch with Dave an I. Pete T. and John G. a fellow blogger who has been on hiatus. Everyone was using larger sails 7.5 for Pete well downhauled and 6.7 for me with minor downhaul and 140 l freeride boards. John and Dave were on Formula with 9.5 and 11.5 sails respectively. There are two places that the wind backs off on a run in the SW and W direction. I don't know if it is just detaching from the surface in those areas because of the cool water or if a feature on the opposite shore is messing with the wind. Maybe it's a combination but it has happened in the same places the last couple sessions.

Pete did nicely on his kit. There were a few lulls that slowed him down but all in all he planed consistently. That's really no surprise, he is a very efficient sailor. Dave was flying all over the place.

John, well he had a rough day. He busted two downhaul lines while rigging his race sail. Dave loaned him a length of the "white line" so he could get out on the water. Unfortunately his run of broken gear wasn't quite over yet. He brought his board down to the waters edge and went back for his sail. Just then a strong gust came and picked up his board introducing it to one of the pilings on the pier. A nice 4 inch ding was the result of that introduction. I told him not to worry that was his third strike for the day so the streak of bad luck was over, plus I had a barely used thing of Marine Tex in my gear bag. He was out on the water with the rest of us in no time. The gusty conditions were a challenge for him when making the transitions but he was riding pretty well otherwise.

Since I was the last to rig and the wind seemed to be building. I figured I'd be ahead of the game on a smaller sail and just adjust outhaul and downhaul as the conditions changed. I should have rigged 7.8. I could have planed with that sail all day and easily handled the gusts. Oh well, live and learn.


John

Pete

Dave

Dying winds (This one looks better enlarged)

Clearing winds at Factory

Yesterday we had a nice but squally S to SW day with temps in the mid to upper 70's. I didn't get out and from the sounds of it I didn't miss much. The mid 50 degree water temps were just a little too cold to allow the warmer wind to attach to the surface. Unless you were at a launch where the wind was blowing off shore or in close proximity to land upwind of you.

Today the air temp was closer to the water temperature allowing the westerly winds to reach the surface. Unfortunately they were on the gusty side. I arrived at Factory Point just after 11am. I rigged a 5.1 and a 5.8 and sailed both on the 102l Cross. Pete, Billy, Vito and quite a few others were all rigging multiple sails expecting the conditions to change through out the day. Several of us were worried we might not have brought small enough sails, the wind was well above the forecasted strength while we were all rigging.

When I first got on the water with the 5.1 I mounted the board and went to hook in but there was no hook, I forgot to put on my harness. When I got back out after donning my harness I was either way over powered or under powered as the winds were anywhere from the mid teens up to around 30mph. Once I got the harness lines set right I was able to handle it without getting catapulted.

This is the first time I've really spent a lot of time on the Cross and I found it to be a little on the squirrely side at least as it compares to the Hifly. It took me about 10 runs to get a good feel for it. I think I'm going to like the board for moderate winds.

Even though the board makes the entry into jibes feel effortless I wasn't able to hit any, I just couldn't get past the sail flip. I did get a bunch of waterstart practice early on. The water depth was enough that I could barely touch so I made it a point of not cheating while getting the sail and board positioned. I spent some time steering the board in the prone position with both feet on the board. That was really helpful for keeping the board and sail in the proper position for the start. I did make several starts going both directions.

As the day went on the wind dropped off and the peaks and valleys got closer together so I went in and grabbed the 5.8. I ended the day on the 5.8 bagged out and the Hifly. I should have rigged bigger but I just didn't feel like it. I was still able to plane just not as well as the guys on their 6's.

I got to break in my new Promotion 5.3. It was awesome, I was nice and toasty all day. If anyone is in the market for a new suit you should check them out. http://www.wetsuit.com/
I think this suit will work well for me down to the 90 degree rule, beyond that I think it would be drysuit time or don't sail at all.

Almost everyone had on thin gloves and head gear because of the low moisture content of the air. The evaporative cooling was a factor especially changing out of the wetsuit after the session.

Here are the photos.
Click to enlarge






I finally met Bruce the new President of W.E.T.
He was one of the last to milk the dying wind and water.
He had to bring the board in upside down to keep from dragging the fin.