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.

First Sunday sail of the summer at Mill creek and more....

Wow it's been a long time since I have posted anything. It's not like I haven't been sailing it's just that I've been to busy to post. Since I last posted there was a great weekend trip to Billy Mckendree's in Aydlett. A day trip to DR Bob's, a session at Dave Kashy's place, a nice high wind day at Factory Point and finally today a nice rare June NE day at Mill Creek.

Let's go in chronological order starting today.

6-14... Today was the first Sunday sail of the summer at Mill Creek. The Sunday sail is a planned sailing day sponsored by W.E.T. so the new sailors who have taken the Intro to Windsurfing Class can continue to practice the sport. It is set up so there is at least one instructor and a beginners board there for use by the students. Other Sailors are encouraged to show up and join in, give pointers and if they have extras, loan out gear. It is also helpful for the newbies to see experienced sailors out there doing their thing.

The wind was great it started NNE and light, built to @ 18 mph and ever so slowly backed off into the low teens. This allowed the students to get a real taste of what it is all about. I came out to loan out my gear and give pointers. I rigged up a 7.8 for me to use and a 4.0 and 5.8 to loan out. I brought the Hifly and my new acquisition an old circa 1990ish Fanatic 370 long board. Becky, visiting from Germany for the summer had her sight set on using the Hifly so I set her up with the 4.0 first then the 5.8. She has some experience sailing in the Canaries so the 4.o was just too small for her. The 5.8 worked much better, I still think she could have used a half meter more.

I sailed the 370 and 7.8 combo. I originally had a long board when I started sailing but I sold it to buy the Hifly because I thought it was limiting my progression. Turns out it was me limiting my progression. The 370 sailed quite nicely. I learned more about sailing a long board in those few hours than I had in the 6 years I owned the previous one. I had it flying across and down wind. Chugging upwind dagger board down and railed up I even tried to coax it through a few planing jibes. If it wasn't for the sail flip I would have nailed them. At the end of the session Bruce counted 5 students 4 instructors and a handful of experienced sailors.

Once the windsurf gear was stored Javier, Bruce, Pete, Becky and myself did a little bit of Stand up. Bruce had his RRD longrider and Javier had a Starboard SUP. I was able to ride both. the RRD was good but the SUP was smooth and stable. We finally called it a day and headed over to Marker 20 for dinner. Nothing better than ending great day with a cold beer excellent food and good company.

Remember to click the photos to enlarge.

A few shots of the WET hirarchy.

Are we having fun yet???

Javier and Pete making it look easy.

Becky cruising along.

What's this a rare photo of me!

I don't want any comments on my form

5-17... The Factory Point session was a strong north wind day in the 23 to 30mph range. It was supposed to be day 2 of the WET regatta but the high wind and frequent heavy rains canceled the competition. A group of about 9 diehards did sail, figured what the heck we were going to get wet anyway. Among those were John Q, Contos, Jack, Tom B, Chris L, Keith, D-man, there were a couple new faces to me as well. I can't for the life of me remember their names. I rode the Cross 102 and the 85l Fanatic with a 4.6m sail. I got plenty of jibe and waterstart practice the waterstarts are getting to be fairly easy now especially on the smaller gear and I made 3 or 4 jibes. No photos due to rain.

5-9.... The York point session at Kashy's was a late afternoon power hour session. I was on the 102 and a 5.8 and Dave rode his Formula to start with then then switched to his slalom gear, a 106l and 5.8. No photos.

5-3... This was a Sunday day trip to Dr Bobs. It was a classic Rodanthe type day just a nice steady SW wind that kept building throughout the day. I rigged 5.1 and 4.1. I made a couple runs on 5.1 and 102 liter, it was too much. Come to find out most were on 5.0 even the bigger guys. Bob was the only one on larger. Bob, you can hold down more sail than you think... Anyway, I went to the 4.1 and new to me 85l F2 style. I sailed that combo for about an hour till the wind got even stronger. My hand held anemometer was sustaining 29mph with gusts to upper 30's and lulls in the mid 20's. I decided I wanted to go again before I packed up. Most had pulled out their 3.7 and 4.0's, since I was already sailing my smallest combo I had to ride what I had.

I have sailed wind like this before but not in big water. The terrain is much different and the wind more steady so you really have to be on your game. There was no time to get comfortable and relax. Had to concentrate the whole time. Up wind was fine and I could stay in control. The off the wind runs were scary fast so I avoided it as much as possible. About every third or fourth reach you really didn't have a choice it was either a hair on fire down wind run or a reverse walk of shame. All in all I handled it pretty well got in a few small jumps and didn't hurt myself. Except for some non-skid burn on the shins. It was an incredible day, actually the wind blew like that for a better part of a week.

Look at everyone enjoying the 20 mph breeze.

About an hour later all but the best kiters were blown off the water

4-25/4-26..... The Weekend trip to Billy's place in Aydlett was a W.E.T event consisting of Fun races, camping, horse shoes, Foosball, a board toss, an excellent BBQ dinner and good company.

I arrived late on Saturday afternoon. The crew was out on the water running the fun race that was planned. I rigged up but by the time I finished the wind was all but gone. The social festivities commenced soon after the gear was stowed for the evening. John G, and I got spanked playing horse shoes. Food was ordered from Currituck BBQ and it was outstanding. The Mosquitoes starting getting pretty bad so the gathering moved inside it garage for more socializing and a game of darts the the Foosball tourney started. I thought I remembered being able to play a pretty mean game but I looked pitiful against everybody go I relegated myself to the gallery. The final event of the evening was the board toss. It was a heavy unbalanced old board but I held the mark for the longest throw through several rotations till John G. came out and managed to get it about a foot further.After a couple more attempts my shoulder let me know it was time to quit and John went down in the record books as the first Aydlett fun race board toss champion. John C, John Q, John G his sister and myself all set up our camping gear and turned in for the evening.

The sun rising over the sound was a beautiful. We were treated to a pancake sausage and fruit breakfast by our gracious hosts. The wind was squirrely and off shore most of the morning but it did finally get to where we could sail big floaty gear. I used my 7.8 sail and I took the opportunity to try out several different boards a Prodigy, Kona style and a Fanatic Ultra Cat. I spent most of the time of the prodigy and was able to get that thing moving at a pretty good clip I was even able to keep up with Mary on her S Cross. It certainly wasn't easy she is fast! The differences between the Kona and the Cat were numerous but each board worked as it was designed the Kona is more surfy and sticks to the water till it planes up. The Cat was light and stiff a bit harder to maneuver but much faster. Over all I think the Cat and the Prodigy were better for the conditions that day. John Q rode his formula and was flying all over the place Billy took us out on the boat and we followed behind John for a while and got a sense of just how fast he was moving. The day ended as the wind shifted and fell off.

There wasn't a whole lot of wind but there was enough to make the trip fun. I look forward to the next one. Billy, Mary, Barry, Robin and Steve thanks for the hospitality.

Hey Billy this is great

Cheering section

Robin giving it her all.

John accepting his prize