2-17-8

2-17-8 Dave calls it a day!

Sunday was a great day on the water. Started at 10:30 on a 155L formula with an 8.5 sail. Was out at the House of Refuge for about an hour, water was fairly flat and was working on gybing this board. I had plenty of speed and it was fun, but I forgot the gps. Around 12:30 it rained and the wind dropped for a short period and then came up and filled in more. I rigged a 7.0 on a 118L Techno and was back out at the House of Refuge. I like the run from the House of Refuge past the spoil island and into the channel. A lot of people at the causeway enjoying the sun and wind.

2-17-8 This is part of my gps track for today.

2-10-8 gps track from Sanibel Island. The longest runs are about 2.24 miles.

Sunday I sailed the Sanibel causeway. I arrived at 9:00 and the wind was filling in. Rigged an 8.5 made several runs and was over powered. Rigged a 7.0 made a few more runs and then had to rig a 5.5 and stayed out over an hour. When the wind started to back off I re-rigged the 7.0. Was running from the causeway to just short of Pine Island logged, 48 miles on the gps. Chop wasn't bad because of the various spoil islands in San Carlos Bay. I left around 2:30 and was amazed at all the kite boarders and windsurfers on the island at the foot of the high bridge.

1/11/8 Marion and James enjoying the wind and water.

Yesterday I didn't get to the causeway till 1:30 and the wind had backed off. James said it was good 11:00 to 12:00. Ended up rigging an 8.5 and sailed the channel. It was warm and sunny and I was nicely powered. Boat traffic wasn't bad, but always a concern. I made about 5 runs from the causeway to Boy Scout Island and back. High wind and foul weather predicted for this afternnon and tomorrow morning. I have to work up in Melbourne today so I won't be on the water.

2/11/8 Marion is headin' in.

Sunday, February 10th 2008,

Since Dave is absent from the windsurfing scene, at least the one in Stuart, I thought I would fill in and inform on the current conditions and events at our favorite windsurf spot. Today was one of the typical North wind, after the cold front slides thru our area, days. Lucky for us the sun was shining while the cool wind kept us fresh and alert. Most everyone was on 4.5m to 5.0m sails which later in the afternoon probably would not have been enough. I sailed a 5.0 with my favorite 80 something liter High Tech board which loves to get air, but only when fully powered. Later in the day I used the 95l JP board, but stayed with the same sail. That worked better since the High Tech board is heavy and only wants to go when wind is filled in and howling. Eugene got to try my JP board and judging by the smile when he got back, enjoyed sailing a short board instead of his usual Techno. I don't know how he handles that large board in high winds and big chop. There was a few new faces, at least to me, at the causeway; Ron was on his 277cm JP learning how to waterstart in rough conditions. I think he had it licked by the end of the day. It's great to see so much interest in the sport and so many people coming to Stuart to windsurf. I keep hearing people asking about renting windsurfing equipment, so Glen Kerpchar if you are reading this, maybe it's time to get back into the windsurfing business.

All in all, it was another ," Top 10 Day" to borrow a friend's line. Sorry you missed it Dave, but hope you got some good wind on the West Coast.

Thursday was predicted to have pretty good wind in the afternoon. When I arrived at 4:30pm it was pretty light. Most of the windsurfers were schloggin along and an occasional gust would come through and a few would pop up on plane. However one guy was out on a formula board with a 12.5 sail and he was planing...no problem. I was talking to Fred and said I draw the line at an 8.5 sail, I won't go larger! It wasn't 20 minutes later and Dino let me try his formula board and a 10.5 sail. It was cool, kind of like cruising in a station wagon. Gybing was interesting, foot placement didn't do much it was more about sail position, so that would take some getting used to. We sailed past sunset and called it quits at 6:30. Now I'm rethinking the whole 8.5 sail thing!

Lets see I have some catching up to do. Last Sunday 1-27 a fast moving front came through. Wind prediction was out of the north at 20 but it was hitting 30 and backed off some in the afternoon. I borrowed a 5.0 from Canadian Dave but couldn't get dialed in. Was sailing parallel to the bridge and couldn't get on plane and point upwind. Ended up getting swept under the bridge. I discovered two things. 1) The air seemed a lot warmer but lighter on that side and 2) the water is a lot flatter. This doesn't help much when sailing a sinker board. Canadian Dave swam out and helped drag my sorry butt back in. By this time the wind had dropped slightly, so I rigged a 5.5 and had a great time on the north side. I learned two more things 1) sail on the upwindy side of the bridge and 2) if you screw up you can count on your windsurfing buddies to cheer you on!