One thing you can be sure about wind predictions during the summer months is that you can not count on them. Sometimes that can be a good thing. This weekend, for example, the winds were predicted at 5-10 mph at most weather websites I use, some of which are listed on this blog. Well, it would seem that most of the morning and part of the afternoon that would have been correct, but each day after 5pm the wind kicked up well over 15mph. 8.4m sail for me, 8.5m for Dave and 5.8m for my son Austin worked well on Saturday. It seemed Sunday would have been identical, but little after 5:30pm the wind gods smiled on us once again and while I was once again on my 8.4m and Austin on 5.8, I was overpowered most of the time; I came in to add downhaul to my sail and I used my adjustable outhaul to flatten it out as well. Now it was more manageable. When I came back in I could hear the sound the bridge railings make only when wind is kicking arnd 17+.
While Austin was not overpowered, he was feeling it in his hands and arms. Not using the harness just yet, (that is the next step in his windsurfing progression) he was able to maintain the board on the plane, but as most of us know, without the harness it can be quite tiring. Never the less, he kept at it until the wind and the sun dropped.
No comments:
Post a Comment