Christmas eve turned out to be a great day on the water. I was out for two hours on a 7.0, Jon and Dorian were on the water as well. Later I rigged a 6.0 on my 118L board and was out for another hour and a half.

Ho hum day

I missed the wind on Saturday but made it out to the causeway on Sunday. Wind looked good as I drove over the bridge. It was out of the north blowing straight down the river, 7.0 maybe 6.0. I rigged a 7.0 and put on a full wetsuit, it was 65 degrees out. Ron T was rigging a 7.2 and David had just shown up. About the time I am ready to haul my rig out in the water the wind starts to back down. I was out about an hour and could catch some gusts but it wasn't that much fun. I didn't bring my 8.5. My rationale was it wasn't worth freezing to sail a rig that big, so I ended up schlogging with a 7.0??? When I got back to the causeway Ron had come in, David and Andrea were on the water. "Warm water" Dino showed up with his formula board and an 8.5. He didn't go out, I think because he didn't have Ron and I to beat up on.

I wasn't able to get out Wednesday but Art told me the wind was out of the north coming straight down the river and he was out on a 5.5.
Thursday I rigged a 6.0 on the wave board and sailed by the House of Refuge. Wind was out of the SE, sky was overcast and the tide was high. Art, James, Ron T, Joel, Rick, Brandon and Dino were out. I shot some video but it was kind of dissapointing. The GoPro camera has a slight fish eye lens which is good for close in shots but it makes everything beyond 15' look far away. So when it is blowing 20-25 like yesterday, I don't particulary want to sail that close, plus we are sailing much smaller rigs, 10.5 sails in lighter winds show up better. I'll try to pull some stills out of it and post some video.

Saturday turned out to be a good day on the water. I missed the higher wind in the morning. I arrived 12:00, rigged a 6.0 and was going to go out on my 118L boad. Then a light ran came thru and everyone who was within a couple hundred yards of the causeway was schlogging. However way out in the distance I could see Art planning at the House of Refuge. I re-rigged with a 7.0 and waited for the wind to fill back in, but I could still see Art planning. It turns out the wind didn't drop much but turned more easterly and the area just south of the causeway was in a wind shadow. So after wasting almost an hour I headed out and once I was halfway to the first spoil island I was nicely powered. I stayed out almost 3 hours and had a great time. Art showed me a nice run that started at Dicks condo and ended, un-nervingly, close to the west side of the second spoil island. What I discoverd later was just as you approached the north tip of the second spoil island the wind was the strongest and the water was very flat. As you initiated a jibe you could feel a surge of speed that kept you nicely powered thru the jibe.
When I got back to the causeway I was beat. Jack and Marion greeted me and Michelle was there as well. He had just finished his journey down from Canada and had beat that huge winter storm! I bet he and Monique are happy to be thawing out in Florida.

Yesterday I was able to get out for an hour or so. Wind was SSW with a lot of holes and it was mostly sunny. I rigged a 7.0 on my 118L board. Art came out soon after, the water was fairly flat and some nice gusts would blow through. When I came in a lot of sailors were on the beach trying to figure out what to rig. Ron, Jon and Paul had rigged and went out as well.

12/2 photo album

2009_12_02

Yesterday the wind was cranking out of the S in anticipation of the approaching front. When I got to the causeway Dino was there, David and Art showed up shortly after. I rigged my new 6.0 wave sail on my 92L synchro. There was some frequent holes but for the most part I was nicely powered. When I got back to the causeway the beach was littered with windsurfers. Some folks I haven't seen for a while was: Ron & Ingrid, James from NY, Rick, Big Bill and Larry. I got out again later and rigged my 7.0 on the 118L board and sailed till sunset. The wind was fading but I was able to catch frequent gusts.