Summer heat and formula gear

Saturday afternoon we got home from our trip. I was able to get down to the causeway and rig an 8.5 on the formula board. Art, David and Dino were on the water. I had plenty of power, the wind was out of the NNE and was able to make some long runs up and down the river. Boat traffic was heavy which created a lot of chop close to the channel but the east side was fairly smooth.
Sunday the the conditions were similar with the same sailors on the water. I rigged the same but the wind was a tad lighter.
Tuesday I was able to get on the water after work. Wind was still NNE and I rigged the same but it was definitely lighter. Art was just finishing up on a 7.5 and he said the wind was good coming out of the cove north of Joes point. Ron and David were on the water and I headed up the river. I made some good runs and was opposite Joes point when the wind faded out. I was pretty disappointed and started to schlog back to the causeway. I was 2/3rds of the way there when the wind started to fill in. Ron and Dino came out and we had a blast. Very little boat traffic, fairly flat water and some real nice gusts coming in. We sailed almost to sunset and had a great time.

This was my last day of sailing on Hatteras. In the morning the wind was out of the south so I sailed the canadian hole. In the afternoon the wind shifted west and I sailed out of Frisco Woods campground. It was pretty cool making long runs parallel with the island.

Canadian hole

Weather forecasts on the Outer Banks really don't mean much. Well they are pretty accurate with sunrise and sunset. Today it was supposed to be windy early and then it would fade. This morning the wind was out of the South so I went to the Canadian Hole. I was the only one there at 8am. It was drizzling and there were some small whitecaps on the water. I rigged a 7.0 and some heavy rain came in and then the wind faded. A few more windsurfers showed up and eventually two guys went out on the water. They were catching some gusts so I went out and joined them. The gusts started to fill in and eventually I was overpowered so I went in and rigged a 6.0. By this time 6 of us were on the water and we were buzzing back and forth. Eventually it started to fade so I went back out on my 7.0 and there was about a dozen windsurfers and a dozen kite boarders by this time. I quit after 2 hours and went back to Frisco Woods for lunch. Around 3pm the wind came in out of the west so I rigged the 6.0 and went out but it dropped. So I rigged a 7.0 and went back out. It was pretty cool because you could cruise the coastline. Great way to end our last day on Hatteras.

Sunday the wind was light so we took a trip down to Okracoke. Monday the wind was out of the SE so it was mostly off shore at Frisco Woods. In the morning I drove over to the Hatteras lighthouse and checked out the wave sailing. In the afternoon I rigged an 8.5 and went out for an hour and a half. The water was super flat and their was six of us buzzing around in the sound.

Saturdays track. I measured the longest tracks at 1.8 miles on google earth.

Saturday the wind was supposed to fade early so I rigged a 7.0 and was on the water at 7am. I had the whole sound to myself. I was out for an hour and a half and the wind seemed to be backing down. Some kite boarders were rigging when I came in. The wind did stay up all day and I went out for another hour and a half at 1:30. There was 4 other windsurfers on the water and it turned out to be a good day of sailing.

Today the wind was out of the SW like it was on Wednesday. I rigged a 7.0 on my 118L and was out for an hour and a half. The wind was building slowly and I dropped down to a 6.0 on my 92L synchro and was out another hour. It was bright and sunny and the water wasn't very cold so I was wearing a shorty wetsuit. Their are some weeds in the water so my fin does get fowled occasionaly but other than that it has been some nice sailing. I didn't get out yesterday. The wind was out of the north and it was heavily overcast. There was a 2 hour period where I could have sailed a 7.0.

We finally arrived at Frisco Woods campground yesterday. It took 10 hours and two ferries to get here from Wilmington NC. I was able to get out on the water and sail past sunset on a 5.2 which was pretty sweet.

Spring fling 2010

Check out this post James Douglass placed on windsurfingmag.com regarding the spring fling event.

Those SE winds were still blowing

I wasn't able to sail Monday but Tuesday I was able to get on the water after work. I was suprised how hard the wind was blowing, I rigged a 6.0 on the 88L axxis. Mitch was sailing, Art was coming in and Alex was on the water. James stopped by just to relax, I guess 5 days sailing had taken its toll. As I headed south to some flat water I was certain I could break 30mph. I made some runs from the House of refuge heading west and bearing off the wind as I approached the shallows in front of the spoil island. There was a bit too much chop but I was able to hit 30.2. Then I headed further south for flatter water. I made some runs heading east and when I got to the vicinity of this moored catamaran I would bear off heading for the dock at the House of Refuge and I hit 32.1. That was cool and much easier in flat water. I was out an hour and a half. Eventually Dino showed up but the wind was starting to tapper off.

photos from 5/1/10

We have had some good SE winds blowing for the past 4 days or so. I was able to get out on Thursday and Friday after work on my 118L bic with a 7.0. It is so nice to end a work day on the water sailing with friends! Saturday I wasn’t able to sail but the wind was good. Sunday I arrived at the causeway around 12 and rigged a 6.0 and sailed it all afternoon. I was sailing south of the spoil island on my 88L axxis racing around with Art, James, Dino and eventually Andrea made her way out. There was a couple hundred yard stretch of flat water, between the spoil island, with some strong gusts coming through. It made for some fast, close, very competitive sailing. When we got back to the causeway Alex and Raf were doing that freestyle and kite boarding thing. Later in the afternoon Clark and Dr. Connelly showed up. As the wind started to back down I put the 6.0 on my 92L synchro and sailed over on the west side of the river.

All our windsurfing friends from up north departed last week and it appears they took all the cool air with them. These SE winds have heated things up but it has made for some great sailing.