NW Wind Comes In Better Than Expeted

Yesterday I had to get out of the house so I went down to the causeway. Wind was out of the NW but there wasn't much of it. I walked around the causeway island, Jon was sitting in his camper and no one was windsurfing. On the south side there was a lot of boaters and jet skies and on the north side I could see some puffs coming across the water. So the plan was to rig my 8.5  on the 117W isonic and hunt for some gusts. I wasn't on the water 15 minutes and it started filling in. I was way powered up but I figured it would back off. After an hour of this the chop was getting to be to much for my board so I went in and rigged a 7.0 on my 101L futura. Edward was rigging his 8.5 and Randy saw what was going on and went to get his equipment. I went out for almost another hour and then the wind backed off a tad. Some strong gusts where still coming in but it wasn't as consistent. As I was packing up Edward, Randy and Jon where on the water and Tom was rigging. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

Great Evening Session

I have missed some evening windsurfing sessions but tonight I nailed it. The wind was blowing out of the SE 18-25 mph, sky was heavily overcast and at times a fine drizzle was coming down. When I drove down through Jensen beach their was white caps on the river but when I got to the causeway it seemed dead. James's trailer and Ron's truck were there but I didn't see them. I dragged my gear out and looked way down south by the spoil island and spotted them. I wasn't sure what to rig, fortunately I made the right choice with a 6.0. Once out in the channel it was pedal to the metal. We dragged race for a little over an hour, it was great.

I had a pretty decent sail yesterday. It was a nice sunny day and a cool breeze was blowing, out of the east, when I got down to the causeway. Rolf, David and Dorian where sailing on 9.5's and Art was on his 7.5. So I was hoping my 8.5 would be enough. The wind was lined up so you could sail bridge to bridge so I made four runs in the course of an hour and was fairly well powered. My first run was close to the channel but the wind and boat wakes made this funky cross chop so the rest of my runs were over towards the east side of the river. I finished up at 5:00pm and Dino and Tom were rigging up.

Blasting out at The House

Ron, Dino and I had an awesome time blasting around on the river yesterday evening. I rigged a 6.0 and the wind was out of the south. It was sunny with a slight haze so the western sky had an orange glow as the sun started to set. We were making runs from the House of Refuge, between the spoil islands to the west side of the channel. At times we were running very close to each other and it was all speed and adrenalin! Just before the sun was about to go behind some cloud cover, low on the horizon, we started heading back. I took my time and made another run out to the spoil island. The wind was shutting down as I made my way back. I spotted Ron in the water and went over to see what was wrong. The end of his UJ sheared off and Dino was going in to get another one. Ron realized he wouldn't be able to use it without being able to remove the piece stuck in the base. So He was going to de-rig and swim in. By this time the wind was very light as I headed in. I told Dino what was going on as he was heading back out. At one point I saw this huge splash and then another as a spinner shark came out of the water near the IR Plantation marina. I thought if Ron see's this he will be walking across the water. When I got back to the causeway I jumped in the truck in search of a boater or kayaker but found none. Ron ended up swimming his gear in but lost his sail in the process.

Night Crew is Back

So I get down to the causeway and it is showing a fair amount of white caps. Ron is out on the water and catching some nice gusts. I rigged the biggest gear I have and Dino is already heading out. The wind backed down some and it was a lot of work watching for a gust, pumping the sail and getting on plane. The sun was setting and at times the wind seemed to fill in. Mr Speed is in my vicinity and we sail west across the river. We were getting some good speed as he pulls out in front of me and jibes as we approach the shallows. I keep going, shallow, shallow, SHALLOW, jibe and back up on plane I go. Meanwhile Mr Speed is schlogin along in desperate need of a gust. I am closing in fast, cut across his tail, pass close on his upwind side and then cut across his nose. That was SWEET, made the whole session worthwhile. Now I am not normally a vindictive person but this is a move he uses on us all the time. In fact so often it…just …well is expected.