Silver Rock Beach, Barbados 2/11/13

Tammy and I went on a Caribbean cruise and I was able to sail on three of the six islands we visited. The third stop of the cruise was Barbados so we headed over to Silver Sands Beach home of Brian Talma's DeAction Surf Shop. This is a wave sailing site with a strong current. The day we arrived the wind was light, side shore, with a moderate break. I watched someone schlogging around on a 6.2 so I opted for a 7.0 on a 145L wave board. I was moderately powered and after 45 minutes the wind faded with a light shower that passed through. I was able to ride a wave back to the beach but I was so fatigued I called it quits. To see more photos click this link: more photos.

We had a cold front push through early this morning. It created some strong south winds on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday it was overcast with some showers and I wasn't able to sail but I understand that late Tuesday it got pretty good. Yesterday it was warm and sunny with a strong south wind blowing. I was on the water at 11:30 and rigged a 5.3 on the 101 futura. There was heavy chop so I made my way south near the House of Refuge to get into flat water. I sailed around some with Bill and the wind built up quite a bit. I flattened out my sail and made my way back to the causeway. Bearing off the wind was a handful, I wish I had the gps because that board was humming.

Causeway Cookout

Causeway cookout was a big success! It was sunny and warm with a slight breeze out of the north. We had plenty of food and a good time. Click here to see more photos.

Mild front pushes through

Yesterday I watched as the front progressed down the peninsula. It appeared that it would hit our area around sunset and it did. I headed down to the causeway around 5:00pm and the wind line said SW at 13mph. When I was crossing the bridge Ron, James and a few others were on the south side of the causeway but the wind had clocked around to the north west. I rigged a 7.0 on my 101L just as the wind really started to crank up. I made one run way overpowered, so I flattened out my sail and tried again. By this time Ron and James joined me on the north side. I made another run and blew a harness line. So now I had to rig a 6.0 so I could use my smaller boom. By this time it was pretty dark with a setting sun and heavy cloud cover. We could see the channel markers, white caps but not the wave shapes. Even with a 6.0 I was really powered up. So around 6:30 we called it quits. The chart above should dispel any myths that every time I show up at the causeway the wind dies!

Great SE Wind

We had some pretty decent wind last week. A high set up off our coast and created a SE wind on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday Jon and Ron got the best of it from 9 till 11am and I think they rigged 6.5 or 7.0's. I arrived at noon and the wind had backed down and ended up rigging an 8.5 on my formula board. Even then I had to hunt for gusts frequently to get on plane. Thursday was a different story. It was a bright sunny and warm day and I was well powered on a 6.0 with my 101 futura. The rig felt light and the board was fast, I had a great time. I didn't sail Friday but when I looked at the wind history it looks like another good day. There was a good turn out of sailor on the two days I was there.