Health of River in Question

TCPalm has been covering this problem. Here is a link to one of their pages with some good links for more information.

South Wind Sailing

Friday after weeks and weeks of rain we caught a break. Ron alerted me to the fact that the wind was coming up and we were at the causeway around 5:30. The water was red from all the water they are dumping from Lake Okeechobee and a stiff breeze was coming out of the south. The tide was low and there was a strong incoming tide running with the wind. I rigged an 8.5 on the Isonic 117w and was well powered. Ron was on his Xfire 115 with a 7.8. We had an hour plus of good sailing.

Sunday Dino, who is somewhere in New England, forwards a wind alert to Ron and I. The conditions are the same except the wind is a bit stronger and it was a thunder storm north of us generating all the wind. We rigged the same as Friday and were really powered up and surprised how long the wind lasted. I could here thunder but never saw any lightning. Storm sailing is tough; wind can increase or die in a mater of moments and getting fried like a bug is a possibility. We ended up with another great hour of sailing. Art was on the water in mid afternoon on a SUP before the storms stirred things up. Then he was out on a 7.5 when the wind kicked in. Brandon showed up when we were rigging and came back later with his gear.

Friday and Sunday was really the first time I had some well powered sailing on the Isonic with an 8.5. I was able to get my jibes dialed in and am very pleased with the board. About a month ago Ron and I sailed in some lighter wind, he was on an RRD formula board with his 9.2 and I was on the Isonic with the 8.5 and they seemed to perform about the same. In the spring I sailed the board in gusty SW wind with a 7.0 and it performed great.

TS Andrea was a dud!

After driving and working in torrential rains yesterday I made my way down to the causeway around 5:00pm. The radar showed a break in the feeder bands so I expected the wind to fill in. I talked to Ron and he just experienced high wind in Hobe Sound and was on his way up. The river was starting to white cap and I was showing 16 - 21mph on my wind meter. I rigged a 6.0 on the wave board and headed out. I could make a short runs of 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile and have to turn around because it would fade. On my last powered up run Ron was driving over the causeway, saw the white caps and was stoked. He rigged a 6.6 on his 115L board made one run and that was it. Wind faded and never came back up. I stayed till 7:45 thinking it would.

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Who is this guy?

Break Time.

SE wind continues to blow providing some nice windsurfing. I sailed late yesterday and was well powered on a slalom board. I was trying to do some speed runs on the leeward side of a sandbar. Tide wasn't quite low enough to cut all the chop but I was able to hit 33.5mph. After sailing for over 2 hours on a board that was just barely under control I switched to a wave board. What a sweet ride that was!

Wet Windy Weather Pattern

This present weather pattern in South Florida is making for some lively windsurfing. We have some fast moving storm cells passing through with winds out of the SE blowing 20-25mph. It's supposed to last through Friday. I sailed yesterday after work for 2 1/2 hours and it was never a dull moment. Here's how it went. Wait for the wind to build, sail for about 20 minutes. Then the next approaching cell causes wind to increase for a 10 minute white knuckle ride followed by a stinging drizzle (this is the signal to head in). Sail through a blinding rain back to the causeway. Wind dies, cell passes, wind builds and repeat.