skunked

Tuesday evening was looking to be a good time on the water. At 5:18 I was headed to the causeway and the wind line said it was blowing 23!!! When I got there Art was about 200 yards out on his 7.5 and nicely powered. Dino was dragging out his equipment and rigging his 7.2, so I followed suit. We could hear the railings buzzing up above, tide was high, and things looked good except for the low, dark ominous clouds to the northwest. Some lightning flashed way out west and Barry walked up and questioned Dino about it. We were armed with enough meteorological knowledge to justify our actions. Dino has this infectious wind optimism and in short order Barry was rigging her sail as well. When the lightning was coming down on three sides of us and the wind faded, and changed direction; we found ourselves sitting in our vehicles listening to the rain and watching the windows steam up. Oh well there is always tomorrow.

Jibing at the Causeway Sarah's video

Running afoul of the law!

Saturday I arrived at the Stuart Causeway at 3:30, rigged an 8.5 and took out the formula board. I had plenty of wind and headed for the House of Refuge. Art and I had a good time buzzing around for an hour or so and the wind started to fade. I was schloggin’ dead down wind towards the east island and about 200 yards out the wind kicked up so I headed west towards the channel. After crossing the channel I jibed in the shallows and headed back for the east island. A catamaran had made its way to the channel from IRP marina and was turning south, a power boat had just come under the bridge and was heading south slowly. So I got up on plane crossed the channel and passed the catamaran on its north side when all of a sudden I hear a siren. I look around and a Martin Co. Sheriff’s boat has its blue light flashing and is heading right at …….me? So I make my way past the boat ramp and sheet out the sail. The boat pulls alongside and the deputy asks if I thought I was taking a risk back there? I replied no considering the speed at which the boats were going. Then he says, well their could have been a power boat on the other side of the sailboat and I would have been in trouble. At this point I realize their is no reasoning with this guy and decided to agree with whatever he said and then he launches into this rant. You are not a vessel…..You don’t have the right of way….. You are just a surf board with a sail. I don’t remember what he said after that my head was spinning and we parted ways. My neighbor, who jet skies the causeway a lot, suggested that the deputy must have been bored. To pull over a windsurfer is the strangest thing he had ever heard of. I am going to copy this into the forum, if anyone wants to comment they can do so there. Click on the following: http://www.treasurecoastwindsurfing.com/

Afternoon Delight

One thing you can be sure about wind predictions during the summer months is that you can not count on them. Sometimes that can be a good thing. This weekend, for example, the winds were predicted at 5-10 mph at most weather websites I use, some of which are listed on this blog. Well, it would seem that most of the morning and part of the afternoon that would have been correct, but each day after 5pm the wind kicked up well over 15mph. 8.4m sail for me, 8.5m for Dave and 5.8m for my son Austin worked well on Saturday. It seemed Sunday would have been identical, but little after 5:30pm the wind gods smiled on us once again and while I was once again on my 8.4m and Austin on 5.8, I was overpowered most of the time; I came in to add downhaul to my sail and I used my adjustable outhaul to flatten it out as well. Now it was more manageable. When I came back in I could hear the sound the bridge railings make only when wind is kicking arnd 17+.
While Austin was not overpowered, he was feeling it in his hands and arms. Not using the harness just yet, (that is the next step in his windsurfing progression) he was able to maintain the board on the plane, but as most of us know, without the harness it can be quite tiring. Never the less, he kept at it until the wind and the sun dropped.

Friday after work around 6:00 Dino and I got to the causeway as the wind faded out. We rigged 10.5, 10.7 and took out the formula boards, it was dissapointing to say the least. Sunday Sarah and I went to the causeway around 2:00 and the wind was very light. Art came in and said at 1:00 it was good for about 45 minutes. Sarah wasn't out more than a half hour when a storm kicked up. She got back to shore as the white caps rolled in. I had an 8.5 rigged and was wishing I was on a 7.0. The first 20 minutes were brutal and then it backed down some and the next 1 1/2 hours were great. Nice way to end the weekend.

7/13 I was able to catch some storm generated wind Sunday. Photo taken by Sarah

Sunday and Tuesday afternoon the wind was blowing but by the time I got rigged and on the water it had faded a lot. I was on my 118L board and an 8.5 sail. Sailed with Dino on Sunday and on Tuesday Austin was on the water as well. Not much in the forecasts.....ugh!