Great Day for Family Windsurfing

I was somewhat surprised the wind filled in the way it did on Sunday. Forecast was downgraded Sunday morning to around 12mph and I was not expecting much to say the least. Once I got there around 2pm, Dave had his 7.0 rigged, so I rigged my 7.2m sail with the 92l JP board. Dave took off and seemed powered up. Once I got away from the boat traffic and the bridge, it was surprisingly easy to plane and head up to the "House". Dick joined us from the IRP for a short while, but I think he might have been slightly underpowered. Dave and I hung out by the "House" and buzzed the spoil islands cautiously since the clear water made it look much shallower. Glad I was using the 40cm fin and not the 58 -70cm fins we got accustomed to sailing. After coming in for a short break, it seemed the wind picked up even more, so I went out for few more runs. When I got back Ernesto and his family were rigging up for a windsurfing lesson. Looks like we might have some more windsurfers at the causeway in the future. Later in the day I received a text from Ron who is vacationing in Jamaica, telling me about the 25-30mph winds and being overpowered on a 5.5m. And I thought we had it good. :)

Another great evening session

We have been in the same weather pattern since Monday. A high to our north and a tropical wave to our south causing SE winds, so I was expecting the same conditions as yesterday. When I drove across the bridge I didn’t see any white caps at all so I rigged the 10.5. Ron was out on his 8.4 and Edwin, who I just met from Wellington, rigged an 8.5 on his starboard formula. Same board that David D uses. I forgot my booties and my board needs to be redecked so I was slippin and slidin around until I got the hang of it. Man it was so nice out there buzzing up and down the channel, flat water and plenty of power. I could probably have gotten away with the 8.5 but speed is good.

The evening crew

Great time despite light wind

After following the NOAA hourly forecast for several days I had visions of white caps and 7.0 sails dancing in my head. So I was a little disappointed yesterday as I drove over the causeway and was seeing an occasional white cap. On the upside the wind was ESE so we could sail up and down the channel south of the Stuart causeway. Ron, Dino, Austin, Rick and I were out for almost two hours. Boat traffic was light but just enough to make it interesting. I was sailing an 8.5 on the formula board and enjoyed buzzing along the edge of the sandbar on the east side of the channel. Water was very flat with some nice gusts coming through. Dino and I would get into an occasional duel, well frequently actually, which really made it interesting.

iWindsurf gets it right... well... close enough!

Expecting to be on Formula gear with at best 8.4m sail, I joined Ron, Art and Canadian Dave on the north side of the East Island today. It seemed that Art was moving at a decent pace, but he was too far to make out clearly, and Ron decided to change to his 11m sail with his homemade ~60cm fixed extension and the stock 490 mast, from the 9.0m he tried earlier. Canadian Dave was on the 9.0m sail and his very cool looking Starboard Formula, but not seeming to have much luck getting up on a plane. I decided to rig the 10.7m rigged a bit loosely for the light winds which proved to be a somewhat questionable decision later on. By the time I rigged, the wind has come up some and Ron took off without any hesitation followed by Can Dave, who was going to call it a day until he saw Ron skipping across the water. I followed soon and few tacks later joined Art just south of Jensen Causeway. Art headed back and Ron and I sailed what seemed a deserted river. It was a drastic difference from the weekend when we had to wait for the flottila of boats to pass up and down the channel. We made it to the J.Causeway when a small group of dark clouds rolling in from the East, started to create some serious white caps on the water. I decided better to play it safe and head back considering all the storms we had lately. That was one crazy downwinder. I tried to keep it in the channel to avoid having to look for the pvc pipes (marking the sandbars). Glad the Formula board has a "chicken strap" for those out of control downwind rides. Made it back safely followed shortly by Ron who had a blast going that much off the wind.

It seemed that the wind might hold up, so to be ready I rigged a 7.2m sail and got my 92l JP Slalom board ready. The wind did stay up and came up some, so Ron rigged a 7.4m and sailed it with his Bic. I could have easily been on a 6.2m and sailed almost flat waters until near sunset.

Sorry you missed it Dave. :(

Memorial weekend provides great sailing

For a weekend that wasn't forecasted with much wind it turned out great. The prediction was SE at 9 but the afternoon thunderstorms seemed to position themselves to enhance the wind.
Sunday I was at the causeway at noon, rigged a 7.0 and sailed about 2 hours. The causeway was packed with people, boat traffic was heavy and the water was very choppy. Ron, Art and David were on the water and I sailed mostly up at the House of Refuge were the water was a lot smoother. I saw James D. and I suspect he was getting his new Exocet warp slalom dialed in. I was hoping to check it out and talk to him but he left before I got back.
Monday I arrived around 3:00 and went out on the same rig. If I had arrived an hour earlier I could have been on a 6.0! Art, David, Ron and Dino were on the water. I forgot my booties and was slipping around on my board and then I went into the shallows on the west side of the channel to avoid boat traffic and messed up my fin. After swapping out fins I had a good hour of sailing. Dino was sporting his new, well almost, JP slalom v board. Very nice looking board, looks like "the pack" was starting to catch up with him and he had to upgrade his equipment... ugh. I met some new sailors at the causeway; Kim, Jim and Linda. I did take note of their rather dated windsurfing equipment but what really caught my eye was their 7 year old Weimer' named Tess. When I was about to pack up they offered me a beer wrapped in a coolly that looked much like a windsurfing glove, how cool was that! Anyways, Kim used to race like 20 years ago and Linda has a boat load of old equipment. They live locally and we will probably see them more and more at the causeway.