Pleasantly surprised

For the past five days or so the forecast was showing 25-30+ mph. But all I was seeing was 15-20 on the Jensen website. It rained all day with little wind inland so driving to the causeway I was a little depressed. It was drizzling when I got there but a NE wind was blowing. I talked to Dino and he said the Jensen site was showing 20. I rigged a 7.0 and put a big fin on and had a decent 1 1/2 hour of sailing. It drizzled the whole time I was out and sometimes the visibility was less than 2 miles. Then around 7:00 the sun broke through the cloud cover, a rainbow formed and the wind started to fade.

Friday surprise - Sunday pleasant sail

Ron making his way in Sunday afternoon.

Friday I showed up earlier in the day, (around 12pm) and it seemed the rain shower that just passed thru would kill any chance of me catching a sail session before work, but to my surprise it ended up turning into one excellent hour and a half of sailing on 7.2m/92l which toward the end was getting to be more like a 6.0m. I spoke to Ron who was heading up as I was leaving the causeway and he ended up sailing thru late afternoon with his 7.4m/112l combination, but admitted he could have easily rigged a smaller 6.x m sail.



I did not sail Saturday and it seemed to me we had light winds for most of the day, but Sunday after looking at the chart on Jensen Beach Web Cam showed a consistent increase in winds giving me the feeling that we might have a decent day. Sure enough as I was driving across the Stuart Causeway, I could see the whitecaps forming thru the House of Refuge and was able to spot the familiar red and clear sail that is seen most sailable days at the Causeway.
David and his dad were both readying their boards and rigs and Ron T. was rigged and ready on his 8.4m/Formula board. I rigged the same and headed out to the H.o.Refuge where I met up with Art and Ron T. High tide gave us access to sailing by the islands without too much concern for running aground. Wind filled in some more and it was a very pleasant sail. Later I was joined by my fiancee Karen and we sailed together into the sunset on the Formula board.

Great evening sail

When I got to the causeway Art was packing up and he said this was the best day yet. He was out on a 6.5 for 4 hours! The wind had backed down slightly so I rigged a 7.0 and put on a big pointer fin. Max and Jake were buzzing around, Ron, Larry, Eduardo and David were on the water. I made my way out to the House and Larry and I raced around for awhile. Then Eduardo, Ron and Dino came out and we were all racing each other, it was a blast. I wanted to sail under a full moon but when the sun ws setting some heavy cloud cover came in and the wind was up and down so we called it quits.d

Max and Jake

Sunday turned out to be another great day on the water. The wind clocked around to NE and it was mostly sunny. I showed up around 2 and rigged an 8.5 on the formula board. I ran up to the Jensen causeway and on the way back it became clear I needed to rig smaller. I went back out on a 7.0 and it was great. When I was re-rigging I counted 7 sails on the water and 3 sailors on the beach! Max and Jake were at it again and I was able to talk to there dad, Phil. He was busy rigging sails and moving gear around.

Max

Saturday was bright and sunny with the wind ESE. I arrived at the causeway around 2 and a lot of windsurfers were showing up. Art was out on a 7.5 and looking south it seemed I would have to rig an 8.5 which I wasn't thrilled in doing. So I thought I would wait and see if the wind would come up some. Their were two young windsurfers, Max and Jake, buzzing around and it was fun watching them. I started talking to their mother, Jennifer and she said they just moved here from Aruba. The kids are into kite boarding as well. I shot some photos but then my batteries died. Ron showed up and he rigged a 9.0 and I rigged my 8.5 on the formula board. We went down to the House of Refuge and I was wishing I was on my 7.0 and the 118L board. So I ran the channel a few times and it was fairly flat next to the sandbar. I ended up putting the 8.5 on the 118L board and Ron and I sailed under the bridge and up to Jensen causeway and back.

Jake

Brian enjoying an afternoon on the water with his dad.

I had expectations of being on a 7.0 or smaller today but it was definately an 8.5 day. Dino was out at noon on his 8.4 and was running from bridge to bridge. Ron was finishing up on his 9.0 when I arrived. Earlier he made a run from from the causeway to the inlet and then back north under both bridges and then back to the causeway! I measured it on google earth and thats about 14 miles. I was feeling to sore to rig so I started shooting some pictures.
Ernesto was there with his son Brian and another youngster with a curly head of hair. I was amazed how well Brian is doing. Check out the photos below.

click photo to enlarge

Wednesday was good. I rigged a 7.0 on my 118L bic and spent two hours out at the House. I was having a blast on flat water making some real nice jibes and then Dino shows up. He was riding his 92L JP slalom board with a 6.2 sail and blows past me, that board is sick!
Thursday the wind was lighter, Rick was on an 8.5 and Art was on a 7.5. Art said he really flattened out his sail and could have been on a 6.5. So I rigged my 7.0 and ended up schlogging down the channel. Rick came blasting by showing me the error of my ways. Once I got past the spoil island I headed over to the House. The wind was filled in enough so I could get up on plane. I spent most my time trying to learn how to do a duck jibe. I could get to the new side of the boom OK but my front foot would get hung up in the strap. One time I was able to complete the jibe without falling in, that was exciting.
It looks like we will have 3 - 4 more days of wind, courtesy of hurricane Igor. The wind is forecasted to clock around to the NE by Monday in the 16-24 mph range.

It could have been better

Yesterday when I arrived at the causeway Art was finishing up and Ron was rigging. The wind was out of the SE and it was mostly cloudy. From the forecast I thought I would be rigging a 7.0 but I had to drag out the formula board and my 8.5. The tide was high and there was a lot chop and seaweed in the channel. I ended up sailing near the House of Refuge and Eduardo joined me out there. It wasn't bad, but not what I expected.

Dogs can windsurf too!

Monji looks on

Art wins schlogfest

Yes folks the wind was really cranking this weekend. It was blowing out of the SE 10 gusting to 13 and Art was on the water both days! Not wanting to be out done, Dino thought he could boost his score by taking some passengers. But the only points he scored were with Karen. See photos below.

Click photo to enlarge

Dino catching some air

Looks like today ends four great days of sailing. Earl heads up the coast so our friends in New England can do some sailing. On the way to the causeway I passed Greg, aka Kawabunga, with his boards strapped to the roof. At the east island Larry was sailing, Art and Brandon were packing up. After talking to them I decided to rig a 7.0 and it turned out to be the right rig. It was mostly sunny, like yesterday, and the wind was out of the NE. I sailed up to the cove north of Joe's point and couldn't get enough of the flat water and gusts coming through. After 45 minutes Dino showed up and we raced around awhile. Then I made some long runs on the river and called it quits as the sun was getting low in the sky. My GPS track is posted below.