Great week of sailing

Wednesday I was on a 5.2 and yesterday I rigged a 6.0, what a week! Saturday and Sunday are showing 17 - 24 out of the east.

Mast found at the causeway

See Ron T to get your mast back

Forecast was wrong, in a good way!

Yesterday the forecast wasn't showing much but in the afternoon Dino told me the windline was saying 30 mph. When I got to the causeway the river was covered in whitecaps and the railings were buzzing with the wind blowing SE. Dorian was packing up, Brandon was tweaking his rig and Dennis was taking a breather. After talking with Dennis I rigged a 4.7 on a 88L Axxis 258 and I was very well powered. I had a good half hour of sailing but some storms had made there way south and lightning started flashing so I cut it short.

2011_04_16

Last Weeks Recap

Saturday the wind came in out of the SSE a bit more than predicted. Around 2:00 I went out on a 7.0 and was having a hard time getting up to the House of Refuge because the wind would fill in and then back off. But once I got there the wind came in huge. I flattened out the sail and had a great time sailing in the flat water on the north side of Sail Fish point. I stayed there an hour and got pounded coming back. Once I got back to the causeway I saw a lot of people sailing from both islands.

Friday The wind was out of the SE and I rigged a 7.0 but the wind faded some while I was rigging. I could catch some gusts but it was to much like work. I checked the wind history later and found the wind filled in just after I left.

Thursday the wind was out of the east but it seemed awful light. Ron said I could get going on a 10.5 but I really didn't feel like rigging it. Eventually I did and had a pretty decent time sailing from bridge to bridge.

Aerial photos

Great Turn Out for the Windsurfing Event at the Sailing Center

Upon arriving at the USSCMC facility on Indian River Drive, I was glad to see how many people showed up for the event. It was obvious that there is an interest in the community for windsurfing. Sailing Center along with Adam Locke and many other volunteers organized a fun event for everyone. There was a swap shop meet in the morning, Adventure Sports from Miami brought up some of their equipment and was giving lessons to the curious crowd, while others were giving the future windsurfers lessons on their windgliders. Coastal Paddle Boarding provided the SUPs for the race and for anyone who wanted to try it. There was a long distance windsurfing race which was won by a promising young windsurfer Jake. Many local windsurfers showed up for the event, and signed up for the membership to support the addition of windsurfing at the sailing center. I was told that windsurfing will be added to the Wednesday night races, which should generate some interest since there is a good crowd of fast sailors in the area who like to race each other. The sailing center will be looking for windsurf instructors, so anyone interested should give them a call. Here is the link for the sailing center for anyone interested http://www.usscmc.org/

New link added

East Central Florida Windsurfers is a yahoo group. It's members post from places like Jupiter, Melbourne and other areas of the state. So check them out and see what else is going on in Florida.

Great Sailing Monday

When I arrived at the causeway everyone was finishing up. The wind was blowing out of the south, it was mostly sunny and the tide was very low. I rigged a 5.2 on an axxis 258 and sailed for an hour and a half. Then I rigged a 6.0, put on a shorty wetsuit and went out on the same board and sailed almost till sunset. James was still sailing and Don was streaking about. The spring cool front that provided all this wind just blew through about an hour ago.

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SSE 26mph winds at the Causeway. Sail range from 4.8m to 6.5.
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East Winds on a Busy Weekend

Sunday's forecast called for higher winds in the afternoon which never materialized. The flat water made it nice for few people learning to windsurf on the South side of the causeway. Dave, Ron and I opted for the Formulas with 8.4m - 10m sails and cruised the channel dodging all the boat traffic. By staying closer to the sand bar where the water is flatter anyway it's easier to stay away from the boats. We sailed all the way to the inlet and headed up toward the ocean, but to try and sail all the way out the inlet would have been risky to say the least.
20-30 SE forecast for Monday and Tuesday!