Larry searching for a gust 7/17/10

SE winds continue to blow

Saturday morning I was out at 9:30 am and sailed the 10.5 just north of the spoil island. It was good, I was nicely powered and the water was flat.
Sunday Dino and I waited for the wind to build and showed up in the afternoon just to watch it fade out completely.
Monday evening when I showed up Dino was out on a 7.2 and the wind was backing off so I rigged the 8.5 and by the time I got out the wind was done.
Tuesday the wind had been blowing steady all day. Dino was out midday on a 7.2 so I was hoping for a good evening sail. When I arrived it didn't look that good. With binoculars I could see good wind at the House of Refuge so I rigged a 10.5. Ernesto showed up and rigged the same. The wind was ESE so we sailed the channel. It was great, water was flat with light boat traffic. By 7:00 the wind was back up and we were ripping up and down the channel.
Looks like higher winds are coming. A tropical wave is over Hispaniola, development is expected with a forecast track straight towards us. Check out the magic seaweed link.

Thursday I was finally able to get out on the water, it had been almost two weeks. Art was packing up when I got there. He said Dick, Roger and Dino had been out earlier. I always know when Dino is out and if you see his cell phone laying around while he is rigging please hide it. I was going to rig a 7.0 and use a big fin but while I was talking to Art the wind seemed to be backing down. So I rigged an 8.5 and used the formula board. It was a good choice because the wind was trending downward. Ron showed up and we sailed for almost an hour. The wind has been blowing out of the SE courtesy of a tropical wave passing to our south and its supposed to continue through Saturday.

Video from Hatteras trip in May

Ron sailing in Jamaica.... yea mon!

Wednesday - ENE Wind - Perfect for Causeway to Causeway runs

Wednesday winds were ENE around 17-22mph, perfect for sailing the north side of the East, or West Island as another sailor preferred. I arrived around 11 something and Art was rigging his 7.5m sail which is his biggest sail I believe, so I kind of wondered what to make of it since the Jensen web site and the wind line indicated 19+mph of wind and Art sails it when winds are mediocre for the rest of us.

The water looked incredibly clear and flat with some small whitecaps forming in the distance. There is usually a wind shadow on this direction for few hundred yards, so it can be deceiving. All my uncertainty was blown away as soon as Art sheeted his sail in, and took off planing toward the Jensen Causeway. I quickly, (some might argue that:) rigged my 7.2m sail/92l JP board. Ron T. showed up and was trying to decide what to rig. I convinced him there was enough wind out there for the 7 something sail, so he rigged the 7.4m and 145l JP. I sailed off first and was able to stay planing up to the J.C. where I met up with Art. Followed him back thru some shallow looking water, but Art has a keen sense of water depth, so I tried not to worry although I did at times close my eyes and prepared for the worst.

Ron joined us and we sailed all over the place with some other sailboats and beach cats enjoying the windy day. Ron switched to a smaller board later which worked for him. He even tried my 92l board and was able to get it moving quite well. When I purchased this board I was expecting it to be primarily for the higher wind days (6.2m and smaller), but it turns out the board is fantastic at planing out with my 7.2m sail which makes it my go to board when not on the Formula gear. I am convinced that the new short and wide designs are the way to go.

Friday was the end of that ESE wind. After work Ron, Dino, and I buzzed up and down the channel on formula gear. Mike was out on his Mistral Pacifica with a 7.5 sail. I was trying to film our session with my helmet cam but got real frustrated. I had to sail back to the causeway three times to get batteries and at one point deleted all the video I had shot. On my last attempt I was able to shoot this video. It turned out well despite the sun setting behind some.