Thursday, July 7, 2011

Tuesday afternoon I made my way down to the causeway. I could tell I hadn't been windsurfing in a while, the footstraps on my board were completely dry. Dino had been out earlier on his 8.4 and didn't have much luck. I rigged my 8.5 on the formula and launched on the north side of the island. Wind line said E 16 - 22 but it looked like 10 to me. I schloged a hundred yards or so, caught a gust and sailed to the Jensen causeway. I was pleased with that but then I pretty much had to schlog back. I went back to the causeway and decided to wait and see if it would pick up. Ron T. showed up and rigged his 10.5, it was still looking light with an occasional gust coming through. We headed out and I was nicely powered :) We sailed to Jensen causeway and then south under the Stuart causeway down to the spoil island. We had a good sail, I was glad I went back out.
The forecast looks bleak for the next week or so. Tropical wave moving over Florida providing much needed rain but not much wind.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

A week of east wind!

This past week their has been a high pressure system off of Jacksonville that has created an east wind. It never blew as hard as predicted but it still made for some nice sailing. I always ended up rigging an 8.5 on the formula board and sailing out in the channel. Usually the tide was very low and the sandbar on the east side of the channel provided some very flat water. You could run for a mile up and down the channel, it was a blast. Yesterday I sailed from 1:00 to 3:00 and the wind was a little on the light side. Thursday I sailed after work and it was great! I was well powered, the only one on the water, very little boat traffic and you could really pick up some speed buzzing down the channel. Memorial Day was good late in the afternoon but the causeway was packed and there was a lot of boat traffic.

On Memorial Day Ron was sailing around Peanut Island near the Palm Beach Inlet. He got hurt while sailing past his boat.... he will have to explain. I am not sure but I think "Jack" may have been involved. He seriously injured his arm but it is healing up and he should be on the water in a few weeks.

Dino on the other hand has been noticeably absent on the water lately. Thursday he was on a plane heading to Traverse City Michigan. Yes there is a large windsurfing shop there but that wasn't the reason for the trip, although that is a nice bonus. The reason we haven't seen Dino is because he is getting getting married..... today! Congratulations Dino and Karen.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Cool front in May!!

On tuesday a cool front was pushing through which provided some strong west winds. I wasn't planning on sailing but after 2 phone calls from Brandon and 1 from Dino I headed down to the causeway. I rigged a 6.0 on my 118L bic and was nicely powered. Alex and Mike were sailing on the north side and Ron and Jon were on the south. I launched on the north and found extremely strong gusts just north of the island. I sailed south under the causeway several times and it seemed better on the north side. About this time Dino and Ron were sailing the north side and we went tearing north up the river. I ended up sailing on the west side of the channel north of the causeway and south of the sailing center. The water was fairly flat and the wind was unbelievable, I sailed their till 7:30.

Monday, May 16, 2011

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Crowded at the causeway

I called the windline on Sunday around 1:00 pm and it said SSW 27 - 31. When I arrived around 2:00 I rigged a 5.2 on a 258 Axxis 88L and took off like a shot but then I hit a lull and it wasn't fun anymore. What I found out later was at 10:00 am it was blowing out of the south and it was very steady and as the day progressed it was clocking around to the west and was getting gustier. I ended up putting the 5.2 on my 118L bic and had some fun on it. I was suprised at how many windsurfers and kite boarders were at the causeway. Sarah and Frank showed up around 3:30 and Dino counted 11 windsurfers and 4 kiteboarders on the water and there was a lot of gear and sailors on the beach.